Canadians will no longer get advance public notice of new rail safety rules. Cabinet is quietly repealing a federal law that it give a heads-up on planned regulatory changes, including one implicated in the Lac-Mégantic disaster: "They were the victims of a corporate act of terror".
An information website aims to examine Canada’s power use and consumption by province, says its Senate sponsor. The lawmaker said the internet data is prompted by public difficulty in finding reliable information: "How do we use our energy?"
A Conservative senator is challenging chemical manufacturers to justify claims their products are environmentally safe amid Health Canada warnings on toxicity. JoAnne Buth, a former Canola Council president, pressed industry executives over pesticides: "You have a vested interest".
Cabinet is at a loss to explain a federal memo instructing border guards to save time and money by ignoring shipping containers suspected of containing illegal drugs. The directive urged guards to focus on stolen cars instead: 'It is the Minister's responsibility to be on top of all smuggling'.
The Department of Finance says bitcoin is not illegal in Canada and may not even require federal regulation. A senior official told the Senate banking committee that bitcoin, like a Canadian Tire coupon, is in the eye of the beholder: "We don't stand up and say they can't do that".
Natural Resources Canada has faced a federal judge over allegations it concealed records that would confirm copyright violations by its own staff. Attorneys challenged the department to justify withholding records of what it did with an Alberta firm's licensed surveys: "It's not fair".
Cabinet says it will accept new applications for public works subsidies in four days though critics note crucial details of the program remain hidden. The New Building Canada Fund is to be launched amid municipal complaints of inadequate information: "So, we don't have a deal, do we, frankly speaking?"
Ongoing conflicts over random workplace drug testing are headed back to court with a Suncor Energy Inc. appeal of an Alberta ruling. Suncor was ordered to stop random testing at its oilsands facilities: "This is a labour law issue with clear precedents".
Cabinet is quiet on a private contractor's bid to charge homeowners $20 a month for mail delivery in the wake of Canada Post cutbacks. The service, believed to be the first of its kind, promises doorstep delivery from community mailboxes for a fee: "Anything to make a buck on seniors and the disabled, right?"
Canada Border Services Agency says it’s so short of funding that guards are to ignore suspected narcotics shipments unless notified by police. The order is contained in an agency memo disclosed at a Senate committee. The revelation came as MPs debate a bill to have guards intercept counterfeit goods: "We cannot even examine export containers suspected of holding drugs".
The Senate has voted to investigate Bitcoin as the chair of the banking committee likened the pseudo-currency to an Aesop’s fable. Senator Irving Gerstein noted that money has been regulated by Canada's central bank since 1934: "Aesop wrote of a miser who buried a stash of gold in a field..."
Health Canada is being pressed to explain a six-month delay in replying to a petition for review of a pesticide linked to bee deaths. Farmers use some 200,000 litres a year of the neonicotinoid chemicals currently banned in Europe: "Why are these products on the market?"
A Liberal bill to regulate merchants’ credit card fees has passed Second Reading in the Senate amid Conservative warnings it will not go much further. Bill S-202 would cut merchants' fees to a fraction of the $5 billion now collected annually: 'This does not strike a fair balance'.
Canada’s privacy commissioner is being urged to protect citizens’ rights under a cross-border tax treaty. MP Charlie Angus questioned whether the innocuous-appearing agreement exposes Canadians to intrusive checks by U.S. agents: 'Do procedures protect privacy rights?'
CNR accuses cabinet of trying to “punish” railways with another bill intended to speed deliveries on the nation’s crucial freight network. The new bill, the second in less than a year, would mandate shipping quotas and subject railways to arbitration under threat of fines or license suspensions: "They ought to listen this time".
