The Senate is being asked to probe a secretive $372.5 million loan to Bombardier Inc. A senior Conservative senator yesterday served notice of a motion to have lawmakers examine private terms and taxpayers' cost of the Bombardier concession. The company in the past has sued to block disclosure of detailed subsidies: "We can get to the bottom of this whole sordid affair."
Senate Conservatives are waging a last stand to save a union bill slated for repeal. Conservatives yesterday proposed 11th hour amendments to maintain secret balloting for certification of new unions in any federally-regulated workplace: "Be careful."
Bank of Canada lawyers in a vulgar email said media deserve a “kick in the knackers” on copyright. MPs and senators this year undertake a statutory review of the Copyright Act: “Respect for intellectual property is absolutely non-negotiable.”
Federal departments last winter paid nearly $5 million in Christmas bonuses to a few hundred senior managers. MPs protested the payments at the same time cabinet ran a $23 billion deficit and garbled payroll records for thousands of government employees: "It's ridiculous."
Farm groups and supporters fear new regulations to prevent animal suffering will harm industry. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency proposes to rewrite animal welfare rules for the first time since 1977: "Don’t give in to the irrational objectives of the animal activists."
Experts testifying at the Commons health committee say there is no clinical evidence pornography is damaging Canadians' mental health. MPs are conducting the first parliamentary review of obscenity in 32 years: "Adolescents are not having sex any younger."
MPs are citing Transport Canada for “shocking” conduct disclosed in an audit of auto safety regulation. Auditors found the department was too slow to enact reforms, and too close to industry lobbyists in considering the cost to automakers of necessary improvements: "This is what makes people cynical."
Federal agencies grew the TV budget last year, spending more than $2.5 million on thousands of new sets for teleconferencing and daytime viewing. The spending was 200 percent higher than normal, according to an Inquiry Of Ministry tabled in the Commons: "That blows my mind."
The fisheries department is expanding regulations against shark finning after acknowledging rules are inadequate. Fisheries Minister Dominic LeBlanc signed the confidential order to have ocean trawlers stop removing fins from sharks caught in longline nets. The memo was obtained through Access To Information: "This responds to international calls."
A Senate panel yesterday approved passage of a bill prompted by an international incident along the Canada-U.S. border. The bill curbs zealous Customs enforcement against boaters, fishermen and whale-watchers who unwittingly drift into Canadian waters: 'This happens thousands of times.'
Cabinet will take steps this year to deal with a multi-billion dollar Canada Post pension shortfall, says a Department of Finance memo. A 2014 order allowing management to defer pension solvency payments ends December 31: "Existing funding relief will expire."
A national carbon tax will cost production and jobs, say Canadian cement makers. Executives testifying at the Senate energy committee blamed British Columbia’s 2008 carbon tax for layoffs at three plants: "Climate change is not for the faint of heart."
Home builders and buyers will face new national standards on flood prevention, says a University of Waterloo researcher. Waterloo and the Standards Council of Canada will develop guidelines on floodplain construction: "Are there some developers who will push back?"
Whales in captivity have little scientific or educational value, say researchers. Two scientists appealed to the Senate fisheries committee to approve a bill banning the practice: "Their contribution to the conservation of Canadian species has been virtually zero."
Few young Canadians, about 24 percent, would take a job with the RCMP despite millions spent on recruitment campaigns, says in-house research. The RCMP is short more than 1,000 constables, by official estimate: 'There is a general lack of interest followed by the feeling it is dangerous.'
