The current Copyright Act leaves Canadian creators with the shortest term of protection in the G7, music publishers yesterday told the Commons heritage committee. The industry asked MPs to extend copyright from 50 to 70 years following the death of a creator: "We are behind."
The Department of Justice in a secret memo says the country faces a shortage of legal marijuana, and expects drug dealers will meet market demand for several years if Parliament passes Bill C-45. “A full transition to the new market will take time,” said a 2017 Memorandum To The Deputy Minister: "Can you confirm there will be sufficient supply on July 1?"
The Conservative chair of the Senate transport committee yesterday said he will seek public hearings on cabinet’s $4.5 billion decision to nationalize the Trans Mountain pipeline. New Democrats have also proposed Commons committee hearings on the deal scheduled to be finalized by August: "Will the feds absorb the extra costs?"
Transport Minister Marc Garneau yesterday said cabinet will detail its delayed electric car plan by year’s end. Analysts including the Department of Industry have cautioned electrics are unlikely to play a significant role in meeting federal emission targets: "There is a lot of work to be done."
Federal departments and agencies spent more than half a billion dollars on lawyers last year including $72 million in private legal fees to outside counsel, according to records. The spending followed appointment of a cabinet committee to oversee litigation strategy: "I’m just trying to keep the government accountable."
Criminal lawyers accuse cabinet of skewing crime statistics to justify a new gun bill. Witnesses at the Commons public safety committee said new regulations are unnecessary: "This legislation creates new criminal offences where none were needed."
New Democrats yesterday proposed full committee hearings on cabinet’s decision to nationalize an interprovincial pipeline. The Commons industry committee must investigate the impact of the Trans Mountain purchase on taxpayers and industry, said one MP: "It's not much of a plan."
Free copying has cost 1,000 publishing jobs in the past five years, the Canadian Publishers’ Council yesterday told the Commons industry committee. Publishers of books and newspapers appealed to MPs to tighten the Copyright Act to halt the practice: 'Our members reduced their workforce five percent each and every year.'
Canada’s music industry has lost billions from unpaid use of songs and outright copyright theft, Music Canada yesterday told the Commons heritage committee. The testimony came as the Department of Industry detailed research indicating 26 percent of Canadian internet users admit to accessing illegal content because “it’s what everyone else does”.
Federal agencies earned 61¢ on the dollar in the sale of used vehicles, equipment and other goods last year, the Auditor General reported yesterday. The investigation concluded most agencies it audited did not bother to determine whether it made sense to auction goods: 'They might not have made the best decision.'
The most generous charitable donors in Canada are older churchgoers, according to Statistics Canada data submitted to a Senate committee. The proportion of givers overall has remained static for a decade, officials said: 'The biggest donors are older, but also more likely to participate frequently in religious activities.'
Provinces would gain a legal right to ban home cultivation of marijuana under a vote yesterday by the Senate social affairs committee. Two provinces to date – Manitoba and Québec – have already proposed to outlaw homegrown marijuana: "All of a sudden we're in an awful hurry."
Members of the Commons finance committee yesterday criticized a federal bank watchdog for timid protection of consumer rights. “You’re not seen as protecting the little guy,” said Liberal MP Wayne Easter, committee chair: "We have a real problem."
Geological Survey of Canada research links fracking with minor earthquake activity. The findings echo a 2012 report by the British Columbia Oil and Gas Commission: "Is it putting communities at risk?"
Alberta’s highest court has ordered the National Post to pay an uncommonly high $450,000 cost award for publishing a defamatory column a decade ago. The Court of Appeal faulted Post lawyers for failing to promptly disclose evidence involving the article by then-columnist Don Martin: “OMG it’s all bad.”
