The Department of Finance in a staff outlook has spotted at least one growth industry in the Canadian economy: home renovation. Fix-ups worth $44.8 billion a year are projected to grow as more Canadians move into older homes, says a department memo: "More homes will eventually be in need of renovations".
Cabinet has finalized the sale of Canadian Nuclear Laboratories, the country’s leading producer of medical isotopes. The Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. plant went to a consortium including SNC-Lavalin Inc. and Rolls-Royce Civil Nuclear Canada Ltd.: "When it is in the best interests of Canadians, they will be sold".
Canada’s best known retailers privately warned the finance department that higher tariffs, phased in this year, will cost consumers and kill jobs. Panasonic, Clover Leaf Seafoods, Walmart and others petitioned the department not to raise customs duties on popular imports: 'It's the most significant increase in tariffs since the 1930s'.
More than 4 in 10 food services companies are short of workers since cabinet tightened permits under its Temporary Foreign Worker Program, says an industry group. The Restaurants Canada survey found thousands of jobs can’t be filled: "How is the economy being helped?"
Scientists propose DNA tests to keep Canadian waters free of invasive species. The initiative follows new cabinet regulations outlawing the import of aquatic pests: 'We are 3 to 5 years away'.
It costs about a quarter-million dollars to raise a child in Canada and likely more if they play hockey or plan to go to college, says the Department of Finance. In a confidential cabinet memo, the department says it’s grappled with the “affordability of children”.
If Liberals stumble October 19 it would be the party’s longest losing streak since the death of John A. Macdonald. The fact underscores impressive success and unalterable failure. No party replaces the Liberal machine, with apologies to the Globe & Mail and certain pollsters. It’s a stretch to claim a new era of Conservative dominance when Conservatives lose Alberta and have difficulty scraping up 38% of the national vote.
It speaks instead to the impact of tinkering with political machinery, and changes in the country itself. Big Tent Politics is a subtle and revealing analysis of what went right, and wrong.
A “significant increase” in whistleblower reports from oil insiders is prompting the National Energy Board to hire consultants for advice on how to process complaints. The Board yesterday reported receiving 17 whistleblower complaints in the past two years. There were none in 2013: 'These are reports from external parties'.
In a ruling affecting thousands of prison inmates, a federal judge has struck down a longstanding Correctional Service risk assessment test as biased and “unreliable”. Court heard that management knew for years their standard psychological tests were flawed: "It doesn’t mean inmates will be flooding the streets; it means they will be given a fair shake".
Only 1 percent of Canadians rate foreign affairs a top government priority, according to in-house research by the Privy Council Office. Voters were three times more likely to name the trade deficit than terrorism as a “threat” to the economy. The data was released just before last evening’s French-language leaders’ election debate on foreign policy: "It was the lack of good jobs that made them worry".
Canada’s telecom regulator has released a new code governing wholesale broadcasting that sets out rules between broadcasters and programmers. The code attracted an unusually large number of submissions ahead of the CRTC's requirements for simplified pick-and-pay cable and satellite packages of $25 a month: "It is not clear".
A surprise 2013 tax break on hockey gear came only five weeks after Bauer Hockey Corp. threatened to move its Canadian operations over high tariffs, say newly-released documents. The manufacturer in a secret letter told the Department of Finance that rising tariffs “will have a direct effect on Bauer’s Canadian operations.”
A federal board that regulates drug prices is unconstitutional and should be disbanded, says a manufacturer. Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc. is challenging the legality of the Patented Medicine Prices Review Board in Federal Court: 'They win this case, there won't be a drug in Canada that is price-controlled'.
Most migrant workers facing expulsion under a four-year deadline on labour permits were able to stay in the country, says an industry group. Thousands of temporary foreign workers saw their permits expire April 1: 'The deadline didn't affect us as much as we thought'.
The Canadian Coast Guard must beef up its icebreaker fleet or risk transport disruptions that will hurt the economy, say shipowners. In an election appeal, the Canadian Shipowners Association noted inadequate icebreaking caused troubles in the past two winters: "It's difficult work".
