Lawyers, accountants and everyday contractors including janitors doing casual work for unions will be required to tell the government of their political activities under Bill C-377, a Senate committee has been told: "If that’s not an intrusion in privacy, what is?"
A federal judge has cited Employment Canada for incompetence in managing the Temporary Foreign Worker Program, describing the department’s paperwork as a “mess”. Justice Michael Phelan ordered the agency to pay an employer $2,500 in costs for bungling his application: "Do not attribute to malice that which can be explained by incompetence".
Canadian airlines would be compelled to guarantee bilingual service for passengers aboard international flights under a private Liberal bill introduced in the Commons. It follows a Supreme Court dismissal of damages claimed by an Ottawa-area couple who complained they were denied French-language service on Air Canada flights to the U.S.: "No one saw this coming".
Canada must ban a common industrial wood preservative as a public health peril, say environmental advocates. The chemical pentachlorophenol, commonly used in fence posts and telephone poles, has been cited as “extremely toxic” by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency: "There are safer chemicals".
The Government of Canada should cite the word “veteran” with a capital V in official use out of respect for those who served in uniform, says a Royal Canadian Legion branch. Cabinet did not comment on the request: "We're talking about the meaning of words".
NHL players are seeking an exemption from Conservative Bill C-377 mandating disclosure of confidential union data, saying the measure is so broad it compromises licensing agreements on hockey cards and other paraphernalia: "This is the first time I'm seeing this".
The Royal Canadian Legion opposes a bill to make November 11 a legal holiday, though the measure was approved in principle by a near-unanimous Commons vote. The veterans’ group said it feared the bill would turn Remembrance Day into “just another long weekend”: "Look at Victoria Day to question what observances are held across the country to honour Canada’s longest-serving monarch".
Cabinet has stepped back from wholesale federal deregulation of food and beverage container sizes following industry and provincial protests. The original 2012 proposal prompted criticism Canadian processors would lose production to U.S. factories: "They had no idea".
Vietnam is a corrupt and repressive police state that should be pressed by Canada on its “abysmal human rights record”, a dissidents’ group has told MPs. The testimony at a Commons committee came as MPs passed a bill to commemorate the 1975 fall of Saigon: 'Corruption runs all the way to the top'.
More than 7 in 10 foreign visitors arriving in Canada by air will be subject to mandatory federal background checks under regulations to take effect in a year, excluding U.S. citizens. The rule applies to visitors from countries who don’t already require a Canadian visa including French and Germans: 'It's something between a visa, and nothing at all'.
The Senate has passed into law a red-tape reduction bill described as largely symbolic in repealing unnecessary regulations. The bill contains no penalties for violators, and exempts tax filings: 'It doesn't sound sexy to most Canadians'.
Cabinet has issued an order placing the Arctic wreckage of HMS Erebus under federal quarantine. Authorities would not say if divers found gold, which must be divvied up with the U.K government under a confidential memo: "Britain will assume responsibility for all reasonable costs".
Farmers and fishermen with lifelong equity will save tens of thousands of dollars in federal tax under new capital gains rules. Cabinet proposed to raise the lifetime capital gains exemption by 23 percent: "It will provide incredible tax relief".
“Skinny basic” cable and satellite TV services should cost no more than $25 as promised by the CRTC, says cabinet. “We’re going back to frankly what used to exist and I think it’s a good step,” said Heritage Minister Shelly Glover, responsible for telecom regulation: "It's unfortunate that some people believe in quantity as opposed to quality".
Cabinet has abandoned pre-election plans to strip benefits from Crown employees’ pension plans. Threatened cuts outlined a year ago are still being ‘assessed’, the Department of Finance said in budget documents. The department stressed no promised benefits would be cut without pensioners’ approval.
