Cabinet has again delayed reforms to its $98.7 million-a year subsidy for Arctic grocers. Changes to the Nutrition North program had been promised by year’s end: "There’s an abysmal lack of action around the issue of Nutrition North."
Staff inertia and lobbyists’ meddling compromised a two-year federal campaign to identify a distinctive, world-class, all-Canadian meal, according to Access To Information records. The Department of Industry has yet to show any results of its search for the one national cuisine: "Unfortunately, this process is taking a little longer than expected."
Federal agencies have hired fewer than 600 people to date under a 2015 program to promote jobs for medically-released veterans, by official estimate. One official said government recruiters offered ready-made jobs to athletes at the 2017 Invictus Games but had no takers: "I'm not satisfied."
Canadian manufacturers have been left to “work things out” in the tariff dispute with the U.S., says one auto parts maker. The Department of Finance on July 1 imposed duties on U.S. steel, aluminum and consumer goods in retaliation for American tariffs: "It's not ideal but it's the situation we're in."
A tree-killing Asian beetle first detected in Canada 16 years ago has now spread through half the provinces, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency confirms. The emerald ash borer is blamed for billions in damage from Manitoba to Nova Scotia: "The new finding is a first."
A human rights tribunal has awarded nearly $18,000 in damages to an employee fired after just three months on the job. The employer went too far in dismissing the woman without cause after she suffered a medical emergency, an adjudicator said: "I became very discouraged."
The Commons trade committee yesterday rejected a New Democrat proposal to account for job gains and losses in a new Pacific trade pact. The Senate trade committee in 2017 made a similar proposal in the name of transparency: "Don't be sorry to me, be sorry to Canadians."
Members of the Commons heritage committee yesterday praised “sensible recommendations” to rewrite the Copyright Act to reward creators. Performers complained they earn pennies from internet downloads and radio play: “It’s our job to be in your corner.”
It takes the Government of Canada nearly 7 months to hire fresh outside applicants for job postings, says the Public Service Commission. Members of the Commons government operations committee yesterday questioned whether hiring is skewed to favour insiders: "I do want to talk about nepotism."
A majority of municipal and business leaders say climate change is not a “significant challenge”, according to in-house research by the Department of Natural Resources. Only 8 percent of executives and 11 percent of city managers rated changing climate as “one of the most significant challenges my organization faces”.
Only 3 percent of federal buildings nationwide are named from women, according to the Department of Public Works. The figures were disclosed at the request of a Liberal Senator who noted little has changed in the past decade: "What if any progress has been made?"
The Department of Public Safety yesterday ordered fresh research on the use and sale of cannabis just weeks ahead of cabinet’s October 17 deadline to legalize the drug. Critics have accused the department of rushing to repeal a 95-year ban on recreational marijuana without adequate study: "We're really just rolling the dice."
The Commons yesterday opened debate on a cabinet bill to compel federally-regulated employers to accommodate the disabled under threat of federal fines. Details will be left to regulation once Parliament passes the bill into law, said Public Works Minister Carla Qualtrough: "The bill provides real teeth."
The Department of Public safety paid a cable TV personality $133,000 as a “social media influencer”, according to accounts. Staff did not comment on payments to HGTV host Bryan Baeumler for a series of short YouTube videos including tips on how to clean eavestroughing: "Set your ladder on level ground and wear gloves."
A labour tribunal has rejected a compensation claim for hearing loss from 43 years’ exposure to photocopiers. A retired administrative assistant blamed the daily click and whine of copy machines for her partial deafness and tinnitus: 'They were very large and noisy printers.'
