Health Canada is denying a claim it’s delaying regulation of chemicals blamed for widespread damage to bee colonies. The department said it is “carefully examining” documentation of bee deaths attributed to pesticides, but planned no response till 2014 at the earliest: "Unacceptable."
Telecom regulators have dismissed an appeal by Bell Canada over a ruling on wholesale internet charges. The Canadian Radio-Television & Telecom Commission reaffirmed wholesalers must provide standard rates to independent clients: "They've stuck to their guns."
Federal revenue agents feared one of Ottawa’s most popular tax credits had become an “open bar” for Corporate Canada, according to an unpublished government report. Canada Revenue Agency commissioned the study but withheld it from MPs and initially declined to release it to the Department of Finance: "This is odd."
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency proposes more deregulation of the fertilizer industry, including repeal of a ban on misleading claims by manufacturers. The “red-tape reduction” proposals are to be drafted following the close of public consultations Sept. 17.
A First Nation suing cabinet over an investment pact with China says it fears “future generations” will be tied to the far-reaching deal. The Department of International Trade signed the agreement 11 months ago, but has yet to ratify it.
A two-year noise complaint against one of the nation’s biggest railways has ended with a Canadian Transportation Agency order that’s cheered residents of a Prairie neighbourhood. Investigators ruled the CPR broke federal law that requires noise be kept to "reasonable" levels: "It became hell."
New Department of Immigration rules that target the hiring of foreign workers who speak neither French nor English do not go far enough in curbing the practice, says a union that challenged the department in Federal Court: "It should be French and English, period."
One of Canada’s largest runs of wild Pacific salmon has dropped to its lowest level in generations, prompting the closure of local commercial and sport fishing by Department of Fisheries scientists: "Something's got to break and it will."
Environment Canada is lifting import controls on 11 new mysterious chemicals, but declined to publish them on a routine list of industrial substances. No department official would agree to an interview: "Putting those names on the inventory list is like telling it to the world."
Canada’s lumber industry is having its best year since the 2008 crash of the American subprime mortgage market, according to new federal data. Analysts told Blacklock's the recovery is due to new housing starts in the United States: "It is definitely better."
Employers face more than $23 million in new user fees to hire foreign workers. Cabinet imposed a flat $275 fee for every position that companies apply to fill through foreign hires, excluding farm labour: "It is really going to hit."
The Department of National Defence is being sued for allegedly misleading a recruit with inflated promises of pay and expenses. An army captain with a degree in engineering named top brass in his lawsuit over claims of unpaid benefits: "My career is at a halt."
A B.C. man is claiming victory after years of court challenges by his employer over an unpaid bonus. A Supreme Court dismissal handed the former employee $60,000 after his ex-boss tried and failed to argue one last appeal to the highest court in the land: "Know when to hold' em and when to fold 'em."
Consumers face a penny tax on imported beef with the ruling of a Department of Agriculture agency. A levy of $1 per head on U.S. cattle – the equivalent of a penny a kilo at the meat counter – will finance industry marketing and research: "It creates a level playing field."
Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver is being sued by a federal agency for concealing records that may confirm his department violated the Copyright Act. The lawsuit follows complaints from an Alberta firm that Oliver's department distributed surveys without permission, then invoked privacy in withholding evidence that would prove the fact.
