Agriculture Canada says it is “excited” by claims of lesser bee mortality this year amid protests that common farm pesticides have decimated apiaries. Beekeepers have blamed chemicals for losses of up to 50 percent: “There’s quite a difference of opinion”.
Golfers are protesting the “blatant unfairness” of Canada Revenue tax law that forbids deductions of country club expenses. The National Allied Golf Associations complained of Income Tax Act provisions that allow deductions on hockey tickets but not green fees: “It is critical that we speak up”.
RCMP are searching for a roadside test to catch cannabis-impaired drivers. Police said evidence suggest thousands of Canadian motorists operate under the influence of marijuana and other drugs: ‘They don’t believe a driver can be charged while impaired by cannabis”.
Regulators would ban advertising of food to children, standardize labeling and assign more front-line staff at the Canadian Food Inspection Agency under an Official Opposition food policy: “Ignite a dialogue with those who care passionately about these issues”.
A chemical used in children’s products and now banned as a cancer risk will remain in Canadian homes for generations, analysts warn. Health Canada is to outlaw the substance October 1 following research confirming the health risk: “Flame retardants will be with us for a generation”.
Cabinet will gain new authority to financially punish federal tribunals it deems troublesome, critics caution. Changes contained in an omnibus budget bill place every major tribunal under cabinet supervision including the Canada Industrial Relations Board: “All it would need to do is starve that tribunal of a budget”.
Canadians eager for news on auto safety should call a government 1-800 number, says Transport Canada. The department is repealing a legal requirement that it provide advance public notice of changes under the Motor Vehicle Safety Act: “We’re moving towards a slippery slope here”.
One of Canada’s largest utilities has lost a court bid to claim hundreds of thousands of dollars in costs in fighting a Canada Revenue tax order. TransAlta Corp. attorneys sought payment for their bid to win a friendly tax ruling: “I thought I had a legal argument”.
The Library of Parliament paid for ads on Google and Facebook as part of an “educational outreach” campaign for the public, though most Canadians are barred from using the facility. Sonia L’Heureux, Parliament’s $168,000-a year chief librarian, yesterday declined an interview on the spending. “She’s not going to discuss contracts,” a spokesperson said.
The Canadian Transportation Agency is expected to issue its first rulings this fall on service contracts with railways. The agency said it has three shippers’ complaints to date: “Corridor by corridor, week by week, they can tell exactly what’s being missed”.
Apartment dwellers and office tenants may soon join millions of inner-city homeowners in losing on-site mail delivery. Canada Post says changes to regulations will allow for the placement of lobby lock boxes outside apartment and office buildings, though realty managers expressed puzzlement over the change: “Where do you put it?”
Canadian merchants will continue to pay high credit card fees without legislated reforms, says a federal anti-trust agency. The Competition Bureau remarks came in hearings on a Senate bill to cap charges to retailers and restaurateurs: ‘Fees are excessively high’.
A motion before the Commons would see revival of a billion-dollar ecoEnergy program that subsidized home refits. MP François Choquette proposed a renewal of the plan that lapsed in 2012 with grants offered to commercial building owners, as well: “We need innovation”.
Seals are “monsters” that endanger Atlantic salmon, says a Conservative Senator. However Fisheries Canada data indicate salmon are one of the few species that seals do not eat: “Those salmon killers, those salmon-eaters, those river pirates”.
Canadian firms have weak mechanisms to protect customers’ private information. And 58% admit they have no guidelines in place to deal with data theft, says a federal report: “How concerned are you about a data breach?”
