Petitioners yesterday demanded Environment Canada detail its dealings with a U.S. company licensed to sell genetically-modified salmon. Corporate filings confirm AquaBounty Technologies Inc. is to pay 10 percent royalties to the government after receiving federal funding: "The government could opt for greater transparency."
The Department of Finance in an Access To Information memo expresses worry over public hoarding of hundred-dollar bills. The number of $100 banknotes printed but never deposited with banks is “above average” said the memo.
The Department of Health will spend nearly $900,000 to measure Canadians’ tolerance to extreme heat attributed to climate change. Federal data show cold, not heat, kills more Canadians: "Cold temperatures have a physiological impact on the human body."
A federal watchdog has fined an unidentified bank $350,000 for deliberately misleading customers over the cost of loans. The Federal Consumer Agency of Canada would not name the bank though it can do so: "A significant number of customers were impacted."
Declassified 1979 cabinet minutes indicate then-Prime Minister Joe Clark was preoccupied with media coverage – one newspaper column was raised over and over in cabinet – and seemed “buoyant about the prospects” of winning re-election in 1980: "The outlook was good."
The Commons fisheries committee is commissioning another study on aquaculture, nearly identical to a 2016 review by a Senate panel. The latest study follows an audit by the Environment Commissioner that complained the fisheries department failed to protect wild fish stocks from industrial-scale salmon farming: "I talk to industry people, I’m left with more questions than answers."
Poet Shai Ben-Shalom, an Israeli-born biologist, examines current events in the Blacklock’s tradition each and every Sunday: “In West Ottawa, lives are disrupted by forces of nature. Over a hundred homes damaged. Affluent suburbs turned into rubble…”
Parks Canada has quietly shelved a planned tribute to a pre-war governor general dubbed a Nazi appeaser. The tribute to John Buchan was cancelled due to “sensitive historical associations”, according to agency records.
Illegal immigration cost federal agencies nearly $370 million this year, the Parliamentary Budget Office said yesterday. A Conservative MP who requested the data noted figures did not include millions spent by provinces on food, housing and education: "We finally have those numbers, and they are staggering."
Statistics Canada is measuring Canadians’ use of opiates and narcotics using sewage samples. Early results of a $600,000 wastewater test for marijuana use were released yesterday: "The most important thing is to see trends over time."
A federal judge has faulted the RCMP for refusing to hire a diabetic cadet. Workplace discrimination against high-functioning diabetics is commonplace, said Diabetes Canada: "Maybe it’s a misunderstanding of what diabetes means."
Witnesses yesterday pointed to new World Health Organization noise data in urging the Commons transport committee to propose a ban on night flights at Canadian airports. Aircraft noise is a public health issue, MPs were told: "Should public health agencies have a role in that? Absolutely."
The Department of Canadian Heritage is reviewing a proposal to monitor truth in election-year reporting and “expose” coverage considered inaccurate. The initiative follows a Liberal cabinet plan to subsidize newsrooms it deems trustworthy. Elections Canada already enforces a statutory ban on campaign falsehoods: ‘Canadians don’t want their money being used to favour one particular news organization over another.’
The Senate will not disclose the cost of out-of-court settlements of harassment claims by ex-staff. At least one case went to Federal Court, involving an employee who said she was driven to tears by an abusive boss: "How much?"
The labour department says it cannot estimate the cost of its Pay Equity Act. A single arbitrator’s ruling to compensate underpaid women mail carriers cost Canada Post $550 million, by official estimate: "Pay equity can’t be achieved through reducing salaries."
