Cabinet may “at some point” have to restrict foreign ownership of farmland, says the Canadian Federation of Agriculture. Authorities acknowledge they have no estimate on the amount of foreign investment in prime land: "It's really hard to go through the figures and find out".
A human rights tribunal will decide whether religious groups have a legal right to exclude membership to people of the same faith. The investigation follows a complaint by a Muslim who alleged he was barred from attending prayers because of race: "This mosque belongs to any human being".
Cabinet will soon introduce a program to manage the multi-million dollar salvage and clean-up of abandoned vessels, says Fisheries Minister Dominic LeBlanc. The Canadian Coast Guard has cautioned any program will be costly: "They are on every coast in the country".
Most Canadians resent immigrants and fear lobbyists have too much influence on Parliament Hill, says federal research. A total 25 percent of Canadians also think working mothers should stay home. The unusual $53,000 polling on social values was commissioned by the Commissioner of Official Languages: "Regular people don’t have any real say in what elected officials in Ottawa do".
A federal lender has approved a small portion of loans, less than 3 percent, to manufacturing start-ups, the Commons industry committee has been told. MPs questioned lending practices of the Business Development Bank: 'How can we promote manufacturing when you're not willing to take risk?'
Canadian mining corporations are seeking a $50 million, five-year government grant to reduce waste. The appeal coincides with federal funding for University of Waterloo research on clean-up of hazardous mine sites: "The industry desperately needs innovation".
Television viewers who nitpick over news reports have no right to demand retractions, a national media monitor has ruled. The judgment came in the case of two networks cited for use of common nouns like “veteran”.
MPs will review use of Canadians’ personal information by political parties. The chair of the Commons privacy committee said MPs were aware of complaints that campaign organizations are a “Wild West” of alleged privacy breaches: "They have no legal obligation to furnish you with the information they keep".
MPs last evening voted 205 to 79 to repeal two contentious Conservative union bills. One legislator said only a “miracle” would prevent the repeal from passing the Senate: "The focus on unions in both bills is suspiciously inequitable".
Newly-released archives show Canadian officials dismissed one of the worst famines in history in approving grain sales to Maoist China. Trade officials found “no evidence” of mass food shortages, though millions starved to death. One visiting Canadian delegation in 1961 marveled that Chinese appeared ‘fairly well-fed’ and shops were full: “We ate bread in all five cities we visited”.
The Senate yesterday took up final debate on a bill mandating independent oversight of border security. It coincided with a federal lawsuit alleging the Canada Border Services Agency falsely imprisoned a resident for 39 days in a case of mistaken identity: "This case is unbelievable".
The Senate will undertake a first-ever study of electric cars amid industry requests for subsidies. Lobbyists sought $3,000 federal rebates for buyers of plug-in electrics. One senator dismissed the proposal as taxpayer aid for the wealthy: "You can count on being grilled".
A federal program to centralize government computer services including 493,000 employee email accounts is doomed to failure, says a cyber security expert. Analysts speaking at a Liberal Senate caucus forum yesterday criticized attempts to streamline the governments’ $5 billion-a year computer systems: "The question is whether it fails catastrophically".
Two travelers who mistakenly boarded a flight for London, Ontario instead of London, England have no right to complain, the Canadian Transportation Agency has ruled. Regulators said the unfortunate mix-up was not the responsibility of the airline: 'Wrong gate, wrong flight, wrong carrier, wrong destination'.
Cabinet’s planned $50 carbon tax may cost auto jobs, says an industry group. Automakers said the proposal to tax carbon emissions beginning in 2018 could further drive new plants to the U.S. and Mexico: "This is otherwise known as carbon leakage".
