Public Safety Canada has no reliable estimate on the scope and cost of organized crime, says new research. Ad hoc estimates put revenues in the tens of billions: "Organized crime remains underreported."
The Senate has voted in support of a Canada 150 medal honouring Indigenous peoples as creators of a “better Canada”. Heritage Minister Mélanie Joly last year vetoed plans for a commemorative medallion marking the 2017 sesquicentennial: "What are we ashamed of?"
Federal agencies cannot define “green jobs” though they’ve promised to create thousands of them, says an Access To Information memo. “What is a green job?” said the 2016 report to the Minister of the Environment.
The Commons last night approved legislation to halt landfilling of mercury light bulbs within three years. The private bill passed without dissent after MPs deleted a requirement that Environment Canada mandate a safe disposal program on the provinces: "The bill provides guidance."
Federal regulators know of at least 47 cases of lost or stolen radioactive devices since 2013, says the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission. The “sealed sources” including gauges and meters containing radium, cesium, strontium and other materials: "Cesium is particularly long-lived and extremely dangerous if it is released."
Parks Canada faces a $50,000 federal lawsuit by an ex-manager who alleges discrimination on the basis of bilingualism. The retired executive claims he was denied French training, then demoted: "He felt hopeless and betrayed."
Federal agencies must review the impact of aquaculture on one of Canada’s iconic wild fish species, say MPs. The Commons fisheries committee yesterday said coastal fish farms may threaten Atlantic salmon. MPs also urged a government cull of grey seals in the name of conservation: "We were not going to tiptoe around the issue."
Dozens of allegations of fraud in civil service exams have been investigated by the Public Service Commission since 2015, say Access To Information records. At least seven cases were referred to the RCMP. The disclosures follow Court documents indicating at least five percent of applicants cheated in one Transport Canada exam: 'We have turned the other cheek time and time again.'
Canadians have lied on Census forms in protest over intrusive questioning, says a Conservative MP. Cabinet questioned the claim as the Commons took up Second Reading on a bill amending the Statistics Act: "They told me they were lying."
Less than a third of new junior executives hired by federal departments are able to complete their work during business hours, says a survey. The questionnaire was completed by $120,000-a year managers: 'Challenges are faced in their new executive role.'
Cabinet can expect challenges under free trade rules and the Trademarks Act if it mandates plain packaging of tobacco, says a Health Canada report. The department proposes to enact an Australian-style law mandating that cigarettes be sold in uniformly drab packaging: 'It would set a precedent for other consumer goods.'
Cabinet is bracing for punishing duties of up to 55 percent on Canadian softwood lumber exports to the U.S. The Department of Natural Resources said it requires immediate market data on the impact of cross-border taxes with the expiry of a lumber agreement: "We’re talking about complete communities being wiped out."
Canadians spend more attending funerals and buying lottery tickets than they do on newspapers, says new federal data. Household spending on print news fell 44 percent in three years: "What went wrong?"
Four of five Great Lakes will be infested with destructive Asian carp without quick and costly countermeasures, says a federal risk assessment. Native fish species and birds are threatened, officials said: "There is no upside to this."
The Department of Public Safety has awarded a $100,000 sole-sourced contract for research on climate change impacts on infrastructure. Authorities last year began a rewrite of the National Building Code to account for risks due to heavier snowfall, melting permafrost and flash flooding: "The future is at stake."
