The Department of Natural Resources has completed a confidential analysis on potential “negative economic impacts” of the national carbon tax on forest products companies and other sectors. Staff yesterday would not release the study. Forestry mills put costs at up to $275 million a year: "For some mill operators it will have a significant impact."
The Department of Public Works proposes to waive prosecution of corporate criminals as too costly and time-consuming. Federal agencies earlier dismissed sanctions against Canada’s largest engineering firm for offshore bribery and illegal campaign contributions: "I don’t want a bureaucrat to simply be able to cut a deal behind closed doors."
New Environment Canada regulations on a common coolant will cost supermarkets, appliance distributors and foam manufacturers the equivalent of $100 million a year. Cabinet yesterday served notice the greenhouse gas rules will take effect in 2018: "Upfront costs would be incurred in some cases."
The RCMP yesterday told a Senate committee that privacy breaches are not a police matter. Research by the Privacy Commissioner concluded Canadians want to see penalties for the loss, theft or unauthorized use of personal information: "While unfortunate, it's not necessarily a crime."
Cabinet says it will rewrite an Access To Information bill dubbed regressive by MPs and the federal Information Commissioner. The bill tightens disclosure of public records despite a 2015 Ministerial Mandate promise to make documents open by default: "You promised to be different."
A Yellowknife court has awarded a $50,000 judgment for defamation in the case of an office hoax over a Smurf cartoon. Two staffers of a Tribal Council were fired over the 2015 incident: "Damages must reflect the harm done."
The Commons last night rejected a motion to negotiate a national pharmacare program with provinces. MPs dismissed the proposal by a vote of 246 to 43: "There are a lot of moving parts."
Liberal MPs are questioning the effectiveness of a federal anti-spam law. Members of the Commons industry committee yesterday heard complaints the 2014 regulations pester legitimate business without curbing malicious emails from foreign spammers: 'I'm wondering about the efficacy of the whole exercise.'
Unifor yesterday appealed to MPs to amend a cabinet bill exempting train crews from federal privacy law. The legislation, sought by crash investigators, mandates installation of video and voice recorders in locomotives: "It's going to hurt."
The Department of Finance says a Conservative bill offering tax credits to restore heritage buildings would merely subsidize corporations and wealthy homeowners. The bill, endorsed in principle by MPs, would cost $55 million a year: "Their default position is always 'no'."
The Canada Revenue Agency is seeking confidential records as part of an international probe of alleged tax evasion through Israel’s largest bank. Auditors filed Federal Court applications seeking client information at the Royal Bank, the Bank of Montreal and Toronto Dominion: 'The Minister seeks verification.'
Cabinet yesterday defended spending $212,234 on photos and artistic themes for its 2017 budget. The Department of Finance said the work was intended as a fresh, creative way of explaining its annual spending plans: “We are taking a much more focused approach.”
RCMP fear drug impaired driving will “increase steadily” if cannabis is legalized. Police expressed the worry in an in-house publication: "We don’t have the same body of research on drug impairment."
A historic RCMP union drive is delayed after Québec organizers opposed being absorbed into a single national bargaining agent. A bill passed by Parliament June 6 decreed only one union should represent regular members across the country: "They have the right to vote against it."
A private bill introduced in the Commons would create a new statutory federal holiday, National Indigenous People Day. A current symbolic observance is little known by most Canadians, according to government research: 'There are ramifications.'
