Canadians fear interest rate hikes but are resigned to rising credit costs as inevitable, says in-house cabinet research. The newly-released government surveys also found deep unease with the loss of Canadian jobs abroad: 'There's a sense the economy is delicate, perhaps tenuous, with a wide variety of threats'.
A crime bill endorsed by the Commons would affect five people, officials say. The disclosure came as the bill’s Conservative sponsor said he would simply withdraw the measure after it passed the House on Second Reading by a vote of 183 to 90: "The theme is to be very, very afraid".
Federal regulators lack considerable knowledge on the impact of oil spills, cautions a fisheries department panel. The Canadian Science Advisory Secretariat said the effect of an Alberta bitumen spill in fish habitat is not fully known: "Clean-up doesn't get more than 20 percent".
Only one percent of small and medium-sized business in Canada are exporters and stand to benefit from a European trade deal, a Commons committee has been told. Trade officials said the overwhelming majority of small operators do not have the means to trade: "They don't know what they're getting into".
A Senate panel is appealing to Health Canada to adopt “essential” reforms to safeguard use of prescription drugs and antibiotics. The science committee yesterday concluded nearly three years of research with a call for more proactive regulation of medicines: "The committee was discouraged by frequent testimony regarding Health Canada".
Most Chinese-Canadians have no religion while Jamaicans are more likely to be poor or unemployed, according to Ethnic Backgrounders written by the Department of Citizenship. Authorities gave no reason for compiling the data, released through Access To Information: 'It's the changing nature of Canada'.
Cabinet supports expanding federally-regulated security screening to regional airports nationwide, but won't detail who will pay or how much. Transport Canada endorsed a Commons motion permitting small airfields to join a national airport security system following petitions from local authorities from Sherbrooke, Que. to Fort Nelson, B.C.: "It's about time".
A cabinet bill limiting corporate liability for oil leaks will leave taxpayers with millions in costs from any spill the size of a 2010 Enbridge Inc. pipeline breach in Michigan, MPs say. Bill C-46 caps no-fault liability at $1 billion; comparable U.S. law carries no such limit on clean-up costs: "One billion dollars is a drop in the bucket".
A cabinet bill touted as a remedy for prison drug abuse merely codifies existing practice and appears pointless, the Commons has been told. The Department of Public Safety said there is “still room for improvement” in curbing inmates’ addictions: "Does this bill actually bring forward new policy?"
A 65-year old Hamilton, Ont. firefighter has lost a long legal battle to overturn a mandatory retirement law. The Supreme Court declined to hear the case: "We are an aging society; there is a shifting landscape".
Nearly 6 in 10 Canadians would strip citizenship from children born here based on the immigration status of their parents, according to in-house government polling. Citizenship Canada posed the question in a confidential survey, obtained through Access to Information: “This would be a very fundamental change”.
A $64,000 dispute over safety improvements to a Nova Scotia rail crossing makes the case for tighter federal regulations, says an MP. The City of Halifax had to appeal to the Canadian Transportation Agency to determine who'd pay to upgrade a crossing used by Canadian National Rail Co.: "There are issues".
Heavy ice throughout the Great Lakes has forced a week’s delay in the opening of the St. Lawrence Seaway. It follows the coldest winter in the region since 1889. Some $34 billion a year in economic activity depends on the Seaway system: "We want to make sure".
Cabinet proposes to close a 1.4-gram loophole in the Tobacco Act it says has been exploited by industry to peddle cigars to children. Health Canada detailed amendments to fix legislation it originally passed six years ago: "It doesn't go far enough".
Poet Shai Ben-Shalom, an Israeli-born biologist, examines current events in the Blacklock’s tradition each and every Sunday: “Once, behind the deli counter, there was a 4-foot salami; the centerpiece of the display…”
