The industry department in a secret 2016 memo discussed a “Buy Canada” policy to aid the steel industry. The Access To Information memo cited “near-crisis conditions” due to dumping of China-made products: "Conditions are not expected to improve."
Pay and benefits for federal employees will be scrutinized under a new Treasury Board study. The Board will spend $1.9 million to review civil servants’ salaries as collective agreements expire, and compare costs to private employers: "There's some tension there."
Ottawa could sue any province that mandates labeling of the first genetically modified animal, say Access To Information memos to Agriculture Minister Lawrence MacAulay. Memos said cabinet may launch a constitutional challenge, though government research shows most Canadians favour mandatory labels: 'It may revive domestic pressures to change Canada’s labeling regime for GM foods.'
Canada’s Public Sector Integrity Commissioner breached a whistleblower’s rights in dismissing claims of reprisal, a federal judge has ruled. Commissioner Joe Friday did not comment. The case followed allegations the government in 2013 told staff to deny legitimate Employment Insurance claims: 'The Commissioner violated procedural fairness rights.'
Federal regulators are detailing the first new rules under a food safety bill that passed Parliament five years ago. Processors, importers and retailers would be required to buy $250 permits and keep electronic records to more quickly trace tainted products: "It's not acceptable."
The Canada Revenue Agency logs more than 2,000 complaints a year of misdirected tax mail, including hundreds of privacy breaches. The Access To Information disclosures follow three lawsuits in three years by taxpayers who successfully challenged reassessments due to lost mail: "The Minister owes a duty of fairness to all taxpayers."
Citizenship Canada is hiking its photography budget for “creative and emotive” images of its new minister. The department budgeted $45,000 for photos this year after spending $10,010 in 2016: 'Pictures need to be attractive to the general public and media.'
The Government of Canada has spent six figures in a $1,231 dispute over a Canada Pension Plan deduction, says a British Columbia complainant. The pensioner filed a federal lawsuit seeking return of his benefits: "Where does the money go?"
Environment Canada is testing Arctic mammals for toxic polychlorinated biphenyls 40 years after cabinet banned PCB production nationwide. Samples from mammal blubber will help track global pollution, the department said: 'Contaminants have been stored for years in snow and ice.'
Any tax gains from legalized marijuana will be offset by higher policing and enforcement costs, say Department of Public Safety memos. The Access To Information documents confirmed the findings of the Parliamentary Budget Office that forecast little net financial gain from decriminalizing cannabis: 'Keep the price point low to dissuade illegal production and trafficking.'
Federal agencies are unprepared for cyberattacks due to aging technology and poor coordination, says a government managers' periodical. The warning follows newly-released Access To Information files acknowledging federal systems are “coming under attack”.
Pleading an honest mistake is no defence against enforcement by the Canada Border Services Agency, a federal judge has ruled. The decision came in the case of a couple whose car was seized after a shopping trip to Walmart: "He tried to explain the situation but the officers were aggressive."
Mineral and soil samples are being analyzed by federal scientists to fully measure the chemical fallout from one the most polluted industrial sites in Canada. Peat and lake sediment will be microscopically examined to measure arsenic from 75 years of gold mining at Yellowknife: 'It becomes like a history book.'
The Department of Finance sees difficulties in mandating a national carbon tax on provinces, says a secret memo. The document cited “challenges” detailed through the 8-page document, virtually all of it censored before its release under Access To Information: "This note highlights some of the difficulties."
Canada's Poet Laureate has republished on a Parliament of Canada website a poem casting Shakespeare as a black rapper “out of the ghetto”. Professor George Elliott Clarke said the work by a Nova Scotia poet depicting Shakespeare as “a little nigga” speaks to relevant social issues: "Good poetry ought to be provocative."
