Changes to rules on migrant labour have left food processors and meatpackers scrambling to assess the impact on labour shortages, officials say. Foreign workers comprise one-tenth of the sector workforce: 'The impact would be swift and severe'.
New research is planned on job prospects for workers in the nation’s original heritage industry, fishing. The Canadian Council of Professional Fish Harvesters is commissioning a national study amid a 73% decline in the number of license holders in the past twenty years: 'It's a little grim'.
Contractors, restaurateurs and hotelkeepers in dozens of targeted Canadian cities face new restrictions on hiring migrant labour. Changes to the Temporary Foreign Worker Program would see a ban on hiring of new low-skilled migrants in metropolitan areas with a jobless rate of six percent or more: "Where is the shortage-of-labour strategy?"
Legislation mandating cuts in red tape is largely pointless say critics, noting it exempts the one department that generates the most paperwork -- Finance Canada: "It is a staggeringly thin bill".
Soap additives threaten fish and wildlife in the Great Lakes region, says an International Joint Commission official. Gordon Walker, Canadian commissioner, expressed alarm over the extent of damage from pinpoint-sized polyethylene microbeads: "We have got to get the message out".
"Offensive" rewards-based credit cards are a subsidy for privileged customers that drive up all retail costs, a Senate panel has been told. The Retail Council of Canada said merchants charged high fees to process loyalty program cards must pass on costs: "I'm going to get hurt".
The Federal Court of Appeal will hear arguments over long-fought royalty fees on internet webcasting. Re:Sound representing artists and labels is appealing a Copyright Board schedule that offered as little as 10.2¢ per thousand plays: "We have no choice".
Rollerblading on the Plains of Abraham is no longer a federal crime. Cabinet approved new regulations that also decriminalized graffiti, skinny dipping and other misdemeanors on the site of the famed 1759 battle: "It is mostly dogs that are the problem".
Parliament is passing into law an omnibus bill that expands the sharing of Canadians’ personal financial information amid warnings it may not be constitutional. The Senate voted 52 to 26 to give final passage to Bill C-31: "You can see why I have a certain distrust".
Health Canada must curb its practice of granting “temporary” pesticide licenses for years, even decades at a time, says the Senate agriculture committee. The panel's advice follows criticism over renewal of a license for a bee-killing pesticide under review since 2004: "We want to know the facts".
Health Canada must regulate the recycling of medical devices amid claims thousands of hospitals reuse equipment, says an MP and industry group. Legislators were told single-use devices are commonly shipped out of the country to be reprocessed and used again: "Why has the government not acted on this?"
Consumers would see plain labeling of all meats produced using hormones, antibiotics or slaughterhouse waste under a bill introduced in the Commons. The legislation follows appeals from doctors to abolish the non-essential use of antibiotics in food production: 'Canadians are eating this and don't even know it'.
A bill introduced in the Commons would place Canada’s surveillance agency under judicial scrutiny. The private Liberal bill requires the secretive Communications Security Establishment seek a Federal Court order, not merely cabinet approval, to spy on Canadians’ personal data: "I don't think there's been any improvement".
Cabinet is paying out millions of dollars in grants to small religious weeklies under an application-only subsidy operated by Heritage Canada. The Canadian Jewish News received $1.8 million in four years though its circulation numbers only 33,000 readers. The Western Catholic Reporter received $1.5 million: "It never occurred to me the Canadian government would fund newspapers".
Transport Canada is being cited by an industry group for a poor job in mandating safety systems in civil aviation. The Northern Air Transport Association said the agency has been impacted by budget cuts: "Has it eliminated crashes? Hard to say".
