Tax Court has rejected an unusual claim for write-offs of urine testing, ethics coaching and other expenses by a Nova Scotia pharmacist cited for misconduct. A Cape Breton chemist tried to claim nearly $5,000 in write-offs following disciplinary hearings of the Nova Scotia College of Pharmacists: 'She argued the expenses were deductible'.
Elections Canada proposes that voters for the first time cast ballots electronically in 2019. The “enormous undertaking” appeared to pre-empt a Commons committee investigation of amendments to the Elections Act: "There is a modernizing agenda that is going full steam ahead".
Canadians pay among the highest prices in the G7 for telecom services though landline telephones are cheap, says a federal price survey. Costs of wireless phone and internet are more than double rates charged in the U.K., reports the CRTC: "Canadians know that every time they see their monthly bill".
The fisheries department is failing to comply with its own regulations in saving a rare trout species threatened by Rocky Mountain industry, says an advocacy group. The dispute had prompted a 2015 lawsuit by environmentalists: "They don't know what they're doing".
Municipalities stand to gain millions in tax assessments with a court ruling on airport lands. Nav Canada, the Crown corporation that manages traffic control towers, had fought for tax assessments of as little as $20 on property valued in seven figures: "It's an important decision in assessment".
Canadians fear another recession for the third time in eight years, according to Department of Finance research. One-third of people in focus group interviews said they were anxious that “they or someone in their household” will lose their job this year.
Canada Post faces a federal lawsuit after allegedly twice misplacing registered letters containing crucial documents. A Vancouver pensioner filed the Federal Court claim, noting the post office would not even refund his money: "It's like a black hole".
A Québec firm threatened with the largest federal anti-spam fine in Canadian history has now been cited for breaching privacy laws. The company compiled a database of nearly half-a-million email addresses to pitch its executive training courses: "They acted as if privacy was a luxury".
Future Supreme Court appointees must have oral and written French-language skills though the requirement is not sanctioned in law, says Attorney General Jody Wilson-Raybould. Parliament since 2008 has rejected two bills mandating a language test at the nation’s highest court: "Is there going to be a test?"
A start-up firm with a single director received six figures in federal grants within weeks of incorporating, according to Access To Information records. The National Research Council said justification for the taxpayers’ funding was confidential: "I'm just not going to answer any of these questions".
Nearly a third of First Nations have now subscribed to a federal program allowing them to collect property tax and issue municipal bonds. The program remains a piecemeal reform that benefits a minority of Indigenous peoples, said a former federal treaty negotiator: 'This bumps you up to executive-class administration while living in Third World conditions'.
Nearly 2 million Americans drove to Canada last month, by federal estimate. Tourism gains from U.S. visitors are the strongest in two decades, said an analyst: "The effect is immediate".
The group Mothers Against Drunk Driving has lost a bid to ban the issue of irreverent vanity license plates. The New Brunswick Court of Appeal upheld a defence lawyer’s right to use the plates DUI DR: 'Our legal system rejects trial by public opinion'.
The foreign affairs department has budgeted $100,000 a year for individual appointees acting as part-time goodwill hosts in U.S. cities. Annual expenses for one honorary consul ran to US$99,334 including receipts for wine, cake and “brainstorming” lunches. The department took three years to release the accounts under Access To Information: "Does this fit the bill?"
The military faces a federal lawsuit on whether disciplined soldiers, sailors and air crew have a right to legal counsel. Attorneys filed the claim on behalf of a Nova Scotia air force technician punished for going AWOL: "This sounds like a horror story".
