Parliament should ban interest charges over 21 percent under federal usury laws, a Senate committee has been told. A private bill would abolish higher rates charged by payday loan companies, credit card issuers, utilities and other firms: 'Bell Aliant in Atlantic Canada has an interest rate for non-payment on time of 42%'.
Health Canada proposes a 50 percent increase in most fees on pesticide manufacturers, the first increase in charges since 1997. The fees would still not cover most costs associated with reviewing farm chemicals worth $2.2 billion a year in sales, the department said: "If we made our fees too high, it would potentially be a disincentive to industry".
A group denied Canada Revenue Agency status as a charity for its promotion of “cosmic” oneness has lost a bid to take its case to the Supreme Court. Justices declined to hear an appeal from the Humanics Institute of Ontario: "There was no god in this, which is generally a requirement".
Poet Shai Ben-Shalom, an Israeli-born biologist, examines current events in the Blacklock’s tradition each and every Sunday: “The Quarter of Combat in the city of Paris used to be the site of animal fights, public hangings…”
Pat and Mike, two rival saloonkeepers on Main Street, were complaining of poor sales when they hit on a scheme. Pat took a dollar and went to Mike’s to buy a glass of beer, then Mike took the same dollar and returned the favour at Pat’s. On it went, Pat and Mike swapping the same dollar for beer. By month’s end both had phenomenal sales, and no income to refill their empty kegs.
So author Michael Strangelove hits on a peculiar analysis of what ails television. He complains media companies insist on charging for content to recover production costs while kids today just like free beer. “Free, easy, simple and feature-rich – this is not something that can be yanked out of consumers’ hands without a fight,” says Post-TV. Um, yes, but television, like beer, costs money to make. How would Post-TV suggest that television networks get cash to keep refilling the program schedule? The question does not interest Strangelove.
Lawyers, accountants and everyday contractors including janitors doing casual work for unions will be required to tell the government of their political activities under Bill C-377, a Senate committee has been told: "If that’s not an intrusion in privacy, what is?"
A federal judge has cited Employment Canada for incompetence in managing the Temporary Foreign Worker Program, describing the department’s paperwork as a “mess”. Justice Michael Phelan ordered the agency to pay an employer $2,500 in costs for bungling his application: "Do not attribute to malice that which can be explained by incompetence".
Canadian airlines would be compelled to guarantee bilingual service for passengers aboard international flights under a private Liberal bill introduced in the Commons. It follows a Supreme Court dismissal of damages claimed by an Ottawa-area couple who complained they were denied French-language service on Air Canada flights to the U.S.: "No one saw this coming".
Canada must ban a common industrial wood preservative as a public health peril, say environmental advocates. The chemical pentachlorophenol, commonly used in fence posts and telephone poles, has been cited as “extremely toxic” by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency: "There are safer chemicals".
The Government of Canada should cite the word “veteran” with a capital V in official use out of respect for those who served in uniform, says a Royal Canadian Legion branch. Cabinet did not comment on the request: "We're talking about the meaning of words".
NHL players are seeking an exemption from Conservative Bill C-377 mandating disclosure of confidential union data, saying the measure is so broad it compromises licensing agreements on hockey cards and other paraphernalia: "This is the first time I'm seeing this".
The Royal Canadian Legion opposes a bill to make November 11 a legal holiday, though the measure was approved in principle by a near-unanimous Commons vote. The veterans’ group said it feared the bill would turn Remembrance Day into “just another long weekend”: "Look at Victoria Day to question what observances are held across the country to honour Canada’s longest-serving monarch".
Cabinet has stepped back from wholesale federal deregulation of food and beverage container sizes following industry and provincial protests. The original 2012 proposal prompted criticism Canadian processors would lose production to U.S. factories: "They had no idea".
Vietnam is a corrupt and repressive police state that should be pressed by Canada on its “abysmal human rights record”, a dissidents’ group has told MPs. The testimony at a Commons committee came as MPs passed a bill to commemorate the 1975 fall of Saigon: 'Corruption runs all the way to the top'.
More than 7 in 10 foreign visitors arriving in Canada by air will be subject to mandatory federal background checks under regulations to take effect in a year, excluding U.S. citizens. The rule applies to visitors from countries who don’t already require a Canadian visa including French and Germans: 'It's something between a visa, and nothing at all'.
