Access to Information

Access to Information


Wife of Quesnel mayor claims defamation in lawsuit against city councillor

The wife of Quesnel Mayor Ron Paull is suing a member of city council for defamation over the councillor’s reaction to a book that disputes the history of Canada’s residential schools. In a May 13-filed BC Supreme Court notice of civil claim, Pat Morton accuses Coun. Laurey-Anne Roodenberg of conduct that was “not only defamatory, […]

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Court rules in favor of The New York Times over texts between the EU chief and a pharma boss

BRUSSELS (AP) — A top European court ruled on Wednesday that the European Commission failed to provide a credible explanation for refusing The New York Times access to text messages sent between its President Ursula von der Leyen and a pharmaceutical boss during the COVID-19 pandemic. The case highlights questions about transparency at the commission, […]

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Alberta’s personal information protection law ruled partly unconstitutional

Parts of Alberta’s personal information protection legislation have been ruled unconstitutional. But a judge is upholding an order to stop an American facial recognition company from collecting images of Albertans. The company, Clearview AI, scrapes the internet for images of people and adds them to a database, which it markets to law enforcement agencies as […]

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‘Beacon of freedom’ dims as US initiatives that promote democracy abroad wither under Trump

CHICAGO (AP) — Growing up in the former Soviet Union, Pedro Spivakovsky-Gonzalez’s father and grandparents would listen to Voice of America with their ears pressed to the radio, trying to catch words through the government’s radio jamming. The U.S.-funded news service was instrumental in helping them understand what was happening on the other side of […]

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Authorities arrest over 100 people on Tennessee roads in support of Trump’s deportation plan

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — More than 100 people have been taken into custody by federal immigration officials in a joint operation with the Tennessee Highway Patrol, leaving many in Nashville’s immigrant community uncertain and worried. “None of us have ever seen anything like this,” Lisa Sherman Luna, executive director of the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee […]

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Ottawa looks to off-load costly, seldom-used mobile hospitals bought for the pandemic

The federal government expects to spend about $7 million this fiscal year to store and maintain four custom-made, portable hospitals that cost taxpayers more than $200 million to buy — facilities meant to bolster overwhelmed hospitals during the COVID-19 pandemic that were barely used. Early on in the pandemic, as the federal government moved at […]

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Mayor Lovatt Urges Province to Support Growing Towns Like Stouffville in 2025 Budget

● Mayor Lovatt has submitted a formal pre-budget request to Ontario Finance Minister Peter Bethlenfalvy laying out Town priorities in need of greater Provincial support. ● He warned of a growing infrastructure gap, exacerbated by rising costs and a lack of sustainable funding for small but fast-growing towns like Stouffville. ● Lovatt noted the potential […]

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Investigation finds Alberta government not complying with freedom of information laws

Alberta’s access to information watchdog has found the provincial government to be non-compliant with its own freedom of information rules. A new report from information and privacy commissioner Diane McLeod says Alberta’s government has implemented internal procedures and policies that allow government employees to wrongfully deny freedom of information requests. The report, released Friday, follows […]

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X restricts access to jailed Istanbul mayor’s account under court order but challenges decision

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — The social media platform X said Thursday it has blocked access to jailed Istanbul mayor Ekrem Imamoglu ’s account in Turkey, complying with a Turkish court order — the latest measure targeting a key rival of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. However, Elon Musk’s X said that while the company abided by […]

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Vancouver short-term rental data at stake in ongoing freedom of information dispute

Vancouver affordable housing advocate Rohana Rezel is six years into a freedom of information dispute with the City of Vancouver and Airbnb over data on short-term rental owners, but he says the issue has evolved beyond housing into a fight for “public transparency.”  Rezel filed two requests with the city under the Freedom of Information […]

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Judge expresses sympathy for fired federal workers but questions if reinstatement is proper remedy

A federal judge expressed sympathy on Tuesday for thousands of federal employees who were suddenly fired by the Trump administration earlier this year, but he also voiced skepticism about whether reinstating them to their jobs was a proper remedy and questioned what the courts could ultimately do. Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson made the comments during […]

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Ottawa looking for ways to mend tears in Canada’s social fabric, document shows

Senior federal officials have been looking quietly for ways to bring together Canadians who don’t see eye to eye on the economy, immigration and social issues. With a general election looming, officials prepared to meet last November to brainstorm solutions to the problem of social fragmentation, according to an internal presentation drafted by the Department […]

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