Cabinet rejected a historic plaque for a 19th century Newfoundland bishop after a federal panel concluded his objective was to “grow the Catholic Church”, according to Access To Information records. The veto followed the Church’s rejection of a request by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau that it apologize for Indian Residential Schools: "Nothing can be immune from review."
Municipalities are annually dumping nearly 400 billion gallons of raw sewage, says the Department of the Environment. Québec led all other provinces in discharging sewage that failed to meet federal regulations for water safety: "Why do we have them if they are not regulated?"
The Federal Court of Appeal has brought a quiet close to fourteen years of litigation by a grief-stricken family in an immigration case. Judges dismissed a claim for $300 million in damages by Chinese parents who lost their only son to suicide hours after he was ordered deported from Canada: "Schizophrenia is one of the most widely misunderstood and feared illnesses in society."
Cabinet’s signature ecological program is so haphazard federal agencies did not spend millions budgeted to enforce it, says a Department of Transport audit. The $1.5 billion Oceans Protection Plan was launched in 2016; auditors counted numerous staff meetings but few results: "We could not verify who attended meetings."
Federal departments and agencies last year spent more than $4 million hiring private investigators to probe in-house harassment complaints. The spending followed Parliament's passage of an anti-harassment bill: 'Harassment can be bullying or yelling at employees repeatedly.'
A St. John’s company manager who said joining a union was “like being in bed with the mafia” has been cited for unfair labour practices. Union organizers are entitled to work without “negative and disparaging statements”, ruled the Newfoundland & Labrador Labour Relations Board: "Misunderstandings and neglect cause more mischief in the world than malice and wickedness."
More than a third of Canadians with disabilities, 38 percent, say they routinely endure barriers ranging from wheelchair-inaccessible elevators to difficulty at airports. The Department of Social Development conducted the national survey after Parliament passed a bill mandating accessibility: "There is a huge group of Canadians who have been held back."
Environment Canada will not confirm the impact of its national carbon tax on greenhouse gas emissions. Limited data briefly disclosed by the department suggest emissions increased by millions of tonnes in 2018 even as Parliament imposed the tax: "What is the number?"
A federal agency approved a $100,000 subsidy to open a private marijuana store two hundred metres from an elementary school, records show. Bankrolling of a cannabis outlet in the remote village of Carmacks, Yukon was to “benefit Aboriginal people” on a promise one job would be created: "It helps."
The Department of Public Works confirms it will not prohibit SNC-Lavalin Group from bidding on federal projects, marking the end of a Government-Wide Integrity Regime blacklist intended to punish contractors found guilty of wrongdoing. Blacklisting was launched five years ago on a promise that contractors would be “accountable for their misconduct”.
Media leaks may breach privacy laws, says a commissioner. The warning came in the case of a municipal librarian in Regina who gave a local reporter the names of visitors banned for drunkenness: "Individuals may feel hurt or humiliated."
Poet Shai Ben-Shalom, an Israeli-born biologist, examines current events in the Blacklock’s tradition each and every Sunday: “The Mayor says those who oppose privatization probably oppose the metric system too. I wonder how the Mayor orders a foot-long at Subway..”
Visit any children’s library and you’ll quickly learn the masculine ideal for Canadian boys is a burly figure in uniform – hockey player, fireman, cowboy – and the feminine ideal for girls is the ballerina. The Evolving Feminine Ballet Body counts some 30 children’s books illustrating “the belief that active bodies are thin, healthy bodies”. This is fascinating.
Editors and contributors examine perceptions of femininity through the magnifying lens of classical dance. They are not ballet critics; they number dancers, instructors and sociologists. Yet the conclusions are stark.
Taxpayer-funded filling stations subsidized under a $226 million climate change program average as few as one or two customers a day, says a federal audit. The Department of Natural Resources questioned whether its national network of electric car recharging stations will ever be profitable: "It's an interesting question."
Canadian diplomats in Ethiopia hid the $145,000 cost of a party pavilion in their budget, then complained they didn’t have enough money to fix the air conditioning. Auditors concluded staff at the embassy in Addis Ababa lied about the spending “to avoid non-approval”.
