Illegal drug use is no more harmful than downhill skiing or eating fast food, says a Department of Justice report obtained through Access To Information. Cabinet is introducing a bill to legalize marijuana for the first time since 1923: 'There are many other harmful practices that are not criminalized.'
Canada is a step closer to ratifying a United Nations pact on toxic mercury. Cabinet yesterday banned mercury exports after naming Chinese mines and mills as the largest source of airborne mercury pollution over Canada: "Ratification would encourage reductions in global mercury emissions."
Cabinet faces sailors’ protests over a European Union trade pact. A union coalition today is rallying in Victoria, Vancouver, Prince Rupert, Toronto and Montréal against trade terms called a threat to Canadian maritime shipping: "This has the potential to cost 12,000 jobs immediately."
Contamination from hydro-electric projects can linger for decades in fish populations, says new University of Saskatchewan research. Scientists examined mercury levels in a waterway dammed in 1963: "Previously we thought it took 10 to 30 years."
Mistakes in benefits claims are “unacceptably high”, says the Department of Veterans Affairs. Staff in a 2016 Access To Information memo noted error rates run up to 62 percent on some claims: "The report is not a public document."
The number of serious workplace injuries at federally-regulated job sites increased seven percent in a single year, according to the Parliamentary Budget Office. Authorities gave no reason for the increase, the largest since 2011: 'We need to look at the location of an injury or death as a crime scene.'
Canada faces “cautionary” risk of a bank failure for the first time since 1985, says the federal agency that insures deposits. The Canada Deposit Insurance Corp. in a $2.7 million public awareness campaign trademarked a logo of a rain cloud: "Readiness is vital."
The federal government for the first time in 12 years is auditing its employee dental plan after costs topped a quarter-billion dollars a year. The plan is the largest in the country: "Is the process working properly?"
A welding company has lost a federal lawsuit for the right to hire a temporary foreign worker. The Department of Employment rejected the application as unreasonable after citing Canada's unemployment rate in trades: "There have been layoffs."
Charging $350 an hour for lawyering time is too steep in Halifax, a Small Claims Court has ruled. Judges in other provinces have complained legal fees now approach $1,000 an hour for the costliest corporate litigators: "Vulnerable clients will often sign whatever is put before them."
Food and drug labels would be smartphone-readable under a private Conservative bill introduced in the Commons. The bill’s sponsor said amendments to the Food & Drugs Act would eliminate guesswork over fine print: "It makes what's mandatory, more readable."
The number of philanthropic foundations in Canada has nearly doubled since 1992, says a University of Regina study. Public and private foundations hold $61.5 billion in assets, by official estimate, a sum equal to one-fifth the federal budget: "Donors are looking to foundations to make informed giving decisions."
The Federal Court is investigating the use of an internal computer to edit Blacklock’s Wikipedia page, says a chief administrator. An unidentified Court staffer made the entry the same day a federal judge ordered Blacklock’s to pay $65,000 in costs in a copyright lawsuit against the Department of Finance: “I had nothing to do with the edits.”
A federal agency dubbed a toothless watchdog for bank customers has issued its first decision in 18 months. The Financial Consumer Agency of Canada cited an unnamed bank for illegally failing to disclose credit card fees, but levied no penalty: "It's too cozy."
Canadians have been slow to embrace electronic petitions after the Commons broke with 147 years of tradition in permitting internet signatures. Only 85 e-petitions have been tabled in the House to date, compared to 995 traditional paper versions: "We're getting quality over quantity."
