Recently released documents indicate the federal government has reservations about restricting international trade in endangered species — more of them than almost any other government on Earth.

The papers show that Canada has opted out of nearly every resolution to protect endangered species taken at last year's meeting of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). Delegates from 180 countries voted to extend protection to 76 plant and animal species from soft-shelled turtles to tropical hardwoods.

Canada, however, filed "reservations" against all those motions, meaning Canadian trade in those species will continue as normal.

"It's unprecedented," said Sheryl Fink of the International Fund for Animal Welfare. "I can't think of any explanation for it.

"I've been told no other country has ever taken such an action."

The protections were voted on in March 2013 at the last CITES convention in Bangkok. According to a document released earlier this fall, Canada chose to opt out of all but one of the motions that upgraded species protections.

Canada's 76 reservations, all filed in 2013, dwarf those of other nations. Over the entire 39-year history of the treaty, Iceland has filed 22 reservations; Japan 18 and the United Kingdom eight. The United States has filed none.

Few of the species Canada declined to protect have any significant domestic value. A small East Coast fishery exists for the porbeagle shark, but Canada does not harvest manatees, manta rays or ebony.

Environment Canada spokesman Danny Kingsberry said the reservations are temporary and the protections will eventually come into law.

"Canada, as with many other parties to the convention, requires additional time to make the necessary regulatory changes," he said in an email. "These reservations are technical in nature, not substantive, and were made to allow Canada sufficient time to amend its domestic legislation to reflect the changes."

But the text of the agreement says reservations are "a unilateral statement that (a country) will not be bound by the provisions of the Convention relating to trade in a particular species."

Fink said Canada has previously managed to produce regulations well within a 90-day grace period allowed under the treaty.

"As far as I'm aware, this has never been a problem for Canada," she said. "There is no logical explanation for Canada to place reservations on all of these species, and no plausible excuse for a 20-month delay in updating our legislation."

Opposition politicians have also failed to find any logic in the government's actions.

"Why do you need 20 months?" asked Liberal environment critic John McKay. "You can amend regulations in a heartbeat. I don't know why that's complicated."

New Democrat critic Megan Leslie, who has submitted a question to the government on the issue, noted a lot of time has passed since the rest of the world agreed to protect the plants and animals.

"It doesn't make sense to me why they're putting a reservation on the manatee — it's not even a Canadian species. I don't really know what gives here."

The government has also failed to follow through with a promise last August to update its wild animal and plant trade regulations, said the animal welfare fund.

Canada's stance baffles its international partners, said Fink.

"It's something that's been noticed in the international conservation community — why has Canada done this?"

Canada has been fighting a rearguard action at CITES over polar bears. It has been working to stop the organization from further restricting trade in polar bear parts.

Support for Canada's position, however, has been declining.

In 2010, CITES considered banning all trade in polar bear parts and the European Union voted in a single bloc with Canada against it. In 2013, after major European countries including the United Kingdom and Germany said they opposed Canada's polar bear hunt, the EU simply sat on its hands.

Note to readers: This is a corrected story. An earlier version said Fink's first name was Shirley.

GENEVA - Flying could get cheaper next year as airlines say they will finally start passing on some of the savings made on plummeting oil prices.

Carriers are forecasting record profits for 2015 thanks to cheaper fuel and rising demand. As a result, they expect to cut the average ticket price by 5 per cent in 2015, excluding surcharges and taxes.

That may not be a big decrease considering that the price of crude oil has fallen 40 per cent since June, but is the most carriers can do for now, the International Air Transport Associated said Wednesday.

The association, which represents 240 airlines, or 84 per cent of total air traffic, notes carriers are still stuck with contracts for fuel that pre-date the past months' price slump.

That's one reason why airlines have this year not cut ticket prices despite the oil price fall. In fact, as demand for flying remains strong, fares have been going up.

But things should start changing next year. That's when airlines' fuel costs will start reflecting the recent plunge in energy markets, says IATA's chief economist, Brian Pearce.

"It's going to be six months or so before airlines are seeing lower fuel costs, and at that point consumers are likely to see a fall in travel costs," Pearce told The Associated Press.

The airlines will still be making more money. They forecast record net profit of $25 billion next year — well above the $19.9 billion this year, the $10.6 billion in 2013 and $6.1 billion in 2012.

That is based on a forecast that the price of oil will average $85 per barrel. On Wednesday, the U.S. contract was trading below $63 a barrel.

IATA's U.S. counterpart, Airlines for America, declined to comment on where fares are headed but expressed satisfaction with lower fuel prices.

"We're certainly hopeful that the cost environment and the demand environment will stay healthy" so airlines can invest in new planes and passenger amenities, said the U.S. trade group's chief economist, John Heimlich.

