Canada Mortgage & Housing Corporation is investigating the “experiences of first-time buyers” amid the biggest run-up in mortgage debt in the country’s history. Home loans have grown ten-fold since 1982 to more than a trillion dollars. "We're keeping a close eye on what they're up to," said Finance Minister James Flaherty.
Regulators must restrict a Bell Canada “data grab” of customers' online activities, says a Conservative senator. The deputy chair of the communications committee questioned the practice of monitoring, compiling and marketing customers' internet profiles: "I find what they're doing disturbing."
The Department of Foreign Affairs is attempting to buy or lease a new embassy in Brussels, where taxpayers have been billed for five official residences at the same time – two of them vacant. The Belgian realty hunt is the latest by the department, which has made and lost money since being ordered to reduce its $208 million-a year property bill: "I recall some bad publicity."
Industry Canada is commissioning a survey on factory labour shortages. It follows a Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters’ poll that identified a chronic lack of skilled workers from engineers to welders: 'It's the most common barrier to growth.'
The Canadian Transportation Agency is accused of complex, legalistic proceedings “unfriendly” to travellers. A lawyer who pressed a successful claim against Air Canada said proceedings are too time-consuming and adversarial: "Passengers put up with it."
Railways are endorsing a Transport Safety Board proposal to upgrade thousands of obsolete tanks prone to puncture as in the fiery Lac-Mégantic wreck. An industry group requested new safety standards affecting two-thirds of the 92,000 tank cars used to ship flammable liquids: "The tank cars' weaknesses have been acknowledged."
Canadians’ Facebook pages, Twitter exchanges and YouTube videos are to be watched ‘round the clock by a surveillance division of the Department of Public Works. Authorities propose to keep an eye of “top influencers” at blogs and chatrooms. No targeted individuals or groups were named. Documents obtained by Blacklock's show agencies already spend millions monitoring newsrooms.
VIA Rail passenger service faces certain death outside Québec and Ontario without a new management plan, says the nation’s largest private sector union, Unifor. VIA's operating deficit is at 33.5 cents per mile: "We shouldn't fool ourselves."
The federal agency responsible for watching out for money laundering and terror financing is touting a banner year of 919 disclosures of “actionable” financial deals sent to investigation, and nearly 20 million transactions reported nationwide.
Canada Revenue faces the loss of a mammoth tax judgment against an oil company because it couldn’t prove it mailed a letter. The agency was cited by a federal judge after the Calgary Tax Office could not produce a simple date stamp as evidence it mailed a $4.6 million assessment notice: “Does this strike you as an example of a competent organization?”
10% of federal employees are “lazy”, “dead weight” staff, the Commons finance committee has been told. Conservative MP Brian Jean, a former Alberta Crown prosecutor, claimed public servants make themselves scarce at work to evade assignments: "'Hide and seek for a grand a week', that's what they called it."
An aging farm population has groups concerned over the greying one of Canada’s largest industries. Data show the average age of farmers is now 54. Census figures also show farmers have larger families, and are more likely to attend church than other Canadians: "Who's the next generation going to be?"
Fishing and farm critics say a tentative Euro trade pact may cost thousands of jobs. The Commons trade committee was told the repeal of protection measures for Atlantic processors will bring ruin. And a farm group expressed fear for the pork industry: "It's a great manipulation of public policy."
Canada’s information commissioner says widespread misuse of wireless devices by federal employees may violate the Access to Information Act. Instant messages exchanged on 98,000 government-issue BlackBerrys have been deleted despite obligations to preserve records: "It's not my job to train civil servants."
Transport Canada is being urged to release rail safety data amid claims of confidentiality by shippers. Members of the Commons transport committee said Safety Management Systems required of 35 federally-regulated railways are needlessly secretive: "That's how it's been working forever in this country."
