A tax increase on small businesses with large earnings on investment income would impact only the wealthiest, a Liberal MP yesterday told the Commons finance committee. Businesses have protested the change proposed in the February 27 budget: "Conservatives are worrying about the richest of the richest."
The fisheries department is not shockingly incompetent, its Minister yesterday told the Commons fisheries committee. Conservative MPs complained of long delays by department staff in answering routine requests from municipalities: "How could you let that happen under your watch?"
A federal audit that cites the Department of Fisheries for failing to monitor the environmental impact of coastal salmon farms is disturbing, says an assistant deputy fisheries minister. The audit by the Commissioner of the Environment concluded regulators are not taking steps to protect wild fish stocks from aquaculture pesticides and diseases: 'Pesticides can harm wild fish.'
A federal rewrite of oil and gas regulations is merely a Band-Aid over industry-friendly amendments introduced six years ago, the Commons environment committee was told yesterday. “If you want backroom deal-making, go with this Act,” said Richard Lindgren, counsel for the Canadian Environmental Law Association.
First Nations say the Department of Environment has yet to comply with a UN request to protect a World Heritage Site. A UNESCO panel in 2017 faulted regulators for failing to monitor the impact of mining and hydroelectric projects at Canada’s largest national park: "Governments have dropped the ball."
The national carbon tax will slow the economy, the Parliamentary Budget Office yesterday predicted. Analysts forecast the tax at its peak rate of $50 per tonne will cut $10 billion from economic growth by 2022: 'It will generate a headwind for the Canadian economy.'
Advertisers yesterday told the Commons health committee a bill to curb food and beverage advertising to children may end in a court challenge. Health Canada in Access To Information records obtained in 2017 said it feared a lengthy legal fight over a ban on junk food marketing: "It would easily be challenged."
The Department of Justice in newly-released data says the number of marijuana charges dropped sharply in Canada in the five years before it introduced its bill to legalize cannabis. Opponents questioned the point of the legislation: "Why are we going through all of this?"
The Department of Employment responsible for benefits says hundreds of thousands of the nation’s poorest seniors are still not receiving cheques they’re owed under the Guaranteed Income Supplement. MPs for the past 17 years have recommended automatic enrollment of all qualified citizens who turn 65: "Seniors do not apply because they often cannot understand."
A tax dispute has Montréal in Federal Court against one of the city’s leading historical attractions. The municipality claims millions in unpaid taxes from the Old Port of Montréal under an Act of Parliament: "The exemptions they are asking for are ridiculous."
The Department of Justice threatened Parliamentary Press Gallery reporters with contempt of court in an apparent witness tampering scheme, records disclose. One lawyer representing Attorney General Jody Wilson-Raybould privately coached Blacklock’s writers to withdraw sworn oaths filed in a federal copyright case: “I’m just doing my job.”
A Liberal Senator says legislators will amend cabinet’s marijuana bill with seven weeks left to a cabinet deadline to vote on the measure. The rewrite comes ahead of a June 7 deadline: "We will do it, to put amendments forward."
A national carbon tax would have to more than double the $50 rate fixed by cabinet if Canada is to meet greenhouse gas emission targets, researchers have told the Senate energy committee. A tax of at least $130 per tonne – the equivalent of an extra 22¢ per litre of gasoline – is likely required, officials said: "Not everybody can afford to just come up with that cash."
The Canada Revenue Agency paid a pollster more than $47,000 to interview 67 poor people about how to file their taxes, according to records. The respondents were paid $90 to attend two-hour interviews, with the bulk of costs going to researchers: "Many of these individuals said they were not comfortable with numbers."
A Court has ruled poor ratings by the Better Business Bureau are not defamatory. An Ottawa heating contractor sued the Bureau for giving him a D-minus rating on the basis of a single customer complaint: "It may be thought harsh."
