Federally-insured mortgages for first-time homebuyers averaged more than a quarter-million dollars last year, according to Canada Mortgage & Housing Corp. The federal agency said it considered the debts reasonable: "It's almost a cultural attitude towards debt these days".
The Department of National Defence is appealing to recruit more women while acknowledging military life is considered a “masculine” and “old-fashioned” career. The campaign follows evidence of uncommonly high rates of sexual assault in the military: "Perhaps the army did not choose the best moment for this campaign".
An innocuous-sounding tax treaty should be withdrawn from Parliament pending deeper review over its reach and impact, say MPs. The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act inserted into a 359-page omnibus budget bill requires that Canada Revenue collect data on dual citizens and report it to the I.R.S.: "It's being pushed through".
Canadians’ electricity bills vary by as much as 100 percent or more depending on their home city, according to a comparison of rates. Residential and industrial charges ran from about 6¢ per kilowatt hour in Winnipeg and Montréal to 12 cents or more in Toronto, Halifax and Charlottetown: "Is it coal or is it gas?"
Parliament should not enact any new aquaculture legislation without first consulting provinces, says a senior member of the Senate fisheries committee. Promoters complain fish farms are simultaneously regulated by the provinces and four separate federal departments: "I think it is going to be a long road".
Canada Post warns employees' pay and benefit cuts are “crucial” to its survival. However the Crown agency declined comment on bonuses paid to senior executives last year including its nineteen vice-presidents: "We do not have a bonus plan that is driven by an entitlement".
A “suspicious” federal agency watching out for money laundering and terror financing will now share data with the Canada Revenue Agency.
Little-noticed amendments to federal law disclosed in the Senate banking provide for greater sharing with the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre: "They're going to be looking for more and more information so they can justify their existence".
Public Works Canada should require that contracts for government-issue apparel prohibit bids from sweatshops, says an MP. At least five government departments purchase Bangladeshi-made apparel: “We have to know where these clothes are being made".
The CBC is developing a “strategic plan” to be unveiled by summer that involves the sale of real estate and schemes to boost internet revenues, says the Crown broadcaster. The network already targeted the sale of 400,000 sq.ft. of realty by 2015: "The challenges that we are facing are severe".
Atlantic fisheries ecosystems have altered substantially from the 1960s, says Fisheries & Oceans Canada. Authorities are tracking declines in the $350 million cold-water shrimp trade: "We're looking at a very different environment".
Parliament must restore the “pretty important” balance between security and civilian oversight of spy agencies, says a Conservative Senator. Security agencies have been found to spy on environmental groups, and even refuse MPs entry to their Ottawa headquarters.
Canada Revenue Agency says it’s received 120 calls to date on a new snitch line to track offshore tax cheats. However authorities acknowledged it will be years before informants ever see their promised rewards: "It will be sort of hit and miss".
In a surprising outcome 22 Senators have voted against proclaiming a national day for Pope John Paul II as one Catholic legislator expressed dismay over church sex abuse scandals. The Senate voted 47-22 to refer the bill to full committee hearings with nine lawmakers including Conservatives abstaining: "Was he immune to the charges? Did he ignore them? Was there a cover-up?"
“Consultation” on new Canadian Food Inspection Agency fees consisted mainly of sending out 12,000 emails and drawing five replies, says the agency. Authorities acknowledged consultations did not involve physically meeting or speaking with anyone: "We did feel very successful".
Mandatory rail safety data remains too secretive and inaccessible to employees and the public, says one of the nation’s largest railway unions. Teamsters Canada said Safety Management Systems required of 35 federally-regulated railways should be public information: "MPs, the public, even we can't see them".
