Dentistry students pay the highest tuition in the country, an average $16,024 a year, according to federal figures. Students at medical school paid the second-highest rates. "Our tuition fees where they are highest could act as a deterrent," said the Association of Faculties of Medicine.
A federal panel deleted ornamental pumpkins from taxpayers’ subsidies under its $54 million food-to-the-Arctic program, but okayed subsidies for Cheez Whiz, records show.
Security technology at federal airports is now so user-friendly operators can be taught to use sophisticated scanners in less than a half-day, says a federal contractor chaired by a former commissioner of the RCMP.
Industry Canada has patented a broom predicted to revolutionize world curling following secret research at the University of Western Ontario. A co-inventor told Blacklock's the device can improve amateur curlers' accuracy by up to 20 percent.
MPs meeting behind closed doors have voted not to extend hearings on food safety legislation that contemplates a sweeping reorganization of federal inspection practices. Industry groups and opposition MPs had appealed for time to review amendments to the Safe Food For Canadians Act, already approved by the Senate in the midst of the biggest beef recall in Canadian history.
Counterfeit clothing and apparel now account for almost half of all faked goods seized by federal agents, new crime data show. RCMP figures reported to Blacklock’s show bootleg apparel including bogus-label products comprised 48 percent of all confiscated forgeries to date this year.
A Senate committee recommends the government support "development of French-language content on the internet," but cautions it has no intention of subsidizing or regulating web content. "There have to be incentives," said the chair of the committee that reports internet usage by French-speaking Canadians outside Quebec falls below usage rates by anglophones.
Promised new legislation to balance the market power of railways and their commercial customers will be introduced in Parliament within days, the government says. Commercial shippers have lobbied for years for introduction of reforms that would hold railways to service guarantees in transporting 250,000,000 tonnes of goods annually.
Sub.-Lieut. Jeffrey Delisle was “played” by Canadian military intelligence for years before his arrest as a Russian spy, sources tell Blacklock’s Reporter. Delisle faces sentencing in January after pleading guilty to spying for Moscow. "If what's come out in the media is true, heads would have rolled," said one source.
Canada’s economy has slowed to its weakest pace since last winter. New figures show declines in oil, gas, mining, construction and manufacturing, with GDP declining month-over-month by 0.1 percent in August.
The developers of a Cape Breton golf course required special permission from the navy to name their facility for a famed explorer, John Cabot. The Department of National Defence cited potential "confusion" with a naval reserve unit 1,000 kilometres away.
MPs should recommend wider use of non-union contractors on public works projects, says the parliamentary secretary to the finance minister. The remark followed claims by a construction lobbyist that hiring non-union labour could lower costs of new infrastructure projects by 12 to 18 percent.
The government must craft cyber security legislation to combat hackers and vandals who are costing the Canadian economy billions, says a UK-based crime fighter undertaking landmark research of internet security nationwide: "Canadian businesses do not understand the financial impact of cyber crime, yet they suffer downtime and loss of manufacturing."
Canada's mayors and councillors are warning Parliament time is short in detailing a promised renewal of a $33 billion federal public works program due to expire in 2014. "This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity," said the president of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities.
Bighead Asian carp is the country’s top invading species and must be stopped at the Great Lakes, the House of Commons Committee on Fisheries has been told. One expert says the spread of the carp would be "catastrophic," noting the fish outsizes native predators like pike and can filter vital nutrients from lake waters.
