Lawmakers will try for a third time in two years to enact first-ever regulation of merchant fees charged by Visa and MasterCard Canada. A Liberal bill in the Commons would grant cabinet blanket powers to fix fees by executive order: 'When you're small you have no leverage'.
Cabinet should ease 2014 restrictions on migrant workers blamed on a “frenzy of politics”, says the Canadian Chamber of Commerce. Changes in foreign labour permits left employers with chronic shortages of skilled workers, MPs were told: "Canada is bleeding from a wound we've inflicted upon ourselves".
The federal government as the biggest landlord in the country must lower energy use by at least 20 percent, says an advocacy group. The public works department and other agencies own some 4 million square metres of building space nationwide: "Show leadership".
A federal investigation into a Nova Scotia fisherman’s death is renewing calls for tighter safety regulation of the nation’s fishing fleet. Transport Canada is proposing to update safety requirements for the first time in 40 years: "There is a risk".
Major VIA Rail changes proposed in a Department of Transportation report will result in a small, regional service that leaves too many Canadians in their cars, says Unifor. The study recommends stripping passenger subsidies outside VIA’s core business in Ontario and Québec: 'It's an infrastructure backbone'.
Excise taxes on small distillers would be cut 49 percent under a private Conservative bill in the Commons. A similar 2006 cut in beer taxes was credited with fueling the nation’s micro-brewery craze: "There is quite a bit of tax in a bottle".
The Department of Health is expanding a national check-up on Canadians’ exposure to lead, pesticides and other substances. Thousands of people will be tested for exposure to chemicals, including a flame retardant banned only six years ago as a health risk: “Chemical substances are everywhere”.
One of the country’s largest business schools is suing a faculty member for alleged breach of the Copyright Act. Western University’s Ivey Business School claims a professor copied its licensed works for email distribution to two Asian universities: "How much do you know about China?"
Health Canada should strike an all-scientific panel to revise its national Food Guide free of industry influence, says a Senate report. It follows criticism the current Guide reflects lobbying by food processors and agri-business groups: ‘Fruit juice is little more than a soft drink without the bubbles’.
Soda pop, chocolate milk and other beverages laced with added sugar must be taxed to offset obesity-related medicare costs, says a Senate report. Legislators also called for plainer labeling of processed food ingredients, and endorsed a national ban on children's food advertising already proposed by Health Canada: "There is an obesity crisis in this country".
Natural Resources Canada warns of more catastrophic wildfires following 2015 disasters that destroyed 9.8 million acres of forest. The department in a ministerial memo cited fire as an “increasing threat”.
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency denies budget cuts impacted its work despite a U.S. audit that found nearly a million pounds of meat were rejected at the border as contaminated. The audit by the U.S. Department of Agriculture was conducted in 2014 but only disclosed this past January 20: “None of this surprises us”.
A federal labour board has ordered reinstatement and $25,000 in damages for an angry Transport Canada engineer fired for slapping his supervisor. Spiteful management appeared to go out of its way to needle the man, an adjudicator ruled: "Two cubicle neighbours heard the slap and loud voices".
Consumer advocates are protesting a federal proposal to restrict complaints against airlines. The Transport Canada report appeared to target groups including one Halifax-based advocate who filed 14 complaints in three years: “I take this as a compliment”.
Federal climate change targets lack a fulsome explanation and regulatory detail, say advocates. An Environment Canada Strategy For Canada 2016-2019 was deemed weak and vague: "There needs to be a lot more detail here".
