Canadians typically pay more than $1,000 a year for health care on top of tax-supported medicare and public insurance, according to Statistics Canada. The federal agency estimated out-of-pocket costs increased 2.9 percent annually: "Do I expect the trend to continue? Absolutely".
The last remnants of the Kyoto Protocol have dimmed in a federal tribunal ruling. The judgment came in a dispute between defunct CO2 exchanges. Canadian investors had established private carbon markets in anticipation of a boom in cap-and-trade swaps in the 2000s: 'There was no evidence of actual trades'.
The Supreme Court is due to hear a last appeal in a landmark thirteen-year legal battle over federal powers to search lawyers’ files. Accounts obtained by Blacklock's indicate the litigation cost taxpayers $3 million to date: "Whether it's time well spent is another question".
Cabinet will permit unrestricted oil tanker traffic through the "critical habitat" of Pacific humpback whales with revisions to its Species At Risk Act. The habit includes shipping lanes targeted by the proposed Enbridge Inc. Northern Gateway Pipeline: "They want to get the show on the road with Enbridge".
Veterans Affairs Canada is being cited by a labour adjudicator after docking an employee’s pay for time missed due to a volcano. The Public Service Labour Relations Board ruled the department’s action was “unreasonable”.
The Canada Border Services Agency promises honest reporting of wait times under its latest attempt to avert travelers’ delays. The agency previously admitted to under-reporting wait times through guesswork: "I assumed this was already taking place".
Cabinet should order the routine release of most government data for public scrutiny, says an MP. Complaints over concealment of federal documents were up 9 percent last year: 'We need to look at the law'.
Poet Shai Ben-Shalom, an Israeli-born biologist, examines current events in the Blacklock’s tradition each and every Sunday: “It starts in telemarketing. Computers with human-like capabilities make automated calls to customers, deliver messages with precise intonation, use voice recognition to engage in a dialogue. People can’t always tell…”
The Commons will debate a private bill proclaiming a National Garden Day each and every June.
The legislation would celebrate home and commercial horticulture across Canada, including one Prairie City where the growing season lasts just eight weeks: "Nearly everybody loves flowers. It makes people feel good."
Transport Canada is being taken to Federal Court over its refusal to divulge even basic information about the country’s no-fly list. The department was cited for concealing records by the Office of the Information Commissioner: 'You are denied on the basis of nothing that you can know about'.
Widening restrictions on federal employees’ right to strike are a bid to weaken labour, says the Customs and Immigration Union. Employees are suing cabinet to overturn an order declaring as many as 1500 new employees “essential” and forbidden from striking: "That is their larger plan".
A confidential cabinet memo cautions Canadians in certain occupations will have trouble finding work over the next decade. Industry Canada compiled a list of careers projected to flatten by the year 2022: "There will likely be pressure".
Health Canada must amend "silly" rules under the Food and Drugs Act that regulate some types of lipstick in the same manner as cancer drugs, says a manufacturers’ group. Industry appealed for further amendments to a bill now before the Commons: "I have never met anyone who thinks this makes sense".
Legislation governing migrant labour must prevent conditions akin to human trafficking, says an independent report. The study concluded the system is rife with abuses including five-figure recruitment fees charged by offshore recruiters: "It's time we start taking this very seriously".
Cabinet is being taken to Federal Court by employees on a claim it overreached in limiting workers’ right to strike. It is the first lawsuit of its kind stemming from no-strike provisions of an omnibus budget bill signed into law this past winter: "I think its completely ridiculous".