Demand for travel has been so strong that airlines just haven't seen a need to cut prices. That approach has helped drive airline stocks higher as fuel prices have tumbled. But on Tuesday, shares of Spirit Airlines Inc. plunged 12.7 per cent — and other U.S. airlines fell too — after the discount carrier said it saw signs that cheaper fuel was leading to lower prices on last-minute tickets.

Despite higher earnings, many airlines remain cautious about their finances as profit margins remain slim. Geneva-based IATA said margins are forecast at only 3.2 per cent, just up from 3.1 per cent in 2010.

Tony Tyler, director-general and CEO of IATA, said that even with the fall in jet fuel prices, the average profit would still amount to little more than $7 per passenger per flight — well below other industries.

He note Starbucks, for example, has a declared profit margin of about 14 per cent.

"If that is the case, they will retain as much from selling seven cups of coffee as an airline will make selling an average ticket," Tyler said.

That's why airlines are taking advantage of a golden moment, in which fuel costs are falling just as demand rises.

Passenger traffic has been expanding by about 5.5 per cent per year for the past two decades but IATA said it is expected to grow 7 per cent in 2015.

North American airlines are expected to make the biggest profit next year — $13.2 billion, from $11.9 billion this year — but see only a modest increase in demand. Carriers in Europe are expected to see net earnings rise to $4 billion in 2015 from $2.7 billion this year, with demand roughly unchanged.

The highest growth in demand is forecast in emerging markets in Asia, the Pacific region, the Middle East, Africa and Latin America.

Asian airlines should see profits hit $5 billion next year, bringing them back to 2011 levels, while the Middle Eastern ones should rise to $1.6 billion from $1.1 billion.

___

AP Airlines Writer David Koenig in Dallas contributed to this report.

ST. JOHN'S, N.L. - Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Paul Davis will meet with Stephen Harper on Friday to talk about a dispute over the free trade deal with the European Union.

The Prime Minister's Office confirmed they'll meet in Ottawa to discuss a fishery fund linked to the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement.

Davis says federal negotiators agreed to a joint $400-million fund of which Ottawa would pay $280 million.

He says the cash was in exchange for the province giving up minimum processing rules under CETA that helped protect fish plant jobs.

The federal government says it only agreed to provide up to $280 million to compensate for actual losses — not give the province an unfair advantage.

Davis says he'll reconsider his province's support for CETA if the dispute can't be worked out.

TORONTO - Ontario's Liberal government announced Wednesday that it would provide an $86-million line of credit to the MaRS office project in downtown Toronto to help attract tenants and protect the province's original investment.

The government was already on the hook for a $225 million loan to MaRS for the second office tower at the site designed for medical and research labs, plus another $65 million to buy out an American real estate company's interest in the project.

The line of credit recommended by an expert panel set up by the Liberals would bring the province's total investment in the MaRS expansion to $395 million.

"This is a good business decision that ensures that we protect the public investment that's been made in a loan that will be repaid with interest," said Infrastructure Minister Brad Duguid.

"This is the best and fastest way to make sure that gets done, while at the same time continuing to invest in our innovation sector, creating jobs and economic opportunities here at MaRS."

A big part of the problem in attracting tenants to the MaRS Phase 2 tower, which is only about 30 per cent full, was high rents demanded by the U.S. real estate company that is no longer involved in the project.

There are many would-be tenants who have signed letters of intent to locate in MaRS, including the University of Toronto, which wants four floors in the building, said MaRS board chair Gord Nixon.

"If the building is leased up the cash comes in. If the cash comes in the loan gets paid down and the province gets repaid," said Nixon. "So the key is really leasing."

The opposition parties complained that many of the would-be tenants for MaRS appeared to be public-sector agencies funded by Ontario taxpayers and not from the private sector, but Duguid dismissed that argument.

"How do you have an innovation hub without scientists, and scientists are often part of organizations that are in some way connected to government, either through funding or maybe even through (provincial) agencies," he said.

"If you want to grow a healthy innovation hub, you need to have partnerships and that means government and private sector and the non-profit sector as well."

The Progressive Conservatives said Duguid should think twice about providing the line of credit for MaRS because there is no guarantee the money will be repaid.

"It's been good money after bad since Day 1, and now we have an expert panel that says it's a good thing to throw more good money after bad," said PC critic Randy Hillier. "The taxpayers are at even greater risk today and these people are in their field of dreams."

The New Democrats wanted to know why the government is putting more money into MaRS when it still hasn't provided a business case for the original $225-million loan to the charity that operates the complex across the street from the legislature.

"There was no effective business plan presented to the people of this province, and you have the minister going to some lengths to justify investing additional money in MaRS," said NDP finance critic Catherine Fife. "It's almost like in for a penny, in for a pound."

But Duguid said the line of credit will protect the public money that's already been invested in MaRS and help the stalled project get back on track.

"We're very assured now that this is the right course from a fiscal perspective, the right course from a security of our loan perspective, and the right course for building a strong economy and creating jobs," he said.

