Canada’s largest liquor board has no business collecting the names and addresses of its customers, says a privacy ruling in Ontario Superior Court. A judge upheld a 2012 complaint from a wine club told it must divulge members’ identities to buy at the Liquor Control Board of Ontario: “This is overreach”.
A judge has thrown out a constitutional challenge of the “faint hope” bill, a Conservative law that curbed early parole for prisoners convicted of first-degree murder. An Ottawa-area woman serving a life sentence for killing her husband argued the retroactive bill breached her Charter rights: “We’re not talking about controversial legislation”.
Truckers face maximum $25,000 fines for failing to submit electronic cargo records under a long-promised Canada Border Services Agency program. The Agency said its eManifest system, introduced on a trial basis in 2012, will be mandatory: “This is long overdue”.
Business and consumers’ advocates are praising a $3.5 million fine on U.S. craft retailer Michaels for misrepresentations on pricing. The federal Competition Tribunal cited Michaels’ Canadian subsidiary for claiming “sale” prices that appeared to be regular charges: “Thousands of independent businesses play by the rules”.
A court ruling that narrowly interprets protection for federal whistleblowers sends a “disturbing” message to government employees who fear reprisal in reporting wrongdoing, says an MP. A federal judge dismissed complaints from a Natural Resources Canada scientist after noting he failed to report reprisals within 60 days as required by law: “The message is, keep your mouth shut”.
The Senate is being urged to reject the work of one of its own committees and outlaw use of DNA testing by insurance companies. The Senate human rights committee’s Conservative majority rejected the bill last February 19: “We need to do something”.
A Conservative MP citing two recent police shootings is urging that the Commons adopt a motion promoting use of body-warn cameras by law enforcement nationwide. Video surveillance would curb “instances of police and public violence”, the MP said: “Why do police not want this?”
Canada is spending a fortune on its search for terror financing with little justification for budgeting, and no accounting for privacy concerns, a Senate committee has been told. The current dragnet for black market cash is reduced to tracking house payments and wire transfers to family, said a University of Toronto law professor: “We do not have evidence of the benefits”.
A landmark quarter-billion dollar settlement in a Nunavut dispute should spur cabinet to fairer resolution of land claims nationwide, says a lead attorney in the case. The Government of Canada will pay $255.5 million to Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. on complaints it breached terms of an Inuit claim that led to creation of the territory in 1999: “Hopefully this won’t be necessary in the future”.
First-ever regulation of wholesale wireless roaming charges is being cheered by consumers’ advocates. The CRTC yesterday said it will fix charges levied by big telecom providers on smaller rivals: “It is really great”.
A bank proposal to sanction currently-illegal sharing of depositors’ information raises numerous questions, says the chair of the Commons finance committee. Bankers seek amendments to privacy law that would allow them to exchange details on customers: “How do I know they’re not sharing information I don’t want them to share?”
Federal agencies are paying almost $22 million a year in transaction fees for processing credit card payments, documents show. MPs and senators have rejected first-ever regulation of fees, mainly charged by Visa and MasterCard Canada: “We pay”.
Lawmakers must adopt “strict measures” to support the seal hunt, says a Liberal senator. A proposal to outlaw photographs of the Atlantic hunt will be discussed today at a closed-door meeting of the Senate fisheries committee: ‘We have to check what people are doing’.
The Canadian Human Rights Commission is being cited for unfair treatment of an ex-railway mechanic who complained he lost his job due to poor health. The Commission was mistaken in dismissing the mechanic’s complaint, a federal Appeal Court judge has ruled: ‘It was unreasonable’.
New changes to Canada’s drug patent regulations will revive 2006-era rules after Federal Court judgments narrowed patent law. Industry Canada said it feared numerous drug patents would lapse without a change in regulations: “It’s back to the future”.
