Businesses, unions and other sponsors of community events are not liable for damages beyond their control, judges have concluded. The Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal for compensation from a soccer player who sued sponsors of an event that left him a paraplegic: "There's no special relationship here."
Lawyers' fees of $400, $600 even $1,000 an hour threaten the future of class action lawsuits intended to benefit Canadian consumers, says a Superior Court judge. The criticism came in the case of cellphone customers pressing a class action claim against Bell Mobility Inc.: 'Lawyers are billing very high, monopoly-based hourly rates'.
Industry Canada is standing its ground over hoarding of wireless spectrum. The department said bandwidth bought but never used by internet providers must be surrendered by March: "They had plenty of time to deploy."
Natural Resources Canada consulted with oil and mining companies it regulates to cast just the right image in government TV ads, according to records. However the department dithered over how many jobs to credit to the industry, and agonized over what actors should depict ordinary, resource-loving Canadians: “A white man, an Inuit woman, a black man and an Asian woman…”
A bid by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency to embrace American-sized food containers will have a "chilling effect" on processing, warns the Government of Ontario. The little-noticed deregulation has prompted fears of mass factory closures in Canada: "It is threatening the existence of companies."
Environment Canada is appealing for research in tracking 40,000 shipments a year of hazardous waste. The Crown agency commissioned a study to “understand, analyze and document” the trucking of toxic waste in other countries after noting it will not come close to meeting its target of a PCB-free Canada next year: 'It's complex.'
The Department of Finance would be mandated to publish all lapsed tax amendments under a private Conservative bill introduced in the Commons. An accountants’ group endorsed the measure to simplify the tax system and track thousands of tax measures: "The bill will really shine a light on a problem that has not been addressed."
A confidential Crown report cautions bridge tolls are “contentious” and may not be the money-making answer to resolving all infrastructure problems. The report for PPP Canada revealed few toll bridges earn significant profits nationwide, and at least one is a major money-loser: "We want a national strategy."
Regulators are citing credit card issuers for violating a Department of Finance code on fair dealing. However offenders are not being named, and no penalties have been imposed by the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada: "It is the Wild West out there."
Canada’s lumber industry is appealing to MPs for $500 million in aid to upgrade technology amid uneven output since the last recession. Sawmill production remains 33 percent below its 2005 level, according to new federal data: "We've lost a lot of jobs."
Free trade with Europe will cost dairy producers, MPs have been told. The Dairy Farmers of Canada estimated a higher quota for European Union cheese makers will cost individual farmers the equivalent of $60,000 a year: "The loss to dairy farmers is real."
Canadian hog farmers say they face ruin under a proposed Code of Practice on humane treatment of pigs. The code was one of the most closely-followed regulatory proposals this year, drawing input tens of thousands of public submissions: "The process is clouded by all the noise in society."
The Department of International Trade confirms it sought no regional trademarks on uniquely Canadian products in signing a trade pact with Europe. Canada's chief negotiator said he never asked for recognition of products like Winnipeg goldeye, Montreal smoked meat or Atlantic salmon, though the E.U. sought 179 such trademarks: "We got zero?"
Parliament will consider legislation to create a special prosecutor’s office to enforce fair trade and anti-trust laws. The Competition Bureau currently refers its cases to the Public Prosecution Service of Canada, which saw a total six convictions last year: 'Make sure the Competition Bureau has teeth.'
Cabinet amendments to the Fisheries Act “gutted” federal policies, says a scientific journal. Researchers at the universities of Dalhousie and Calgary condemned C-38, an omnibus bill now the subject of numerous Federal Court challenges: "This was rammed through."
