Canada Border Services Agency proposes to study back issues of Xinhua and TASS under its “risk management” strategy, according to documents. The agency is contracting a news clipping service to provide articles from foreign dailies including Chinese Communist publications “for use in decision-making”, it said.
Trade officials are accused of publishing misleading data on transatlantic auto exports to bolster a tentative Canada-Europe trade pact. Claims of five-figure auto shipments are unverifiable, concludes a report critical of the agreement: 'What vehicles are we selling in Europe? They couldn't tell me'.
Veterans Affairs Canada spent more than a million dollars on TV ads and other marketing only weeks before closing regional offices in a cost-cutting drive, records show. The department approved seven-figure spending on ads, then hired a pollster to ask Canadians if the marketing was effective: "This is inappropriate".
Pharmaceutical executives are being cast as white-collar ‘drug pushers’ as MPs from all parties endorsed a Health Canada bill to expand regulations on unsafe medicines: "That kind of activity should be criminal".
Tax changes since 2005 have mainly benefited middle- and low-income Canadians, says Parliament’s Budget Officer. A GST reduction to 5 percent in 2008 will save taxpayers $13.3 billion this year: 'Some credits are useless'.
The Commons is being asked to declare a moratorium on storage of nuclear plant waste on Lake Huron. Authorities northwest of Toronto petitioned Ontario Power Generation to bury radioactive waste a kilometre from the lake: "Nobody else is proposing anything".
A rail bill promising better service for shippers has cleared a Senate committee amid caution it remains ambiguous and poorly-defined. Senators okayed Bill C-30 with “observations” on its shortcomings: 'This is so it does not go unnoticed in the future'.
Food processors would face new sugar labeling requirements under a private Commons bill. The legislation proposes all prepackaged foods carry a sugar content label prominently displayed on the front panel of packaging. Canadians consume 26 teaspoons of sugar daily on average: "People want to know what they are eating".
Canadians’ right to privacy from warrantless police searches and tax snoops must be examined by an independent panel, say MPs. Legislators and advocacy groups urged a review of intrusive measures. The call follows Blacklock’s disclosure that new legislation grants police unprecedented powers to search tax records without a warrant: "We really are at a crisis point".
The Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions is being cited for breaching federal law in withholding public documents. The incident followed its refusal to release files regarding a 2013 notice on “catastrophic” earthquake liability as requested by Blacklock’s Reporter.
Nearly two-thirds of young Canadians subscribe to internet television, according to newly-released data from broadcast regulators. Fully 62 percent of Canadians under age 34 buy Netflix and other internet TV: "This has irreversibly altered the TV landscape".
Goods & Services Tax rebates will be subject to garnishee orders under a new federal policy. However cabinet removed Canada Savings Bonds interest payments from their list of "garnishable moneys" for the first time in 25 years, noting bonds aren’t paying much anyway: "The interest isn't worth the trouble".
RCMP management is accused of speeding enforcement of new regulatory powers ahead of a Supreme Court ruling on whether to lift a 1920 ban on unionizing the force. Regulations give the commissioner authority to fire members without appeal: "Everyone needs to be held to account".
Lobster fishermen are casting a wary eye on a new season, the first since Atlantic regulators proposed initiatives to bolster the billion-dollar industry. The P.E.I. Fishermen’s Association reported an uneven catch with varied prices to date: "We aren't at the price point to make a profit".
A “shock scenario” of a doubling of interest rates would slash farmland values up to 13 percent on average, says a confidential Agriculture Canada study. The department commissioned secret research on historic debt levels, noting farmers have used rising land values for loan collateral. Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz declined an interview.
