The Transportation Safety Board yesterday said federally-mandated workplace cameras for rail crews should not impact employee privacy, but added safeguards will have to wait for regulations. Members of the Senate transport committee questioned a need for video surveillance: "I have to be convinced on this."
Cabinet will delay a bill guaranteeing prompt payment to federal contractors in favour of more consultation, officials say. The bill’s sponsor yesterday said any plea for time is inexcusable: "Every witness we heard said further consultation is useless."
The Senate yesterday voted to launch a first-ever parliamentary review of regulations governing charities, including tax credits. The credits are worth $2.3 billion annually, according to the Parliamentary Budget Office: "Questions need to be answered."
The Commons last night gave Second Reading to a bill mandating anti-harassment policies at federally-regulated jobsites. “It’s been a crisis for a long time,” said Labour Minister Patricia Hajdu: "Time's up. It's time to take action."
Former Supreme Court Chief Justice Beverly McLachlin in a 2016 letter to cabinet cited self-represented litigants as a security threat. McLachlin asked cabinet for more RCMP protection at a cost of $1 million a year. The correspondence was obtained through Access To Information: 'One-third of the applications are filed by self-represented litigants.'
A federal agency has suffered a key setback in a first-ever investigation of contracting at Canadian airports. The Federal Court of Appeal cited the Competition Bureau for concealing thousands of documents, its "entire case", from the Vancouver Airport Authority: "What happened? Who did what? How was it done? Why?"
Cabinet will not meet its own target to improve vaccination rates, according to Public Health Agency data. Actual numbers of Canadians who get a seasonal shot remain far below an 80 percent target set in 2001: "The effectiveness of the vaccine can wear off."
The Department of Employment complains millions of children are not enrolled in a federal program offering free grants to help pay college or university costs. Parliament has paid out grants since 1998: 'Promotion is essential.'
Ex-Minister of Sport Kent Hehr in correspondence to the Commons heritage committee said federal initiatives must assist female athletes with “low confidence”, “poor body image” and “fear of judgment”. The letter is to be tabled today in the Commons. Hehr signed it a week before leaving cabinet over allegations he commented on a woman’s breasts, and told another: “You’re yummy.”
The Senate should not be pressured into meeting cabinet’s July 1 deadline to repeal a ban on recreational cannabis, says a Conservative legislator. The Senate’s legal and constitutional affairs committee opens hearings Wednesday on the first of two marijuana bills: "We will probably have amendments."
The Department of National Defence has issued 19 pages of specifications on how to run a chow hall, including a definition of “buffet” and the diameter of cookies. The military has been cited for needlessly complex specs in the past: 'Buffet is a meal service that consists of the customers picking up their meals from a serving line where the food is served to them.'
CMHC will spend up to $6 million on data for cabinet’s National Housing Strategy, including a country-wide count of homeless. Legislation mandating aid for social housing and rental subsidies is expected this year: 'Make sure public resources are used to create things that work.'
Poet Shai Ben-Shalom, an Israeli-born biologist, examines current events in the Blacklock’s tradition each and every Sunday: “Obesity in Canada tripled in 30 years. Eight million affected. The federal government develops an online tool…”
An appeal court has ruled companies may fire staff that take marijuana to work. Employers have sought amendments to cabinet’s cannabis legalization bill to permit enforcement of company drug bans: "A person must have their wits about them."
A federal tribunal has cited South Korean mills for steel dumping in Canada. Liberal MPs this winter propose the Commons industry committee open hearings on unfair practices in the trade: 'There have been massive layoffs; it's had a huge impact.'
