Transport Canada is objecting to a bill mandating minimum service and Crown funding for VIA Rail passenger service. MP Jeff Watson, parliamentary secretary for transport, said the legislation would place “a greater burden on the taxpayer”. VIA had estimated a loss of $321 million on operations last year: "We see the sad result".
RCMP are underpaid, overworked and face difficulties in recruitment without reforms, reports an internal board. The finding follows a Supreme Court judgment revoking a 95-year ban on a Mounties' union: "They're underpaying us significantly".
Canada’s food processors and restaurateurs have been likened to cigarette manufacturers at Senate obesity hearings. Lawmakers accused the industry of being slow to accept responsibility for the nation’s weight gain: "It's not rocket science".
The Government of Canada has no way of tracing bitcoin transactions, says the federal agency mandated to track money-launderers. The admission came as regulators attempt to draft rules on trading of the pseudo-currency: "That will be a challenge for sure".
Canada Post is being sued by a homeowner who accuses the Crown agency of garbling his address. Post office executives admit to selecting a non-legal name for the community due to the “consternation” of neighbours, according to Federal Court documents: "They will decide where I live".
The Canada Revenue Agency is conducting a sweep of cheque-cashing companies. Authorities filed Federal Court applications seeking the identities of customers at four companies in three provinces: "Members have not made us aware of any Canada Revenue Agency campaign against them".
Smaller Canadian railways face steeper insurance costs under new liability regulations prompted by the Lac-Mégantic disaster. Transport Canada said minimum liability insurance will rise as much as five-fold for short line rail companies: "What needs to be done, will be done".
Ottawa reporters, photographers and cameramen face expulsion from Parliament Hill on the complaint of any politician or federal employee, with grievances to be heard at closed-door disciplinary hearings. The unprecedented measures are proposed by the Parliamentary Press Gallery: “If the government told the Gallery to do this, the press would go berserk”.
Samara, a well-meaning charity based in Toronto, wanted to gauge the state of Canadian democracy. They commissioned a poll. This is not useful. It’s like surveying Canadians on the capital gains tax or municipal fire code. These are complex, technical systems that cannot be repaired by poll when they malfunction.
The fact of democracy is tolerance of dissent and a citizen’s ability to correct a wrong; the form of democracy is the hubbub of elections, vague perceptions and colourful Twitter messages. Samara confuses the two.
The result is Canadian Democracy From The Ground Up, a mother’s little helper guide in which academics use Samara surveys and other data to scrutinize the least relevant aspects of our system. An example: political scientist Quinn Albaugh of McGill, and journalism professor Christopher Waddell of Carleton University, examined use of the hashtag #cdnpoli over a six-week period in 2011.
A bill to create first-ever federal privacy protection for genetic testing has been effectively killed by a Senate committee. Conservative lawmakers said the measure, opposed by insurance companies, amounted to government over-reach: "Insurance companies will have to pay; they're not going to do that".
Parliament should mandate plain labeling on processed foods in a bid to curb obesity, a Senate committee has been told. A bill currently before the Commons would require disclosure of sugar content in drinks, snacks and other foods: "This is what kids are eating".
Research suggests a link between toxic chemicals used in shale gas drilling and health effects on farm livestock, says the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment. The group said new data confirming the phenomenon will be published later this month. It coincides with a Natural Resources Canada study on groundwater quality: "Contaminants may get into crops".
The Government of Canada has ten times more meat inspectors than drug safety inspectors, according to accounts tabled in Parliament. And the number of pharmaceutical company inspections has actually declined in the past ten years: "They know the lay of the land".
Canadian mining companies have appealed to the Senate for more tax write-offs, including a 35 percent credit on “infrastructure” spending. Critics said the request would provide miners with some of the most generous tax benefits in the world: "What is the deal for the Canadian taxpayer?"
A Commons reform bill seeks to curb cabinet’s powers to amend scores of pieces of legislation in one fell swoop. Provisions of so-called omnibus bills running to hundreds of pages have been struck down in numerous court judgments to date: "MPs aren't able to do the job they are paid to do".
