Ottawa appears internet-challenged after decades of review, says Auditor General Michael Ferguson. Public Works Canada has found some 100 different email systems across the bureaucracy, many of them incompatible with each other: "I still don't know what's being done".
Married Canadians tend to be wealthier than singles, concludes research by the Institute of Marriage and Family Canada. The study appeared to confirm suspicions divorce is expensive: 'That's not terribly controversial'.
The Department of Justice is appealing a court finding of favoritism in the awarding of X-ray contracts at the agency responsible for airport safety. Attorneys seek to overturn a ruling the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority "concocted" a process to reward a single supplier: "Its decision was unfair".
The nation’s largest railways have taken the economy “hostage”, says Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz. His remarks followed farm and industry protests of inexplicable shipping delays despite passage of the Fair Rail Freight Service Act: "We are considering all options".
A federal agency is being sued for allegedly violating the Copyright Act on the internet. The Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Petroleum Board is accused of publishing data without permission: "The Copyright Act doesn't matter to these people".
Meat inspectors will gain first-ever powers to impose fines for routine violations, from spitting in a slaughterhouse to falsifying records. The initiative follows a report by visiting U.S. inspectors that cited select Canadian processors for rusty pipes and unclean equipment: "They'll have the fines but they don't have the inspectors".
A proposed Canada Revenue registry of commercial tax preparers should be expanded to include income trusts, says an MP. The program targeting individual and corporate-paid tax filers deliberately excluded income trusts: "That's where a lot of the real money is hidden".
The Department of Fisheries is drawing mixed reviews with a proposal to sanction the release of dangerous substances into waterways. The fisheries minister could approve the release of “deleterious substances” to combat invasive species, aid aquaculture or conduct research: "It would have been against the law".
Federal prisons have been plagued with arson fires since the Correctional Service banned smoking by inmates, new data show. Authorities counted more than 600 arson fires in prisons since a smoking ban was first introduced in 2006: "There have been challenges and difficulties".
The Department of Finance is quiet on a lapsed promise to reduce the federal excise tax on diesel. The Minister of State for Finance, MP Kevin Sorenson declined comment on a cabinet pledge to halve the tax from 4¢ a litre to 2. “It was supposed to be great news".
A 50-year old navy ship sold as a scuba divers’ artificial reef poses an ecological risk and must not be sunk as is off the B.C. coast, warns Environment Canada. HMCS Annapolis is laced with toxic PCBs. Authorities sold it as an artificial reef in 2008 but only confirmed last week its PCB content exceeds federal law: "Environment Canada was not entirely candid".
Cabinet is being pressed to release confidential Canada Post feasibility studies on retail banking that were mysteriously shelved by management, and now concealed from the public. Toronto City Council voted 39-2 to have the post office divulge a secret report that concluded postal banking “would be a win-win strategy”.
A winter wireless auction may have raised $5.27 billion for the Government of Canada but results need to be weighted with many grains of salt, say analysts. Industry Canada saw auction proceeds rise 23% but only after doubling the length of licenses: "It may seem a lot higher than it is".
Canada Border Services Agency estimates 48,500 foreigners are in the country illegally. The disclosure came as cabinet proposed to restrict permits issued to international “students” who gain entry to Canada but never attend class: "I don't quite understand why we would tolerate this".
An obscure reference in budget documents to electronic jamming devices has analysts puzzled over what cabinet has in mind. Authorities refused comment on the initiative, except to caution that wireless signal blocking is a danger to the public: "It is not really clear what they're looking at."
