Access to Information

Topic: Access to Information


Ontario refers concerns about OSAP payments at private career colleges to OPP

Ontario has asked provincial police to look into student financial assistance payments at private career colleges after auditors identified “serious concerns” about possible criminal activity and “egregious” use of public money, the government said Tuesday. Colleges and Universities Minister Nolan Quinn said the ministry launched targeted inspections of career colleges last year in response to […]

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New rail investment opens door to North Shore proposal

A federal investment in new VIA Rail passenger cars should prompt a closer look at extending train service to Thunder Bay, says a northern transportation writer who argues residents need more ways to reach health care, education and other services. In an interview with the Kenora Miner & News, Éric Boutilier, who writes and edits […]

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Army study found shock gloves purchased by ICE cause pain, compliance and fear

The shock gloves immigration agents could soon use to control detainees and protesters worked so powerfully during a military exercise that participants felt intense pain, stopped fighting immediately and feared additional exposures, according to a previously unreleased Army study. Immigration and Customs Enforcement leaders were aware of the findings before signing a $16.7 million contract […]

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Police board adopts detailed new oversight policies for IPV, sexual assault, vulnerable victims

The Kingston Police Service Board (KPSB) has approved a sweeping package of policies governing how the service responds to intimate partner violence, sexual assault, and crimes involving other vulnerable victims, with new requirements for victim support, specialized training, community partnerships, and regular reporting back to the board. The KPSB approved the 11-policy package at its […]

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Jasper adopts more stringent privacy rules

The Municipality of Jasper has adopted new privacy regulations to bring it into compliance with updated provincial legislation. On Sept. 1, council approved the privacy management program. It gave third and final reading to the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Bylaw on Sept. 15, completing the process of adopting the new rules. Council […]

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Liberals ask Ontario auditor to probe spending, oversight of OSAP at career colleges

The Ontario Liberals are asking the auditor general to investigate provincial student financial aid spending at private career colleges, after reporting by The Canadian Press showed a rapid increase concentrated within a small number of schools. Liberal colleges and universities critic Tyler Watt requested a value-for-money audit, looking at the spending increases and whether the […]

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Court records show Ontario’s ‘serious concerns’ about three career colleges

Ontario government officials who inspected three career colleges found evidence suggesting third parties were completing the coursework — sometimes entire courses in one day — and a few students who couldn’t name their school or program, they alleged in reports filed in court. Inspection reports for three Academy of Learning locations are among hundreds of […]

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As Mississauga extends cuts to fees developers pay, questions swirl about who will cover multi-billion-dollar gap for infrastructure

Affordable housing is the backbone of a thriving community. Single-bedroom apartments once obtainable on a minimum-wage job have become a vestige of what once was. That was the problem Mayor Carolyn Parrish, who is running for re-election in the municipal election, found herself in when she was elected mayor in June of 2024 following a […]

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Nova Scotia privacy commissioner questions transparency around cabinet records

Nova Scotia’s information and privacy commissioner says new rules regarding public access to provincial cabinet records will result in less transparency. In a letter to the ministers of justice and Service Nova Scotia, David Nurse said legislative changes coming into effect on April 1, 2027, will completely shield all cabinet records from requests made under […]

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Wheatland County tightens privacy rules for municipal use of artificial intelligence

Wheatland County has approved changes to its artificial intelligence policy, adding stronger privacy restrictions and an explicit safeguard against using AI to broadly monitor or profile residents online. Council approved amendments to the county’s AI policy Sept. 22 after a lengthy discussion about personal information, chatbots, automated decision-making and public concerns about how governments could […]

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Behind the Byline: Former Windsor Star Journalist Cal Millar Pens Memoir

Most people never stop to wonder how a news story finds its way onto the page. But for Cal Millar, former Windsor Star reporter, the path from tip-off to headline has always been a story worth telling. Now 82, Millar pulls back the curtain in his new memoir, My Life as a Reporter, offering an […]

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Trump touts America.gov, but its government-sourced AI answers undercut many of his statements

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration has lauded its revamped website America.gov as a way to simplify Americans’ access to information and services scattered across a plethora of agency sites, but President Donald Trump probably won’t like some of the answers his new site says are sourced from government information. Asking the site — which […]

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