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TORONTO - Questions about the effectiveness of an investigation into the CBC's handling of the Jian Ghomeshi affair swirled Wednesday amid employee concerns about incriminating themselves.

While senior managers defended the process as independent, the union said only a promise of immunity would allow all employees to speak freely to investigator Janice Rubin.

There's no guarantee that your information or your identity is protected, said Carmel Smythe, president of the Canadian Media Guild.

"Every day, it looks less independent, that she's just now taking orders and supplying all the information to CBC."

CBC asked Rubin, a labour lawyer, to conduct an independent investigation after firing Ghomeshi, 47, as host of the radio show "Q" in October. The broadcaster said it axed Ghomeshi after seeing what it called "graphic evidence" he had caused physical injury to a woman.

More than a dozen other women then stepped forward with allegations he had physically or sexually attacked them, with one woman saying he had sexually harassed her at work but her complaints went nowhere.

Ghomeshi has denied the allegations, arguing that he engaged in "rough sex'', but insisting it was always consensual.

Earlier this week, the guild cautioned members that Rubin would be recording their interviews with her — information that could wind up being used in disciplinary proceedings against them.

CBC spokesman Chuck Thompson on Wednesday confirmed that could happen — but only after disciplinary proceedings had already started.

Essentially, he said, Rubin would flag the need to take action against an employee in her final report.

"If there's something that she believes needs to be brought to management's attention based on her investigation, she will do that," Thompson said.

"Any discipline that would be taken would fall to management."

Despite the guild's misgivings, one management source said those who had already spoken to Rubin were struck by her professional approach and had come away assured there would be no whitewash.

Among those who have spoken to Rubin was former "Q" producer Kathryn Borel, the woman who said she had complained to no effect about Ghomeshi to union representative Timothy Neesam.

Reached in California, Borel praised what she described as Rubin's rigorous fact-finding exercise but expressed doubt the investigation will ultimately yield much because people are afraid to speak out.

"How that information will be used, obviously, is where the process breaks down and where I stop believing that anything good will come from it, because management is far more interested in dodging and obfuscation than actually examining itself," Borel said.

"Fear and silence are what created this mess."

Just how tricky the situation is can be seen in an attempt by the guild to negotiate an agreement to protect Neesam's identity, which Rubin refused.

In a confidential letter obtained by The Canadian Press, Rubin spells out when a recording and transcript of her session with Neesam could be made available to management.

"Should the CBC request a copy of the material, it may also be given access to it by me but only if it engages in a disciplinary process with respect to Mr. Neesam in relation to the subject matter of the investigation," Rubin states.

She then goes on to state that "engages in a disciplinary process" means if and when Neesam first receives a notice to attend a disciplinary meeting.

Neesam has denied Borel mentioned sexual harassment to him, saying only that she talked about inappropriate behaviour.

Smythe said people want answers and a thorough investigation is needed, but Rubin's isn't the way to go.

"Many people want someone to be held accountable and actually so do we," Smythe said.

"We were very optimistic initially and each day we're a little less optimistic."

Ghomeshi is also facing sexual assault and choking charges stemming from alleged incidents involving three women. His lawyer has said he intends to plead not guilty.

The same government computer system that last month mistakenly paid out millions of dollars in social assistance has issued another 2,600 cheques in error, according to Ontario's Ministry of Community and Social Services. 

Officials say the latest payments went out to people whose accounts are closed. 

The province says 98 per cent of those payments were reversed but those blowing the whistle about the new Social Assistance Management System (SAMS), which rolled out early last month, say more problems are appearing daily. 

The ministry is in "crisis management mode," over SAMS, according to Dylan Lineger, president of OPSEU local 410, "and you shouldn't be in crisis management for over a month and a half."

"The problem was that so few tasks were being accomplished when the system was first rolling out that more problems are being identified every single day," Lineger told CBC News. 

Last month at least 17,000 payments were generated erroneously, totalling $20 million. The government claimed two-thirds of those payments never made it into anyone's bank account. But around $7 million was mistakenly paid out in direct deposit or cheques in the mail.

Roughly 36,000 Ontario families — between four and five per cent of the 800,000 that draw some sort of social assistance — have not received the correct payments because of the recent problems, according to Linegar. 

"Whether that's too much or too little we have to check out," he said. 

In a statement the ministry said officials "are working to put in place additional safeguards to prevent future problems."

VICTORIA - The body of a truck driver who disappeared while delivering wood chips to a mill in Crofton, B.C., has been found in a storage container at the facility.

The BC Coroners Service says workers at the Catalyst Paper Mill couldn't find 66-year-old Perry Thomas about a half hour after he arrived on Tuesday.

Thomas was reported missing and a search was launched.

His body was recovered Thursday from a container linked by a conveyor belt to the location where he was to dump the chips.

The coroner says the Qualicum Beach resident could not be resuscitated.

The service, the RCMP and WorkSafeBC are investigating the death.