Cabinet is rolling back Conservative changes to census-taking but will maintain a little-used provision of the Statistics Act that threatens scofflaws with prosecution. Statistics Canada has described the jail sanction as pointless: "The law is the law".
A new Parliament is expected to quickly repeal a law that would freeze cabinet pay and departmental operating budgets in case of a deficit. Cabinet has said it will run in the red in 2016 following previous Conservative claims of a paper-thin $1.4 billion surplus this year: 'If Keynesian economics worked we wouldn’t have any debt right now'.
The fisheries department is seeking whether to harmonize aquaculture rules with the U.S., where regulators complain “negative public perceptions” have harmed industry growth. The department yesterday said it wants a “very thorough and comprehensive” review of American regulations.
Air Canada has lost another court judgment over the closure of aircraft maintenance shops in two provinces. The Québec Court of Appeal said the closures breached federal law: "There were 2,600 jobs affected".
Canada Revenue Agency has lost a key court battle over tax audits of multinationals. A federal judge ruled auditors could not compel a company to produce custom documents on far-flung subsidiaries from Cyprus to the Guernsey Islands: "That which does not exist cannot be produced".
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau today named a 30-member cabinet that maintains a department of amateur sport, but stops short of reviving a stand-alone ministry of consumer affairs disbanded as an austerity measure in 1995.
The Department of Immigration is refusing comment on a program that’s seen banks collect millions in government-mandated deposits from foreign students. The Student Partners Program requires that students from India and China buy $10,000 guaranteed investment certificates from select banks before applying to study in Canada: 'I do wonder how fair it is'.
New details of a remote Alberta pipeline accident underscore failings of a federal liability cap on operators, say environmental advocates. Substandard equipment led to a burst in a TransCanada Ltd. natural gas pipeline that blew a five-metre crater in the ground: "They got lucky".
Parents of twins have struck out a second time in claiming discrimination under the Employment Insurance Act. A Vancouver mother lost her Federal Court bid to press a human rights claim for double benefits: 'It's one set of benefits per pregnancy'.
Cabinet’s new fisheries minister faces a federal lawsuit over old regulations on aquaculture. A British Columbia biologist is asking that a judge review cabinet powers on fish farming: "The Minister acted without authority".
Federal investigators are again urging that Transport Canada mandate audio and video recorders in all locomotive cabs following another VIA Rail incident. Railway unions have cautioned the devices should not be open to misuse as surveillance devices by management: "This has gone on for years".
Regulators must toughen restrictions on radioactive radon gas to protect public safety, says a coalition of health and environmental groups. It follows a 2014 proposal that cabinet offer a $3,000 tax credit to refit homes threatened with radon poisoning: "It is easy to forget about it because it has no smell, no taste".
A small business tax cut was the most popular pre-election finance measure proposed by cabinet, newly-released government data show. It drew a warmer response in federal polling than claims of the first balanced budget in eight years: 'Skepticism was related to the timing in an election year'.
Researchers at the University of Waterloo have created what they call a breakthrough in Canadian battery technology for use in devices from cellphones to electric cars. Rechargeable Waterloo batteries have double the lifespan of existing devices, authorities said: "If we can commercialize this it will really benefit Canada".
The federal mortgage insurer citing “concerns” over a housing bubble is commissioning $125,000 in research on the 2008 collapse of the U.S. real estate market. CMHC said it needs greater understanding in “spotting problematic conditions”. It earlier rated three cities as having unsustainable prices: 'Concerns are raised over the risk of overvaluation in the Canadian housing market'.
