Private owners of Canada’s biggest subsidized toll bridge will double their money after recovering all costs of construction this year, accounts show. The P.E.I. Confederation Bridge took in $96 million in tolls and subsidies last year under a Transport Canada contract: "Why wouldn't the government just operate it themselves?"
Effluent from pulp mills is affecting reproductive organs in fish species, confirms Environment Canada. The federal survey of downstream impacts followed 1992 regulations requiring frequent monitoring of mill pollution: 'What exactly is in the mill effluent?'
The Supreme Court is declining to hear a last appeal from investors of a charity scheme who were promised tax receipts financed by turnaround interest-free loans: "Canada Revenue Agency was extremely motivated to push this case forward".
Cabinet killed Hockey Night In Canada at the CBC, claims a New Democrat MP. Legislators debating broadcast policy at the Commons heritage committee heard conflicting versions of the network’s loss of NHL broadcast revenues after a sixty-year monopoly: "I think it's a management issue".
Railways face six-figure fines for safety violations under a new Transport Canada schedule. The violations under the Railway Safety Act range from noise complaints to falsifying safety records: 'It has the potential to be extremely damaging in the next election'.
Cabinet amendments to labour law will “virtually eliminate” the right to strike for 325,000 federal employees, says a national union. The Public Service Alliance of Canada told a Senate committee that changes to labour law are probably unconstitutional: 'They effectively wipe out years of work'.
A long-promised rail reform bill intended to aid farmers may harm other shippers and industries, says a port official. An executive with B.C.’s Prince Rupert Port Authority said grain shipping quotas mandated by cabinet could simply delay deliveries of other goods: "We are concerned".
Health Minister Rona Ambrose says she is troubled by Canada’s “normalization” of marijuana use, though her department is the first to privatize cannabis production for medical patients. Ambrose said too many Canadians think marijuana is harmless: 'It concerns me greatly'.
A federal agency spent more than $100,000 to question jobless Canadians on how they pay their bills. The Financial Consumer Agency of Canada hired researchers to interview unemployed people on topics like “making ends meet” and “keeping track of money”.
Authorities should investigate links between groundwater depletion and probabilities of earthquakes, says a Canadian researcher. Evidence suggests human activity including irrigation farming and oil drilling may stress rock formations: "The earth responds by flexing back".
Parliament for a fifth time in 10 years will consider adding a new statutory holiday to the federal calendar. A private bill to proclaim November 11 a day off with pay was introduced by New Democrat MP Dan Harris in honour of Afghan War veterans, he said: "Of course there will be individuals who will treat it as a day off like any other".
Copyright law has been around for 300 years and follows the Ten Commandments, yet many Canadians – including government agencies – barely comprehend intellectual property rights.
There are no copyright police or courts, and even public agencies steal others’ work. It is no exaggeration that copyright owners enjoy less protection from theft than the night manager eyeing shoplifters at a Quickie Mart.
Finance Minister Joe Oliver faces questions after a confused appearance in the Commons that MPs described as “stupefying” and incompetent. In a late evening House session to review Department of Finance estimates, Oliver appeared to confuse “employment” and “unemployment”; could not recall if he'd read a specific report; and was cited three times by the Deputy Speaker for providing lengthy, rambling answers: "Everything was written down on recipe cards".
Cabinet will permit expansion of truck routes through a national park to a Yukon zinc mine owned by Chinese investors. The legislation was quietly introduced as the Prime Minister announced with fanfare a new National Conservation Plan to promote nature: 'They introduce these bills in the Senate to move them faster'.
MPs have rejected a bill to promote “buy local” food policies in federal contracting. The Commons killed the New Democrat measure by a 146 to 123 vote amid concerns that regulators could not easily enact the measure: "They would obviously have had difficulty in defining 'local'".
