A Saskatchewan businessman has lost a bid to avoid a six-figure tax bill by declaring bankruptcy – twice. Court of Queen’s Bench ruled the delinquent tax-filer must make at least partial payment after going 14 years without paying tax: "Canada Revenue was really pushing to get that money".
The St. Lawrence Seaway has rebounded strongly enough from a delayed start to fuel speculation about whether it can match or surpass its 2013 traffic total of 37.1 million tonnes: "All forecasts suggest this trend will continue".
Privatization of Canada Post appears likely under a cabinet proposal to lower the corporation’s pension deficit by cutting benefits, say retirees. A Department of Finance plan would repeal defined benefits guaranteed under the Canada Post pension, currently struggling with a deficit that has grown 25% since 2011: 'They are doing everything they can to privatize'.
Canada Mortgage & Housing Corp. is budgeting $7 million to help employees brush up on résumé writing, “having difficult conversations” and other skills. The initiative comes amid persistent speculation the corporation is to be privatized: "Does the government have any plans to do this?"
Consumer groups are petitioning cabinet to overturn a CRTC decision on expiry dates for prepaid wireless cards. The appeals come a year after the telecom regulator finalized its Wireless Code that allows prepaid cards to run out even with a cash balance: "I don't know how anyone can justify that".
The federal Treasury Board is promising to finally streamline electronic services by 2016. The latest deadline follows a critical auditors' report that found departments still have no simple, standardized format to handle business online: "That's totally unacceptable".
A government group, the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada, commissioned confidential research that concludes Indo-Canadians are “price conscious”; Chinese-Canadians “value aesthetics”; and aboriginals are "insecure". The research also concluded Filipino immigrants are much like other Asians: "Birds of a feather flock together".
Natural Resources Canada in a confidential cabinet grievance suggests senior scientists are biased and too talkative with reporters. The memo followed publication of federal research on the environmental impact of Alberta’s oil sands: “You can call me all sorts of names but, look, I’m an honest guy”.
Canada’s privacy commissioner is suing one of the nation’s largest supermarket chains alleging it refuses to divulge personal information it kept on an unhappy customer. The application in Federal Court seeks to compel Sobeys Inc. to answer requests dating back three years, including repeated appeals from federal attorneys.
A federal judge will rule whether Transport Canada exceeded its authority by quietly exempting Air Canada from in-flight staffing regulations without first notifying staff. The Canadian Union of Public Employees is asking that Federal Court review how the exemption was granted, and whether it affects public safety: 'Flight attendants have told me they are concerned'.
Dear Friends: staff and directors of Blacklock's Reporter pause for our annual August holiday week. We'll be back August 9th. Our best wishes to you for a safe and happy holiday.
Public Safety Canada has no reliable estimate on the size of a “flourishing” trade in black market cigarettes, according to confidential documents. “We do not know the basics,” concluded one in-house study commissioned by the department. The data was obtained through Access to Information: "All you have to do is walk out the door to find contraband tobacco".
Bill collectors complain federal regulations on unsolicited calls violate their rights. A debt collection company Total Credit Recovery Ltd. has petitioned the broadcast regulator to suspend a new rule on automatic dialing announcing devices, so-called robocalls: 'This will not prevent nuisance'.
Health Canada is testing the nation’s tap water in the largest lab analysis of its kind. The department is contracting chemists to collect up to 6,000 samples from cities nationwide. The water test follows a critical report from the group Ecojustice that noted Canada fails to regulate scores of contaminants in drinking water: 'It begs a question'.
Health Canada is silent on why it’s waited four years to enact a plain-label rule on chemical food additives that is already law in the U.S., E.U. and Australia. The department says it had no deadline on introducing the regulation after raising the issue with food processors in 2010: "I don't know why they're stalling on this".
