The Northwest Territories has one of the highest incarceration rates in the industrialized world, new data confirm. Statistics Canada reported the territory’s rate declined 13 percent last year and still remained five to ten times higher than the provinces, and nearly as high as U.S. rates: "Our judges tend to be very conservative".
Canada Revenue hired focus groups in three provinces to see how taxpayers liked advertisements for non-refundable credits. Canadians surveyed found some ads with children “adorable” but considered the actual tax credits paltry: 'It's the Pepsi-Cola approach to policy-making'.
The National Research Council is drafting a report on whether to require ventilation in all attached garages. The review of the national building code is complete and findings will be published by fall. More than half of all new single-family homes in Canada have attached garages: "There is a need to provide sound technical solutions".
Salvation of VIA Rail’s Atlantic passenger run should mark a revival of the transcontinental service dating from 1889, supporters say. The Crown railway said despite record deficits it found $10.2 million to purchase a stretch of New Brunswick track abandoned by Canadian National Railway Co.: "It didn't make any sense".
An Alberta government authority says there is “absolutely” no doubt that select pesticides are “killing bees”. The testimony at the Senate agriculture committee marked the first time an official of any Canadian government unequivocally acknowledged damage caused by neonicotinoid farm chemicals: "They have been clearly implicated in the bee kills".
The Supreme Court will hear arguments on whether Canada’s National Gallery acted in bad faith in reversing itself on minimum payments to artists for exhibition of their works. Groups representing painters and other visual artists earlier won a tribunal judgment against gallery managers: "This case may test the Supreme Court".
Police will gain unprecedented powers to search Canadians’ tax records without a warrant under an obscure amendment to the Income Tax Act. The new rule, questioned as unconstitutional, was uncovered by the Senate finance committee in a 375-page budget bill: 'Lawyers are getting frustrated with these large, omnibus bills with hidden agendas'.
A federal court judgment in favour of an Alberta mother against CN Rail will help all families working in federally-regulated industries, says the lawyer who won the case. The railway fired the woman after refusing reassignment to care for her two small children: "Accommodation for family responsibilities for all practical purposes is now finally resolved".
Health Canada’s privatized medical marijuana scheme puts the public “at risk” and compromises doctors, says a medical group. The Federation of Medical Regulatory Authorities of Canada said the program that relies on physicians to prescribe cannabis to patients is unscientific, unsound and may be unsafe: "You don't pick it up from your pharmacy; that says it all".
Anti-trust investigators have ended a probe of alleged unfair trade practices targeting Western sawmills. The Competition Bureau said it had no proof Canadian National Rail Co. broke federal law in dealings with customers who declined to ship through its Thornton Yard terminal near Vancouver: "We will continue to monitor the market".
Agriculture Canada has denied chicken farmers’ application to create a national marketing board for pullets. The Pullet Growers of Canada expressed disappointment with the veto. Young chicks remain the only birds in the poultry system that are not under supply management: "We have come too far to just give up".
The Supreme Court will decide whether the country’s most profitable toll road can reach beyond bankruptcy to collect a debt. Justices agreed to hear an appeal in the case of a truck driver told he must settle nearly $90,000 in unpaid tolls with interest or be refused a vehicle permit: "In human terms it's very real".
Cabinet is acknowledging for the first time the post office actively studied reviving its Postal Savings Banks before abandoning the plan for service cuts and 35% rate hikes. Studies showed comparable electronic banks like ING and PC Financial saw larger profit margins than regular banks, even through the recession: "It analyzed and looked at all of the options".
Quiet amendments to auto safety regulations that permit cabinet to change rules without public input are more “efficient”, says Transport Canada. The little-noticed change permits cabinet to rewrite regulations under the Motor Vehicle Safety Act without advance notice to consumer groups, industry or the public: "We want to remove red tape".
Heritage Canada should be removed from its lead role in planning the nation’s 150th anniversary amid an apparently narrow focus on military themes, critics say. However one official said the department was doing an "okay job" in preparing for the 2017 sesquicentennial.
