A Parliament Hill management dispute has ended in arbitration for federal employees responsible for essential research for all House and Senate committees. The settlement affects librarians earning an average $82,414 a year.
The nation has suffered its largest one-month job losses for adult workers in nearly twenty years, according to new figures. “We sympathize with Canadians,” the parliamentary secretary for finance told the House of Commons. Across Canada, only half the provinces reported net job gains last month.
Federal regulators begin hearings Monday into cellphone contract termination charges and protection from unexpected fees in the $18 billion wireless market. The CRTC will examine whether to regulate contract terms for 27,000,000 cellphone customers: “It’s going to be tough."
Federal cuts to the “first line of defence” in food safety may conceal even sharper reductions than are documented in government records, says a national union: “Seeing these numbers, I don’t believe it for a minute."
New homebuyers nationwide saw higher prices last year amid an economic slowdown, according to newly-released federal figures. Building associations contacted by Blacklock’s cited higher land and building costs, and local tax increases, as cause of the inflation.
Confidential records show the number of veterinarians assigned to field inspections has been cut despite federal claims of support for this “first line of defence” in food safety. Documents obtained by Blacklock's confirm fewer veterinarians were assigned to inspect slaughterhouses and other field work last year than in 2010.
A Senate committee is urging a top-to-bottom review of tariffs that cost Canadians billions of dollars in the price of goods. It comes amid a federal tariff review that could impact the price of thousands of goods, from luggage to cutlery: “Let’s do the whole ball of wax."
Long-awaited renewal of federal spending on roads, bridges and utilities is essential to improving Canadian productivity and growth, says a Calgary think-tank. The Canada West Foundation calculated investment in public works as a portion of economic growth is now at its lowest level in two generations.
New homeowners in Canada face an unreasonable federal tax that was never intended to impact most buyers, says an industry group. Under a 1991 regulation, full GST rebates remain limited to houses valued at $350,000 or less – a sum below average prices in Canada's largest cities.
A federal commissioner says national agencies including Transport Canada and the coast guard have not taken a hard look at risks facing the British Columbia coast from surging tanker traffic if new pipelines are built to export oilsands crude or natural gas.
Canadians have left nearly a half-billion dollars unclaimed in dormant bank accounts, including $104 in cash left over from ex-prime minister Kim Campbell’s 1993 Progressive Conservative leadership campaign. Bank of Canada records detail $496 million in unclaimed funds forgotten in accounts nationwide.
Federal librarians propose to publish online every word uttered in the House of Commons and Senate for the past 146 years. The Library of Parliament said the five-year project will digitize all debates and speeches since Confederation, including the famed Hansard shorthand for heckling: ‘Oh, oh!’
Canada lacks reliable figures on cellphone thievery ahead of demands for a national database of stolen phones. Industry, regulators and police point to contradictory trends in phone theft: "It's a difficult one to track."
The number of self-employed workers in Ontario last year reached a historic high, leading the nation in a long-term trend to greater numbers of Canadians who work for themselves: “From an accountants’ point of view it’s wonderful."
Police costs are “unsustainable” and must be controlled through efficiencies, a national law enforcement association is warning MPs. The Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police said rising costs – now estimated at $12.3 billion nationwide – cannot be met in the future without an “evolution” in modern law enforcement.
