Canada lacks the “political will” to vigorously pursue commercial fraud, says the former counsel for a now-disbanded Bre-X class action lawsuit. The long-lived litigation over the 1997 fraud has ended after Ontario Superior Court concluded there was little money left to recover on behalf of swindled investors: "Everybody was happy to go along with it".
Environment Canada confirms a 32-year delay in meeting its target of making the nation PCB-free.
The department yesterday declined interviews on further postponement of its deadline for elimination of electrical equipment with polychlorinated biphenyls.
Cabinet originally pledged in a 1979 Action Plan to phase out all PCB electrical transformers, circuit breakers and other equipment by 1993, then extended the deadline to 2014.
It is now postponed till 2025 for utilities and manufacturers: "People complained".
Cabinet is rewriting Fisheries Act rules to sanction pesticides for aquaculture operators. The Department of Fisheries declined an interview on amendments that lift a federal ban on chemical use in fish habitat: "This has been a longstanding issue".
Forty-eight municipalities have passed resolutions opposing Canada Post plans to abolish home mail delivery. The post office will eliminate doorstep service to 5 million homeowners beginning this October: "The outrage is still there".
The nation’s first regulations on Islamic food processing are being introduced. Muslims are forecast to outnumber Anglicans within fifteen years: "All slaughtering is by knife and not automation, carried out by a practicing Muslim who says a prayer while facing East".
Nearly ten months after the deadly Lac-Mégantic wreck, Transport Canada proposes new restrictions on tank cars involved in the fiery derailment that killed 47 people. The Minister of Transportation yesterday issued a series of orders that comply in part with recommendations from federal safety investigators: "It's unreasonable that it took them so long".
Canadian Food Inspection Agency staff are raising red flags over job assignments they say will result in weaker consumer protection. The Agriculture Union pointed to reduced monitoring of honest weights, product labeling and verification: "It's basically a free-for-all".
The Canada Border Services Agency says global warming will turn the Arctic into an undefended haven for smugglers. The agency in a confidential report advocated stepped-up patrols in northern Canada in anticipation of new waves of contraband including human smuggling: "Organized crime has attempted to access the Canadian Arctic".
A federal bill extending plant breeders’ royalties grants corporations “more control over Canada’s food system”, says the United Church. In a policy statement the church condemned Bill C-18 for ratifying new international regulations protecting breeders. Canada and Italy are the only G7 countries to withhold ratification to date.
Airlines are appealing for time in complying with new standardized rules on baggage handling and check-in. The Canadian Transportation Agency ordered new regulations to take effect October 1: "This does not seem onerous".
Private pension plans must budget for longer-living beneficiaries, says the Canadian Institute of Actuaries. The association said increased contribution rates for younger workers appear inevitable as seniors enjoy long, long retirements: "This will drive the cost of pensions".
Health Canada is inching toward curbs on antibiotics in the food chain. It follows warnings from physicians that long-term misapplication of drugs to spur growth in livestock will have far-reaching effects on Canadians' medical care: 'These are fundamental life-saving tools'.
Tax Court has upheld a Canada Revenue curb on employees’ claims of travel expenses for work purposes. The judgment follows the defeat of a bill in the Commons that would allow employees to deduct travel costs: "Modern workforce reality causes frequent changes".
The Supreme Court will rule on whether motorists in a civil class-action lawsuit can bolster their case with federal evidence from a criminal gas-gouging probe. Consumers seek access to Competition Bureau wiretaps used to pursue criminal complaints against fuel retailers: "These are highly private communications".
Canada more than quadrupled its imports of shark fins as Parliament prepared to vote on whether to ban the delicacies, newly-released data show. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency says it is still considering restrictions on fins: "We are contributing to the demise of sharks".
