Nearly a third of Canadians surveyed say they are victims of financial fraud, says research by the Chartered Professional Accountants of Canada. The group said the high rate suggested many offences are never reported to police: “Not everybody puts up their hand”.
Anti-spam regulators are threatening a Canadian company with a $1.1 million fine, the largest ever filed. In an unusual notice, the Canadian Radio Television & Telecommunications Commission failed to detail the extent of the breach of regulations, and suggested the company may not have to pay any fine at all.
“Why are they issuing this?” said communications lawyer Daniel Glover, partner with McCarthy Tetrault LLP of Toronto; “It is harder to tell, as you would be able to in a court or other tribunals.”
The CRTC did not explain. In a notice, it said that Compu-Finder Ltd. of Québec will be fined $1.1 million for contravention of anti-spam rules on four occasions over a two month period in 2014. The commission said the company repeatedly sent unsolicited emails to prospective clients. Compu-Finder has 30 days to reply or petition the CRTC for a settlement. Compu-Finder describes itself as an executive training firm offering management courses with “access to new fields of knowledge”. The company did not reply to an interview request.
“Why is the CRTC issuing this fine? What has been done that’s wrong?” said Glover. “You need to get an appreciation of how this regulatory agency is acting under anti-spam legislation. It’s a huge penalty and I don’t see a decision associated with it.”
Anti-spam regulations follow passage of Bill C-28 An Act To Promote The Efficiency & Adaptability Of The Canadian Economy signed into law five years ago. Industry groups have complained that regulations appear so complex they may trap unwitting offenders.
“The issue for people who are trying their very best to comply with the anti-spam law is, what went wrong here and how is the regulator interpreting the law?” Glover said. “What can we do to avoid being in this position? Those questions are not answered in a press release.”
“Normally when you have a fine of that size you will see a public decision setting out all the background and considerations that led to a finding of a violation, and what precipitated a fine of that magnitude,” said Glover; “The government is framing this legislation in a way that is respectful of the value of freedom of expression. There are many people who believe it does not do that.”
The anti-spam law targets unsolicited appeals from companies but with numerous exemptions, including messages to existing clients; warranty, bank and legal notices; and responses to emailed enquires. New regulations detailed January 15 also restricted installation of software on computers, cellphones and tablets without owners’ consent, though attorneys said it was not clear if vendors like telecom companies using third-party download platforms such as BlackBerry World or Apple Store would be in violation of the law.
One law journal in 2014 cast the anti-spam law as unconstitutional: “It encroaches upon constitutionally-protected speech, and it does so in a non-minimally impairing way,” concluded an essay in the John Marshall Journal Of Information Technology & Privacy Law.
By Kaven Baker-Voakes 
Canada’s North faces “catastrophic” damage to roads and utilities due to climate change, says a Standards Council of Canada report. The document proposing new standards on municipal drainage systems follows earlier studies that warned of building collapse and crumbling airfields related to global warming: “The costs would add up very quickly”.
The budget for a signature war memorial project has been cut 10 percent on warnings that money is tight. The funding for a new visitor centre at Vimy, France was announced with fanfare two years ago: “Funding is limited”.
Parliament should appoint a federal advertising commissioner to monitor millions in spending on government promotions, say Liberal MPs. The caucus estimated federal ads have cost nearly $750 million since 2006: ‘There are images of happy people’.
The federal Business Development Bank has been ridiculed for dubious use of funds after unwittingly granting a six-figure loan to a drug front. The Canadian Taxpayers Federation yesterday cited the bank for public waste, first disclosed by Blacklock’s: “The government managed to invest in a business which actually turned out to be profitable”.
Northern telecom rates costing up to seven times the price of internet service for southern subscribers have been ordered reduced by broadcast regulators. Northwestel, a subsidiary of Bell Canada Enterprises Inc., must lower rates by 10 to 30 percent: “The CRTC is actually living up to its promise”.
The government predicts a ‘soft adjustment’ in housing prices but is wary of high costs in select cities and record levels of household debt, says the federal mortgage insurer. Canada Mortgage & Housing Corp. wrote the forecast in a confidential memo to the Department of Finance: ‘We are concerned’.
Attorneys in Alberta are appealing a court judgment upholding contentious roadside suspensions of accused drunk drivers. The RCMP and federal Department of Justice are already the subject of a Federal Court lawsuit alleging the practice is arbitrary and unfair to innocent motorists: ‘People may plead guilty simply to regain their license more quickly’.
Appointment of a new federal advisor on mining ethics is largely pointless and fails to address larger issues of corporate responsibility, critics say. The position of Corporate Social Responsibility Counsellor had been vacant for more than a year: ‘It’s like having a judge with no powers’.
The government may seek contractors’ cost guarantees on a mammoth renovation of Parliament after running millions over budget on similar refits to heritage buildings. Public Works Canada expressed wariness over the estimated $1 billion budgeted to renovate the iconic Centre Block: ‘It’s on budget — so far’.
Federal regulators face a “make or break” dilemma over internet TV exempt from controls under federal law, says a secret cabinet memo. The memo marked CONFIDENTIAL cautions that Netflix and other internet broadcasters are challenging Canada’s decades-old system of regulating electronic media: ‘It’s a turning point for Canadian TV’.
Repealing a threat of jail time for Canadians who submit false information to statisticians appears likely with speedy passage of a Conservative bill. The penalty under the Statistics Act has never been used: “Let’s just get rid of it”.
Another multi-million fraud has unravelled in Tax Court with disclosures on two former registered charities cited as receipt mills. Earlier charity scams prompted Canada Revenue Agency to propose a registry of every paid tax preparer in the country: “Those bank statements were fabricated”.
Claims of a “cold rush” in Arctic shipping are unfounded with climate change unlikely to attract commercial traffic, experts have told an Ottawa conference. Authorities said insurance costs remain so prohibitive the North will remain largely untraveled despite forecasts of ice-free passage in summer: “All we have done is talk about it”.
