Newly-enacted changes to federal pensions will cost more than $300 million this year and billions by 2020, says Canada’s Chief Actuary. A budget bill passed by Parliament June 22 lowered the age of eligibility for Old Age Security from 67 to 65: "This move goes against demographic evidence".
Electronic voting is rife with errors and risk of outright fraud, say analysts. Elections Canada is proposing changes to federal law to permit use of encrypted computers at polling stations: "I am very leery of assumptions".
The Supreme Court will not hear a challenge of federal regulations that require disabled air passengers travelling with attendants to pay two fares. A Vancouver woman appealed a WestJet order of one fare per seat regardless of medical necessity: "It's disappointing for advocates".
The Department of Defence, faulted by critics for clumsy contracting, has issued 27 pages of specifications for chow to serve the troops. Meticulous specs included the size of pizza slices for a reserve infantry unit: "Healthy cooking methods are consistently practiced".
Canadian travelers will see longer airport lineups nationwide, says the federal agency responsible for security screening. Passengers now have a 1 in 7 chance of waiting more than fifteen minutes to clear security, estimates the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority: "It's worse than those numbers would suggest".
Canada should prepare for the possible long-term decline of oil prices with “demand peaking sooner and declining faster than forecast,” says a federal report. A Privy Council Office research panel cautioned the country’s reliance on oil may be unsustainable: "Canada continues a narrative that it has energy super-power status".
A Tax Court test of the Indian Act has ruled a British Columbia woman is liable for taxes on million in business income, though she is a Status Indian and worked on a reserve. The Canada Revenue Agency claimed “improper manipulation” of tax laws in the case.
A federal report is dismissive of so-called “electromagnetic pulse” attacks on Canadian utilities. Analysts had warned the Senate national security committee of catastrophic results if foreign countries blitzed the North American power grid: "As soon as you say EMP people's eyes glaze over".
A private Commons bill would mandate the first national asbestos registry more than 40 years after Health Canada listed the substance as toxic. Sponsors said the measure is fashioned after a 2013 Saskatchewan law that created a provincial Asbestos Registry of Public Buildings: "We'll get safer and smarter".
Parks Canada budgeted more than US$50,000 for electric fencing to keep elk and bears off a privately-leased golf course in a national park, say Access To Information records. The agency declined comment. Staff complained of repeated calls from golfers to “haze” wildlife off the greens: 'Hazing is time-consuming'.
Cabinet worried over the costs of an RCMP union in drafting court-ordered legislation to permit collective bargaining in the force, say Access To Information documents. Treasury Board memos cite the “strategic compensation direction” of any newly-unionized Mounties.
Canadian researchers are appealing for a public lookout to monitor the health of the iconic Monarch Butterfly. The population has declined more than 60 percent since 1997: "We simply cannot lose this uniqueness".
The finance department spent more than $176,000 hiring photographers and Vancouver models to pose as ordinary “heterosexual” middle class Canadians for its 2016 budget, records disclose. A photo shoot in Alberta was ruled out since “it might be heavy in ethnic people,” wrote one manager: “We want them to look like an everyday family”.
A cabinet proposal for consultation on the treatment of thousands of illegal immigrants will do little to correct “terrible” conditions, says the Senate sponsor of a reform bill. The Department of Public Safety yesterday said it was prepared to spend millions to “transform the immigrant detention system” nationwide: "Where is the independent appeal process?"
Environmental lead poisoning from fishing jigs and hunting ammunition is under investigation by regulators. Environment Canada estimates tonnes of toxic lead poisons lakes and forests through sport hunting and fishing: "It's not a mystery".
