Cabinet’s Treasury Board is examining how much public servants earn compared to workers in the private sector. The board confirmed it is budgeting up to $1.77 million for a series of comparative studies on pay and benefits: "They can commission whatever studies they want."
Telecom regulators are reviewing rates and terms Canadians face for wireless roaming fees, ranked among the highest in the industrialized world. Canadians pay three times the OECD average: "'I went to the U.S. and Europe and now have a bill for $4000.'"
Regulators at the Copyright Board have rejected a fee on secure digital memory cards despite an appeal from songwriters and publishers. The board told Blacklock’s the proposed tax on micro SD cards was not feasible despite demands from copyright owners: "It is a shame."
Newly-released documents expose the sinister side of public life with the publication of an entire file of death threats against Prime Minister Stephen Harper. The hate-filled notes and emails total 108 -- the equivalent of one every three weeks since the Prime Minister took office: "Disturbing."
Canada should use its pending foreign investment agreement with China as leverage on human rights abuses, including the fate of a former McGill student imprisoned on trumped-up charges, says an MP. Cabinet has yet to ratify its 2012 investment protection pact with the People's Republic: "A standing insult."
War and hockey play prominent themes in Department of Canadian Heritage plans for the nation’s 150th anniversary. Documents detailing cabinet planning note the “over-arching theme” is of a “strong and free” country forged in war, without mention of achievements in science, engineering, business, labour or federal legislation: "The picture is incomplete."
Canadian attempts to promote seal exports remain “a priority in our dealings with China” despite a continued ban on the trade, according to cabinet-level documents. China has failed to ratify a 2011 agreement with the Department of Fisheries to lift the ban: "They are pitching it as the last hope to keep the industry alive."
The Department of Agriculture has won a multi-million dollar dispute over farm subsidies paid to Hutterite colonies. The judgment turned on a narrow definition of eligibility under a grant program, AgriInvest. The Federal Court ruling saved the department $3.42 million in payments: "Such an outcome cannot be said to be unreasonable."
The Correctional Service says a computer-generated system of tracking substance abuse has been effective in curbing contraband in federal prisons, though more than 1 in 10 inmates test positive for drugs or alcohol: "People try to get around the rules outside of prison, too."
The Department of Canadian Heritage is silent on why it cut funding for the country’s only independent labour periodical while paying millions to media corporations under the same program. Newly-released Access to Information documents confirm subsidies to the periodical Our Times were cut 65% as five-figure grants were paid to Sun Media Corp., Torstar Corp. and others: “We never got a good answer.”
A media union, the Communications Energy & Paperworkers, is trademarking a campaign to promote local TV news coverage amid declining industry revenue and shrinking audience. Federal data show most Canadians now watch less television than they did three years ago: "The audience has shrunk as corporately-owned stations moved away from journalism..."
The sale of locally-grown food remains a marginal trade in most provinces despite government promotion, according to a Conference Board of Canada report. And research shows that buying local is a "priority" for only the most affluent consumers: "Market failures...have not been identified."
Police commissioners are expressing wariness over hidden expenses of internet surveillance in Public Safety cybercrime legislation. Directors of the Canadian Association of Police Boards said authorities must account for the expense of email wiretaps, and whether cabinet is considering a proposed internet tax to pay the cost: "It is unfair"
Tens of thousands of petitioners have submitted comments on one of the most closely-watched regulations in the country: a draft Code of Practice on humane treatment of pigs. The National Farm Animal Care Council said it heard from so many Canadians it’s delayed the development of new standards.
Federal crash investigators are warning Transport Canada and flyers of an error now linked to three fatal mid-air collisions, including a Saskatchewan accident that killed five people. The Transportation Safety Board emphasized the limits of "visual flight rules" to avoid collisions: "We don't have a magic solution."
