Cabinet is keeping an eye on home sales as the national average price approaches $420,000, says Finance Minister Joe Oliver. The remarks followed new data from realtors pointing to large gains in sales and prices that outpace inflation: “We’re continuing to watch”.
The federal broadcast regulator proposes new penalties for unauthorized political robo-calls similar to fines on telemarketers who breach the National Do Not Call List. The CRTC suggests fines of up to $15,000 for breaches: “At some level the CRTC is doing its job”.
A Commons bill to expand Canadians’ access to government records will reform the role of the Commissioner of Information from a mere ombudsman, says Liberal leader Justin Trudeau. The MP sponsored a bill to compel agencies to release public documents without first having to be sued in Federal Court: ‘They spend an awful lot of time in negotiations’.
The $40 billion-a year impact of post-secondary education could be even higher if universities were able to commercialize their research, says a Conference Board study. The group earlier rated Canada a D on its performance in monetizing patents and other innovations developed on campus: “Our universities operate like castles on a hill”.
The Department of Citizenship confirms it’s handing out Made In China maple leaf pins at swearing-in ceremonies for new citizens. The department saved 8¢ apiece by contracting an offshore supplier: “Welcome to the new Canada”.
A first-ever national profile on the reach of organized crime in Canada from credit card fraud to murder will be published by spring, says the Department of Public Safety. To date neither police nor lawmakers have any true assessment on the extent and cost of gangland activity, officials said: “Very little is known”.
Finance Canada says it still drafting promised regulations on bitcoin with no deadline in sight. Cabinet vowed in its last budget February 11 to regulate the pseudo-currency amid fears it is used by money launderers and organized crime: “Be aware of the risk”.
The immigration department is hiring consultants to find reasons why so few French-speaking foreigners live outside Québec. Census data show west of Montréal Francophones are outnumbered by Chinese, German, Punjabi and Tagalog-speaking immigrants: “How do Francophone immigrants manage?”
The shortest distance from A to B has cost a commuter $17,000 in Tax Court. A judge dismissed the appeal of a Calgary woman who unsuccessfully argued she liked to drive the long way to work, thus qualifying for relocation expense claims under the Income Tax Act: “It leads to absurd results”
Tax auditors are widening a dragnet of alleged secret, untraceable payments from drug manufacturers to Canadian pharmacists, including bonuses paid by travellers’ cheques. The Canada Revenue Agency named another ten companies in Federal Court documents, asking that a judge compel the firms to identify payments and who received them: ‘We will co-operate’.
The Canadian Armed Forces has failed to meet its own employment equity quotas, concluding minority groups consider military life a “last resort”. The research comes eight years after commanders set an equity goal of 9 percent in the army, navy and air force: ‘They didn’t immigrate to join the military’.
The anti-trust Competition Bureau is launching a wide investigation of grocery wholesaling, alleging that supermarket giant Loblaw Companies Ltd. pressed suppliers to “protect its grocery retail margins” at consumers’ expense. Loblaw Co. declined an interview: ‘I believe Loblaw may have engaged in restrictive trade practices’.
Canada has lost almost ten million acres of prime farmland since 1971 due to urban sprawl and development, says Statistics Canada. The agency noted losses of 541,000 acres in the period from 2001 to 2011, alone: ‘It is lost forever’.
Bauer Hockey Corp., largest manufacturer of hockey helmets in Canada, has been ordered to pay $500,000 over misleading claims its gear might protect players from concussions. The order followed an investigation by the Competition Bureau: ‘We prefer to avoid costly litigation’.
Federal contractors are being questioned on whether uniforms and garments sold to the Government of Canada are made by child labour or sourced from offshore sweatshops. Public Works Canada is surveying suppliers on “ethically responsible practices” in filling federal orders: ‘Canadians expect this’.
