The Senate by a vote of 49 to 46 last night passed into law a cabinet bill to restrict oil tanker traffic on the Pacific Coast. Oil-producing Prairie provinces opposed the bill as discriminatory, noting it does not apply to the majority of tanker traffic in Atlantic Canada: "There is a glaring double standard."
Unpaid taxes may total billions more than Canada Revenue Agency claims, the Parliamentary Budget Officer yesterday reported. Analysts counted nearly a trillion a year in electronic cash transfers by Canadian corporations to offshore accounts that had the effect of avoiding tax payments: "The figures are absolutely mind-blowing."
The Senate yesterday passed into law a rewritten Access To Information Act dismissed as worse than Bulgaria’s. Cabinet did not fulfill a 2015 promise to grant Canadians access to records held by cabinet, the House of Commons or Senate: "There is no way to sugar-coat that."
Senate Ethics Officer Pierre Legault yesterday claimed a right to covertly browse legislators’ personal email accounts without notice or consent. One senator described Legault’s conduct as “disgraceful”.
The Commons defence committee yesterday recommended the military spend more on recruitment to meet equity targets. Defence department research shows most women and visible minorities surveyed are not attracted to military life: "A conventional view on military service is that it is a career of last resort."
The Senate has passed into law a cabinet bill to curb animal fighting for sport. Proponents called it a “small effort” leading to tougher animal protection laws in the next Parliament: "Canada’s criminal animal cruelty provisions are a century out of date."
Parliament has given final approval to a rewritten Fisheries Act that expands protection of habitat. Cabinet accused Conservatives of “gutting” protections seven years ago: "Those are not the types of actions Canadians want."
The Commons natural resources committee yesterday scheduled a single hour of hearings on the $12 billion Trans Mountain Pipeline expansion project. Conservatives sought the hearing – the only one to date – after cabinet repeatedly rejected public scrutiny of costs: "Taxpayers have a right to know."
Health Minister Ginette Petitpas Taylor yesterday said she’s disappointed cabinet will not fulfill a 2015 promise to ban junk food advertising to children. Access To Information memos indicate Petitpas Taylor’s department privately feared lawsuits if it enforced the ban that would cost advertisers nearly a billion a year: "I really thought it was going to be okay."
Cabinet’s National Housing Strategy is less than promised, the Parliamentary Budget Office said yesterday. Analysts said the self-described “ambitious $40 billion plan” includes billions in old funding, and billions more that are unlikely to be spent: 'It's not clear it will reduce housing need.'
The Commons government operations committee yesterday urged federal employers to set quotas to promote hiring of veterans. MPs faulted Veterans Affairs Canada for failing to honour an employment bill passed by Parliament four years ago: "There is a disconnect."
The Canada Revenue Agency yesterday estimated $26 billion a year in federal tax is never collected, a figure dubbed suspiciously low by critics. The Parliamentary Budget Office tomorrow will release its first independent analysis of unpaid taxes: "Why would we believe their low-ball numbers?"
The Senate last night fell in stunned silence after a Conservative senator disclosed administrators tried to access her personal email account in a covert operation. Senate Ethics Office Pierre Legault, a lawyer bound by a professional integrity code, was involved in the operation, the Senate was told: "We have a Senate Ethics Officer acting unethically."
Environment Minister Catherine McKenna used a car and chauffeur to attend a meeting to promote public transit, records show. McKenna sponsored a Commons motion to declare a national emergency on climate change that is “killing people”, she said: "It's not the flavour of the month."
More than 4 in 10 Canadians think criminal courts are unfair, according to Department of Justice research. Release of the findings follows complaints of political interference in the prosecution of SNC-Lavalin Group Inc. on fraud and bribery charges: "Canadians appear to be apprehensive."
