Around Canada

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This article was published 24/01/2014 (4313 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Folks feeling propane pain

OTTAWA — A shortage of propane in parts of Central Canada has suppliers scrambling to find extra fuel and rural consumers fuming about skyrocketing prices.

The Canadian Propane Association insists there is no shortage in Canada.

But the latest statistics from the National Energy Board show propane inventories were nearly 30 per cent lower across the country in January compared with the same month last year.

And one of the country’s biggest suppliers, Superior Propane, predicted Thursday prices will likely remain high until May.

“Traditionally, prices have softened in the spring when winter heating demand eases,” the company said in a statement. “Superior currently expects prices to ease at the end of April or early May.”

The company also said the supply crunch may force it to ration deliveries in some cases.

“In order to ensure customers who use our product for heat or essential services, like hospitals, Superior may prioritize deliveries in order to meet these essential requirements.”

Propane is commonly used to heat homes in areas that cannot be reached by natural gas lines. It’s also used to fuel specially equipped vehicles and for industrial applications including the drying of corn and other crops.

 

Veterans want answer

OTTAWA — Canada’s veterans ombudsman and the Royal Canadian Legion are calling on the Harper government to say once and for all whether it will retroactively compensate ex-soldiers whose pensions and benefits were unfairly clawed back.

Veterans Affairs Canada has been silent about whether it will follow National Defence and reimburse those whose earnings-loss benefits, income supplements and war veterans allowance cheques were improperly docked.

In May 2012, a Federal Court justice ruled the federal government was wrong to claw back the military pensions of injured soldiers by the amount of disability payments they received.

Former defence minister Peter MacKay ended the deduction and federal lawyers negotiated an $887-million retroactive settlement dating back to 1976, when the process first started.

Former veterans minister Steven Blaney also ended the practice for programs in his department, but his successor has yet to open discussions about compensation for what was deducted prior to the decision.

 

Feds offer new package

TORONTO — The federal government has offered the provinces and territories a new Canada Jobs Grant package as part of a “sensitive” third round of negotiations over the controversial proposal, says Employment Minister Jason Kenney.

The original proposal, which came shortly after the last federal budget was introduced, was less than perfect, Kenney acknowledged Thursday as he described a new offer that gives additional “flexibilities” to the provinces.

“I’m not suggesting the initial model that we proposed was ideal; to the contrary,” the minister said in a speech to the Toronto Region Board of Trade.

At the same time, however, he expressed frustration with the fact other levels of government have been balking at something he considers a common-sense plan.

“It’s so blindingly sensible, I don’t understand why it’s not widely accepted.”

— The Canadian Press