RCMP management is accused of speeding enforcement of new regulatory powers ahead of a Supreme Court ruling on whether to lift a 1920 ban on unionizing the force. Regulations give the commissioner authority to fire members without appeal: "Everyone needs to be held to account".
Lobster fishermen are casting a wary eye on a new season, the first since Atlantic regulators proposed initiatives to bolster the billion-dollar industry. The P.E.I. Fishermen’s Association reported an uneven catch with varied prices to date: "We aren't at the price point to make a profit".
A “shock scenario” of a doubling of interest rates would slash farmland values up to 13 percent on average, says a confidential Agriculture Canada study. The department commissioned secret research on historic debt levels, noting farmers have used rising land values for loan collateral. Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz declined an interview.
Cash-strapped Parks Canada spent $191,300 on polling research that confirmed most Canadians do not know what the agency is, or what it does. Pollsters also reported only 14% of Torontonians were aware of Parks Canada, and 6 percent nationwide appeared to confuse the agency with an NBC sitcom: "What were they hoping to get?"
Canada’s national mammal is at the centre of a trademark dispute over namesake high-calorie snacks sold by rival bakers. Beavertails Brands Inc. challenged Beaverstyx over its use of the beaver motif. More than 540 "beaver" trademarks have been registered in Canada since Confederation: 'It is a national emblem'.
Distillers are appealing to MPs to repeal a portion of federal excise taxes skewed against their industry to the benefit of beer and wine makers, an executive says. Distillers urged Parliament to take $1 off duties on spirits including popular brands of whiskey, vodka and rum: "The facts are glaring".
Decades of data confirm postwar bush fires are more frequent and damaging in Western Canada, according to the Department of Natural Resources. The department's Canadian Forest Service identified a greater threat from forest fires in the West: "These are big dollars".
The Supreme Court has upheld a mandatory retirement rule in a B.C. case deemed “very significant” for professionals including attorneys, accountants and engineers. Justices ruled 7-0 that a Vancouver law firm could force out a partner who contracted to leave at 65 despite a provincial ban on mandatory retirement: "Just a gold watch and a pleasant dinner".
A B.C. group has lost a legal battle to overturn a Department of Fisheries policy attributed to “political lobbying”. The Federal Court of Appeal ruled a former fisheries minister was entitled to reject his own department's advice under "political pressure" even if the decision broke precedent: "See the results of mixing fisheries management with politics".
A Federal Court ruling is lifting a corner on confidential safety assessments by transport companies. A judge says Canadians may use Access to Information to obtain details of regulators’ views and opinions on company Safety Management Systems, though the systems themselves remain privileged: "Even we can't see them".
America must know it is “wrong-headed” in a lengthy dispute now before the World Trade Organization, says Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz. He proposed Mexico follow a Canadian lead in drafting a blacklist of U.S. goods to face retaliatory duties in a dispute over meat labeling: 'Spell it out'.
More cuts will leave hockey-less CBC a Toronto broadcaster with little distinctive national primetime programming, says an advocacy group. The Friends of Canadian Broadcasting said it learned from sources CBC executives will approve new regional cutbacks at a board meeting June 17: 'It's nothing short of breathtaking'.
A federal judge has thrown out the latest lawsuit by owners of Detroit’s Ambassador Bridge. Canada is subsidizing construction of a new public span to bypass the private toll bridge: "It is not unusual for them to go to court".
Cabinet will approve subsidies for softball diamonds but is stripping environmental criteria from a grant program, documents show. The first infrastructure renewal contracts signed with provinces under Gas Tax Fund transfers remove all reference to environmental sustainability that had been central to the program a decade ago: "It doesn't make much sense".
Health Canada is ordering that all mechanically-tenderized beef be plainly labeled, along with mandatory cooking instructions, effective August 21. The change follows the nation’s biggest beef recall: "Canada had to do this anyway".
