Prince Edward Island has become the seventh province to regulate payday loans under a 2007 Act of Parliament. The Island cabinet gained authority to set rates on short-term loans under the Criminal Code: "The criminal interest rate is too high".
Unnamed “influencers” and media critics are undermining Canadian aquaculture, a Senate panel has been told. Nova Scotia fish farmers claimed misinformation over the sector's eco-impact has hurt growth and sales: "They're very skilled at using the internet".
A new report dismisses cabinet claims the RCAF can get by with the single-engine F-35 jetfighter. The analysis cautioned that twin-engine planes, the kind currently flown by the air force, appear more reliable than single-engine replacements: "The math is very simple".
In testimony MPs described as shocking, current and former Transport Canada staff accuse the department of misleading Parliament on the scope and effectiveness of commercial airlines' safety inspections. Authorities were accused of falsifying data to conceal a decline in random inspections: 'It's a simple sleight of hand'.
The Department of Fisheries has committed “gross negligence” in failing to protect wild stocks from aquaculture, a Senate panel has been told. The Newfoundland & Labrador Outfitters Association blamed federally-regulated fish farms for threatening ocean life: "The Department of Fisheries is in a severe conflict of interest".
Fifty MPs have petitioned Parliament to suspend Canada Post cuts and rate hikes in the largest petition drive of the Commons’ spring sitting: 'It should be debated if the public wants it to be'.
Tax Court has upheld Canada Revenue’s right to reach back nearly 30 years to collect unpaid debts despite a statue of limitations. The judgment came in the case of a widow denied pension benefits till she pays old taxes dating from 1986: "Tax debts are payable".
Finance Minister Joe Oliver is being pressed for adoption of a single bank ombudsman he'd advocated as a Bay Street executive. Oliver’s past remarks were uncovered by a New Democrat MP. The finance minister would not comment: "Will he actually follow what he said?"
“We can learn a lot about a place from the kind of scandal it generates,” writes J. Patrick Boyer. On that count the Senate fares not too badly.
Its disgraced members are cited for cheating on expenses and lying to their colleagues. There have been no kickback schemes; no influence-peddling; no secret contracts, poisonings or manslaughter.
The Senate merely embarrassed itself in the comic manner of a self-satisfied and slightly pompous aristocrat made to look ridiculous.
Changes to patent rules for plant breeders came amid pressure from Europe, suggests a confidential memo. Agriculture officials refused comment on the document released through Access to Information. The memo indicates Canada was pressed to tighten patent rules while negotiating free trade with the E.U.: "Who's making policy?"
MPs are expressing concern over budget cuts for federal auditors, describing their work as “indispensable”. Funding for the Office of the Auditor General is to be cut by more than $10 million this year compared to 2012: "It's not a good thing".
A federal privacy bill has so many loopholes it will “diminish privacy rights”, says an industry group. The latest warnings came at Senate hearings as legislators expressed growing unease with the bill: "I didn't think it was a big deal but now that I'm found out -- "
Cabinet is proceeding with privatized inspections of weights and measures for the first time since 1877. Industry and merchants will be subject to private checks with “graduated enforcement” and maximum $1,000 fines: "We need independent scrutiny".
More federal agencies are improperly withholding documents in breach of federal law, says the Information Commissioner. Culprits include VIA Rail, for concealing data it used to publish on its website, and the Privy Council Office for trying to bill one applicant $4,000 in employee benefits to retrieve files: "Fewer and fewer people trust".
Canada Revenue Agency faces resistance from tax-filers who refuse to enroll in automatic bank deposit and withdrawal programs. Agency research confirmed a significant number of Canadians will not give the government access to their bank account. Ottawa proposes to phase out paper cheques in 2016: "I'm surprised by the intensity of the sentiment".
