Inflation is the number one worry facing small business owners, says Department of Industry research. It follows in-house Privy Council polling that found Canadians seek tax cuts to compensate for the rising cost of living: "Those most likely to rate the cost of goods and services as their biggest challenge included businesses with two to four employees."
Federal regulators yesterday said it will take years to finalize rules compelling Facebook to pay for free links to news stories in Canada. Facebook has already suspended all links under Bill C-18 the Online News Act: "The business would be over."
Employers who fired unvaccinated employees merely reflected the “prevailing community view,” a British Columbia labour arbitrator has ruled. Dismissal was reasonable if divisive, he said: "At the time the policy was a good faith promotion of health."
Cabinet conducted research into energy labeling of houses, records show. The Privy Council polled homebuyers on whether they would support EnerGuide labeling given worries over the high cost of fuel: "Participants were asked if it would be important for them to see the EnerGuide label when deciding to purchase a home."
Fewer than a third of Canadians have “high trust” in the federal government, says in-house research by the Public Health Agency. Only “large media organizations” and celebrities scored lower on a trust scale: 'Be honest and admit your mistakes.'
Parliament must be recalled to avert a looming mortgage crisis, Opposition Leader Pierre Poilievre said yesterday. “The vacation is over,” said Poilievre, who described conditions as a “housing hell.”
Rents for tenants who signed new leases typically run to $1,360 a month on a national average, Statistics Canada said yesterday. A third of Canadians are renters, wrote analysts: "Good luck finding a $1,700 apartment in any urban centre in the country right now."
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau yesterday said cabinet must sell the Trans Mountain Pipeline but stopped short of repeating earlier promises to turn a profit for taxpayers. The Budget Office has ruled out any profit from the pipeline’s sale: "Do you need to prepare taxpayers for having to take a write-down on this?"
At least 45 percent of Canadians and likely many more contracted Covid, says a Public Health Agency report. The true infection rate was much higher than a federal forecast used to justify lockdowns and other restrictions: "I think they recognize how stupid that is."
Cabinet’s promise of “$15 billion of savings” does not mean federal spending will be cut by $15 billion, Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland said yesterday. “Savings” meant spending would be redirected from some programs to others, Freeland told reporters: "It is not new savings."
Canadians oppose cabinet’s “safe supply” drug policy, says in-house Privy Council research. The experimental decriminalization of opioids, cocaine and other narcotics for personal use in British Columbia only led to more drug addiction, said federal focus groups: "Many were of the view that rising rates of addiction had contributed to increased crime."
The CBC does not track corrections to its news stories despite a stated commitment to transparency. CBC News in a statement said only corrections considered “notable” are acknowledged under a 2021 policy: "We need the public to feel safe, that we are a beacon for that truth."
Small businesses took an average of more than a quarter million in debt financing last year, says a Department of Industry report. Borrowing occurred as insolvencies rose with the reopening of bankruptcy courts: "How many businesses appear and disappear each year?"
The fine print in Air Passenger Protection Regulations saved WestJet $500 at a British Columbia tribunal. Compensation for poor service by its subsidiary Swoop Inc. was payable at a lesser “small carrier” rate, an arbitrator ruled: "I do not agree an airline having a subsidiary is a ‘malicious loophole.'"
Nearly half of mortgage holders are going deeper in debt to keep up home loan payments after ten interest rate hikes, says a federal agency. “Two thirds of mortgage holders report having trouble meeting their financial commitments,” said the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada: "Homeowners with mortgages are stressed."
