Federal regulators are giving telecom firms one year to adopt filters to block so-called “spoofing” calls using fake identification. Failure to voluntarily comply will result in regulation, said the CRTC: "There is no silver bullet here."
A privacy commissioner recommends lawyers secure unattended briefcases with bicycle locks following an incident at a Saskatchewan courthouse. Personal files of a Legal Aid client vanished at court with five lawyers and a clerk in the room: 'Electronic records would be much easier.'
The Office of the Commissioner of Lobbying says it will keep special funding approved by Parliament last year to defend an investigation it never finished. The agency yesterday offered no refund for hundreds of thousands of dollars it appropriated for work it failed to complete: "We really need this funding."
Cabinet is proposing Canada Post cut daily mail delivery. Savings would average more than $70 million a year if service was reduced to every second day, according to federal consultants: "We really had high hopes."
Nearly three quarters of senior federal managers, 70 percent, say they’ve thought of quitting, says new research by the Association of Professional Executives of the Public Service. A detailed survey of thousands of executives also found 13 percent are problem drinkers, and 19 percent complained they were “verbally harassed or tormented at work”.
Cabinet faces a legal test over refusal to make timely disclosure of documents under the Access To Information Act. A federal lawsuit by a leading law firm cites the Department of Employment for disregarding statutory deadlines in releasing public records: “You just scratch your head.”
More Canadians die from air pollution than traffic or industrial accidents combined, says new Department of Health research. The number of deaths attributed to smog and other pollution is more than double original estimates from 2004: "The underlying science is consistent."
Incidents of drug-impaired driving increased 11 percent in 2016 as cabinet began its review of new marijuana legislation, say Statistics Canada figures. The Department of Justice in an Access To Information memo cautioned rates may rise further if cannabis is legalized: "It's going to get worse, there is no question."
Cabinet is targeting home fireplaces and wood-burning stoves in its climate change plan. The Department of the Environment said federal emission standards on crackling fires will help achieve climate goals: "Targeted efforts will now be undertaken."
Rideau Hall sanctioned an award for the chairman emeritus of George Weston Ltd. eleven days after the company admitted to a bread price-fixing scheme. The Office of the Governor General declined comment on the honour: 'This is a personal gift of the Sovereign.'
A schoolteacher has filed a federal lawsuit against the Canada Border Services Agency after officers impounded his car and revoked his Nexus card for failing to declare $120 in gifts. The Federal Court in a separate 2017 case ruled a travelers' honest mistake is no excuse for breaching the Customs Act: "What they did was cowboy stuff."
Treasury Board memos describe unlicensed Uber cars as “illegal” but stop short of refusing to reimburse expense claims by federal employees who use the discount service. Emails released through Access To Information show staff agonized over how to characterize Uber: "It occupies a grey area."
The cost of government regulations has declined since Parliament passed a 2013 bill to cut red tape, says research by the Canadian Federation of Independent Business. The group said costs remain high, in the billions, and fall disproportionately on small operators: "I would not advise my children to start a business."
A beautician who had thousands in savings seized by the Canada Border Services Agency has lost a Federal Court lawsuit to recover her money. A judge ruled the cross-border traveler failed to prove the cash kept in a grocery bag was not the proceeds of crime: 'It came from the recent sale of her nail salon.'
Vaccines used by fish farmers may be ineffective, says new research co-authored by University of Waterloo biologists: "If we want to eat fish, we need to do a little more work."
