Parks Canada has not reviewed the effectiveness of federal fines on scofflaws in years, records show. The Agency handed out fewer than 3,000 tickets in the past decade for a range of offences from illegal fishing to operating off-road vehicles in national parks: "Offences are way too common".
Callers to a Canada Revenue Agency hotline for reporting of tax cheats face long waits on hold, 9 minutes or more. The Agency launched the 1-800 line for informants in 2014: "It will be sort of hit and miss".
Environment Canada did not purchase a single electric vehicle last year despite a cabinet commitment to cut greenhouse gas emissions, records show. The 2016 budget set aside $62.5 million in funding for electric recharging stations and other initiatives: 'We support the deployment of electric vehicles'.
Family income for seniors has grown at double the pace of younger families since 1976, says Statistics Canada. The new research followed data that Canadians over 65 typically have more wealth and less debt than younger people: “This is not a theory or opinion”.
Veterans Affairs Canada budgeted $3.5 million to promote Remembrance Week observances, according to Access To Information records. Data did not indicate whether the ads worked. A total 69 percent of Canadians surveyed said they skipped last year’s November 11 events despite the ad blitz: "What do you remember about this advertising?"
Canadian diplomats billed taxpayers more than $1.7 million on gardening and swimming pool maintenance at missions abroad, documents show. Foreign Minister Stéphane Dion in a report to Parliament described the work as “vital”.
Health Canada is funding $400,000 in research on the incidence of childhood asthma due to air pollution. It follows a 2016 finding that more Canadians die from diesel exhaust than from walking into traffic: "We know there is a connection".
Poet Shai Ben-Shalom, an Israeli-born biologist, examines current events in the Blacklock’s tradition each and every Sunday: “Canada pushes for an extradition treaty with China. A problematic agreement…”
Blacklock’s Reporter today pauses for the federal Remembrance observance with gratitude to all who honoured our country.Thank you for your service.
Nearly 90 billion litres of raw sewage and untreated wastewater have been dumped in waterways by municipalities in the past year, says Environment Canada. “No studies have been done or are ongoing regarding the impact,” the department wrote in notice.
A Crown corporation has again spent public funds on pro sports tickets despite a 2015 cabinet directive to halt the practice. Staff at Farm Credit Canada billed taxpayers for 28 game tickets to see the hometown Saskatchewan Roughriders: "This is public money".
A federal contractor is threatening to sue the public works department after being publicly blacklisted for tax evasion. The company is the third to unwittingly breach a little-known 2015 policy in which firms that plead guilty to tax offences are banned from public works for 10 years: "We're going to sue".
Federal agencies continue to spend million a year on taxis, almost all of it shuttling between offices in Ottawa, according to accounts. Staff at Environment Canada booked only $20 worth of bus fares compared to $14,447 on cabs, though the department officially encourages taxpayers to cut greenhouse gas emissions by using transit: "There is a bit of irony".
The foreign ministry solicited more than a quarter-million dollars from corporations to sponsor Canada Day banquets at a trade mission in Mumbai, say Access To Information memos. Staff even sought cash from a subsidiary of SNC-Lavalin Group Inc., though a federal ethics code forbids soliciting donations from companies “charged, convicted or sanctioned for bribery”.
The Department of Canadian Heritage in confidential memos warns that wolves are at the door of the nation’s largest daily newspaper chain, and its competitors are not far behind. The 2016 memos were obtained through Access To Information: "What is happening to Postmedia papers will now happen to the Globe & Mail and the Toronto Star in five years".
