Canada and the U.S. should quickly impose tougher standards for tank cars carrying flammable liquids, as well as adopt safer routing and better emergency response plans, warns the Transportation Safety Board: "Canadians have many reasons to be worried".
Ottawa should cap the hiring of migrants, says a former senior Human Resources & Skills Development official. The ex-director general of policy research said it "should have been much harder" to hire temporary foreign workers in the last recession: "When the next recession occurs, Canada should be more careful".
Meat inspectors and staff are seeking psychological counselling at a rate up to three times the federal average, according to new data. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency reported thousands of employees and their families sought counselling last year over job stress: "It's a very dysfunctional organization".
Smoking rates plateaued as Health Canada suspended anti-tobacco advertising, according to new research. The number of smokers in Canada is unchanged from 2011 and has seen no serious decline in years, according to a University of Waterloo study: "Canada used to be a world leader".
National symbol or not, the National Capital Commission is hiring a government-paid trapper to control beaver near Parliament Hill. The Crown agency counts more than 1100 tree-gnawing mammals in nearby Gatineau Park, blamed for washed-out roads and damaged property: "You'll never get rid of them".
Municipalities are pressing Transport Canada to designate crude oil and ethanol as dangerous goods when shipped by rail, and shield cities from clean-up costs in case of derailments: "We need a system that deals with worst-case scenarios".
The Prime Minister’s alma mater is cautioning against “optimistic projections” on resource revenue ahead of cabinet plans for a national balanced budget law. The University of Calgary said legislators as a rule should not count on sunny commodity price forecasts: "Booms and slumps have been very costly".
Canada Revenue Agency has cut staffing to the lowest level since 2005, new data show. Payroll records indicate more than 1100 jobs were eliminated last year, even as the tax department hired more IT consultants and policy analysts in Ottawa.
A judge has rebuked the Privy Council Office for extraordinary delays in a lawsuit now dragging into its eighth year. The criticism came as staff proposed to review thousands of pre-trial documents at the rate of two per day: "There cannot be any delay".
The St. Lawrence Seaway is hiking tolls for the second year in a row, with a total 5.5% increase since management lifted a rate freeze. The system ran at less than half-capacity last season: "People don't like the increase".
An Alberta firm involved in the largest copyright case of its kind has filed another lawsuit citing wrongdoing by federal agencies. Geophysical Service Incorporated, owner of marine seismic data, filed a $189.8 million claim in Court of Queen’s Bench: "All efforts to resolve issues have failed."
Environment Canada is being sued over its licensing of made-in-the-lab salmon. Critics are asking that a federal judge quash the license, claiming the department broke the law in approving the first genetically-modified living organism in Canada at a P.E.I. lab: "There was no public participation".
A Natural Resources Canada campaign to "improve the image” of the mining industry is raising questions. The department says publicity of eco-friendly technology is required to promote positive thoughts about mines: "The point of the program is to improve the image".
Health Canada proposes to list four petroleum and refinery gases as toxic substances. The department said all four should be regulated under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act: "This is just the first step."
A federal campaign to develop Canada's most energy-efficient building code is prompting a Natural Resources survey of so-called “net zero” houses. Authorities are studying model homes that consume no more energy than they produce: "We're working with the innovators".
