A Northwest Territories miner has patented a new amphibious vehicle to maneuver risky winter roads and manage the “life-threatening danger” of thin ice due to global warming: “There is an immediate market for this.”
Officials anticipate a court fight over a federal bill requiring that union organizers detail their pay, activities, health benefits and other personal data for publication on a government website. The bill’s co-sponsor, asked if the measure was constitutional, replied: “Courts will determine that.” But one senior Conservative is already describing the bill’s passage in the House as “a great day for Canada.”
The post office says it received “zero representations — zero,” over its latest proposal to increase mail rates. Cabinet just approved the increase, which raises the cost of a domestic letter to a record-high 63¢.
Federal tax collectors are seeking a court order to seize records of some of the nation’s largest cheque-cashing companies in a probe of mysterious third-party invoicing by clients. One federal auditor said the investigation focused on “accommodation invoicing,” a scheme in which shell companies manufactured invoices to claim tax refunds.
Canada’s railways are citing excess regulation over a long-promised bill that subjects them to federal arbitration and six-figure fines on service commitments to commercial customers. “A lot of hard work went into this,” said one farm group that pressed for the reforms for years.
An old-age pensioner has won a Federal Court case against cabinet after losing $5,000 in benefits over an honest mistake on an application form. A judge found “no apparent rationale” for refusing benefits to an eligible pensioner over a paperwork error. “There are broad implications here,” said the advocacy lawyer who won the case.
Warmer weather may extend the shipping season on the St. Lawrence Seaway. The system’s traditional Christmas closure is now proposed for extension into January: “If it makes commercial sense and if there is enough cargo, we would be open to that.”
Long-awaited legislation to hold railways to service standards under threat of six-figure fines is being introduced just days before Parliament’s scheduled winter recess. The measure would allow commercial shippers to seek binding arbitration in service disputes.
New emission standards will cost Canadian car and truck buyers an extra $145 on average by 2017 under compliance with US regulations. Costs of technology are expected to increase more than tenfold by 2025. Yet federal regulators say resulting fuel efficiency will see drivers recoup costs within three years: “It makes sense.”
The head of a federal foundation that lost 19 percent of its parliamentary endowment, then struggled to recoup the money, is advising charities to reassess risks of funds invested in the stock market.
A show ‘n tell bill requiring that union organizers detail their pay, activities, health benefits and other personal data is likely headed for court, labour officials say. “This bill will not stand up to legal challenge — that is almost certain,” said Ken Georgetti, president of the Canadian Labour Congress. “I think the government already knows that.”
An Alberta inventor is patenting a new device to force compliance with road safety laws that forbid Canadian drivers from texting or using handheld cellphones: “There are not enough police to enforce these rules.”
The Canadian Bar Association is urging that Parliament withdraw an entire bill, C-43, that grants cabinet new powers to restrict visitors and deport immigrants. Advocates said the measure strips non-citizens of basic rights of appeal for minor criminal offences.
Canada has decreed 2013 as the Year of Korea at the same time as free trade talks between the countries have apparently stalled. One of Canada’s largest exporters says lack of agreement with South Korea could cost producers here a fortune: “It would be devastating.”
Manufacturing has officially been eclipsed by the retail trade as the top employer in the country’s industrial heartland, figures show: “You can’t base an entire region’s economic development on shopping malls.”
