Industry Canada is proposing a new policy on unsightly wireless towers two years after Parliament rejected an identical initiative, and a full year after municipalities and the telecom industry penned their own solution to the issue: "Ironic".
Canadian Coast Guard icebreakers are too old to keep vital St. Lawrence River shipping open in extreme conditions, says an industry group. The complaint comes as the Coast Guard prepares to increase 2014 service fees on a “full cost” basis following next week's federal budget: "The Coast Guard has not been a model of efficiency".
Parliament must develop a national policy on beekeeping amid staggering losses and fears of pesticide poisoning, a Senate committee has been told. Lawmakers are investigating whether farm chemicals are to blame for the deaths of up to half of bee colonies in select provinces: “It's up to you guys".
A homebuilder whose firm was implicated in a $15 million GST-avoidance scheme has been reappointed a director of Canada Mortgage & Housing Corporation. Jason Kenney, minister responsible for CMHC, would not comment on his naming of Mattamy Homes’ chief operating officer to the federal board: “Mattamy’s actions were extremely careless”.
Secret Environment Canada polling shows half of people surveyed oppose new oil pipeline and rail shipments as unsafe, even if it means job losses. Transport Minister Lisa Raitt said the findings suggest the country is "torn" over the petroleum industry.
Campaigns to "buy local" groceries may run afoul of free trade pacts, cautions an industry group. A New Democrat bill now before Parliament would have Agriculture Canada promote local food purchases as a national procurement policy: "I don't know how you can put that kind of bill in place".
The Department of Fisheries is nearly tripling one species’ quota this year amid industry-wide concerns over catches and revenues. The department said the Atlantic haddock catch will nearly triple this year: "It didn't just happen overnight".
VIA Rail is pledging publicly to save its main Atlantic run though a corporate plan identifies the service as a chronic money-loser slated for cuts. The future of the Montréal to Halifax line is in doubt after Canadian National, owner of the track, proposed to abandon a portion in New Brunswick: 'I hope for leadership'.
The Al Jazeera Network says continued restrictions on its Canadian broadcasts are unfair to Arabic-speaking viewers. The network filed an appeal to lift conditions imposed amid complaints of anti-Semitic commentary. Arab-speaking Canadians today outnumber those who speak Polish, Dutch or Ukrainian.
Sixteen percent of pesticide manufacturers have failed to report chemical sales as required by Health Canada regulations, data show. And records indicate the department is now years behind in mandatory reporting of sales by its Pest Management Regulatory Agency: "Where is the data for 2011, 2012?"
Public safety, not fear of publicity, is the motive behind a bill to restrict access to Canada’s spring seal hunt, says the legislation's Conservative sponsor. The bill restricts photographers and animal rights activists from getting within a nautical mile of the hunt: 'Tempers flare and it's not a good working environment'.
Canada Revenue Agency has won another court case involving a charity fraud that helped inspire proposed new regulations on tax preparers. A federal judge dismissed a claim by a couple who claimed to donate $44,464 to a man they knew only as Oscar, and another man named Dave: "Not credible".
The purchase of farmland by outside investors should be seen as a financial opportunity and not a threat, says the Canadian Federation of Agriculture. The group told a farm economics conference that corporate investors "bring badly needed capital into the industry".
Half of Canadians surveyed have not heard of cabinet’s signature trade agreement with the European Union. A survey commissioned by UPS Canada Inc., a supporter of the treaty, found 47 percent were unaware a deal was signed four months ago: "It was surprising".
MPs are preparing to pass a “flawed” anti-counterfeiting bill that industry executives rate as costly and ineffectual. Opposition parties pledged support for Bill C-8 but only due to a lack of any alternative, MPs said: "“You better take what you can get".
