A federal labour board has upheld the firing of a government shipping clerk accused of poisoning co-workers’ drinking water with Javex bleach. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency employee was acquitted at trial: "People in the basement don't really like each other."
Tax Court has ruled litigants have no automatic right to privacy even if case details are personally embarrassing. A judge dismissed a claim by one taxpayer who feared publication made him look like an incompetent businessman: "The right of the public to access the courts is considered one of necessity rather than convenience."
An Ottawa lawyer is attempting to certify a federal class action lawsuit over government pension errors. An estimated 250,000 employees and retirees, mainly women, are affected by mistakes in calculating benefits, according to a Federal Court application: “It is best not to discuss any of this.”
Nearly two-thirds of Canadians, 63 percent, skipped Veterans’ Week observances despite millions spent on a federal ad campaign, new data show. A bill awaiting a Third Reading vote in the Commons would designate November 11 a legal holiday: "Why?"
Federal Court for the second time in two months has cited the Department of Employment for poor enforcement of migrant labour rules. The latest judgment follows a critical audit that complained of weak management of the Temporary Foreign Worker Program: "The most basic requirements were not met in this case."
Saskatchewan’s Court of Appeal has struck down a contract that saw a First Nation billed $450 an hour with bonuses for negotiating a federal land claim. Courts will “not tolerate any sharp practice” by attorneys, a judge wrote: "A client should not need to verify the truth of what their lawyer is telling them."
More than a quarter of Canadians, 27 percent, say they’ve driven under the influence of cannabis, according to federal research obtained through Access To Information. The findings should prompt cabinet to delay a bill to legalize marijuana, said an MP: 'The mixed messages are troubling.'
Environmental groups are rated more trustworthy than pesticide manufacturers or the Minister of Health, says an in-house federal study. Nearly a third of Canadians surveyed, 30 percent, said they had no confidence in the agency responsible for monitoring pesticides: "They tended to focus on the negative."
The Liberal chair of the Commons finance committee is questioning a budget proposal to perpetually increase user fees by the annual inflation rate. Automatic revenue gains strip incentives for government to become more efficient, said MP Wayne Easter: "That's one of the problems I have with this approach."
The Canada Revenue Agency spent the equivalent of more than $400,000 apiece on political audits of the Canadian Council of Churches and other charities, data show. One MP said the costly investigations looked like a witch hunt: "They wanted to put these people out of business."
Blacklock’s pauses for the Victoria Day holiday with best wishes to subscribers and friends. We’re back tomorrow — The Editor.
Poet Shai Ben-Shalom, an Israeli-born biologist, examines current events in the Blacklock’s tradition each and every Sunday: “It was a fairy tale game. The Icelandic soccer team beat England…”
An Access To Information memo says federal agencies have simply ignored a 2004 law requiring transparency on user fees. A former MP who wrote the Act said non-compliance was inexplicable: "How can you not comply with an Act of Parliament?"
Canadians will pay more for home heating, driving and air travel under a federal carbon tax, says a Technical Paper. Only “certain farming activities” – not specified – will be exempt from the tax. Environment Canada said details will be spelled out in pending legislation: "Canadians across this country support action on climate change."
MPs yesterday made short work of a Conservative bill on border regulations prompted by an international incident. The Commons took just 36 minutes to approve the bill in principle at Second Reading and refer it to committee: "Canadians are kind, welcoming and fair; we are not aggressors."
