The Canada Border Services Agency should have independent oversight, says a Senate committee. Lawmakers also proposed an independent panel to review public complaints at the Agency, echoing a private bill sponsored by a Liberal senator: "This is now quite a very large police enterprise".
Gangs account for only a small fraction of overall crime but a disproportionate number of violent offences, says confidential research by Public Safety Canada. In a report released through Access To Information, the department concluded organized crime remains largely confined to specific cities and certain “ethnic” groups: "Little research has been conducted".
New regulations granting an oil licensing board the right to conduct environmental assessments is drawing protest. Rules will see the Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Petroleum Board manage risk assessments on oil and gas drilling; the same board grants exploration licenses: "There is a question of conflict".
The Senate is preparing for final votes on Bill C-377 on warnings it will be left to the Supreme Court to decide if unions can be legally compelled to disclose confidential data. Opponents privately said they were resigned to passage of the bill, first introduced in 2012: "The curtain is falling on the last act of the 41st Parliament".
A six-figure fine on an airline for breaching federal anti-spam regulations is a “wake-up call” for industry, says a legal analyst. Porter Airlines was fined $150,000 for emailing prospective customers: "This really brings home the reality that the regulations are impacting everyday Canadian businesses".
A longtime sportswriter who lost thousands of dollars publishing a free-to-read hockey blog has won a Tax Court judgment over the Canada Revenue Agency. The tax department had refused to credit the blogger’s losses incurred while travelling with the Toronto Maple Leafs as legitimate business expenses: "It is taking immense internal restraint to not comment on the ongoing Leafs ‘legacy’".
Blacklock’s notes with sadness the passing of Paul Delahanty, 82, an original contributor and longtime reporter. Mr. Delahanty died Sunday of cancer. Found among Mr. Delahanty’s personal effects at his Gallery desk was a prized copy of the Charter Of Rights & Freedoms, and a handwritten quotation from Thomas Jefferson.
An ex-Mountie cashiered on suspicion of drinking off-duty has lost a bid for a Supreme Court hearing. Justices declined to hear the constable’s complaint of wrongful dismissal. The case predated a court order striking down a 1920 ban on unions in the RCMP: "I have no jurisdiction".
Senators today take up Bill C-377 amid warnings that angry disagreement over the union bill is further diminishing the Senate, itself. Final passage of the bill appeared close but likely after Conservatives overruled Speaker Leo Housakos in a bid to throttle a Liberal filibuster: "Changes have to occur in the Senate".
A former Olympian has lost a human rights claim that he suffered discrimination due to cocaine addiction. Ontario Divisional Court dismissed a lawsuit by Paul James, a 2007 soccer Coach Of The Year, against York University: "He succumbed to the vicious grip of an addiction to crack cocaine".
The Canadian Union of Postal Workers is considering a legal challenge after scores of newly-unionized workers lost their jobs at mail processing plants in three cities. The cuts came as the post office declined to renew a long-time contract with Adecco Canada, a staffing agency: "We have to take this on".
One of the nation’s longest-serving community charities has formally disbanded. The charity committee of the Canadian Jewish Congress, active from 1934, surrendered its registration under the Income Tax Act: "It is definitely the end of an era".
Government attorneys are in Federal Court tomorrow in a bid to fend off a Vancouver lawsuit to fill Senate vacancies. Twenty seats in the 105-seat chamber sit empty since the Prime Minister suspended appointments in 2014: “He’s either legally required to do it or he’s not”.
Poet Shai Ben-Shalom, an Israeli-born biologist, examines current events in the Blacklock’s tradition each and every Sunday: “It’s Canada Day in the National Capital. We gather by the Notre-Dame Cathedral…”
Conservative Senators will attempt to break a Liberal filibuster and force a final vote on a bill compelling every union in Canada to disclose confidential data. The Government Leader in the Senate said further delays will kill Bill C-377: "If we leave for the summer this bill will die".
