Access in the Academy, developed by the Freedom of Information and Privacy Association and Mike Larsen of Kwantlen Polytechnic University (Instructor, Dept. of Criminology), and generously funded by the Law Foundation of British Columbia, is a brand new educational resource that provides a unique and practical look at how researchers, students, and others in the […]

An example letter for making a provincial Freedom of Information Request (in British Columbia). Download

An example letter for making a federal Access to Information Request. Download

FIPA continues to fight for freedom of expression by appealing the Supreme Court of BC’s decision in the Provincial Election Act case.   Download release  

Supreme Court of Canada decision on the use of the section 13 ‘policy advice’ exemption in Ontario’s FIPPA, widens ‘black hole’ for government information.   Download release

Federal Privacy Commissioner’s Office awards grant to FIPA for ground-breaking research on vehicle telemetry.   Download release

Thanks to funding from the federal Privacy Commissioner’s Contributions Program, FIPA is launching a year-long study to examine the effect of electronic monitoring systems in our vehicles, on our privacy rights and consumer choice. Our vehicles are no longer simple mechanical devices which provide us with transportation, but electronic platforms capable of remarkable feats. This […]

This is the 2013 Annual Report for the Freedom of Information and Privacy Association. The report was released at the Annual General Meeting in April 2014, which was held at the YWCA in downtown Vancouver. You can view the report in your browser or download a copy as a pdf by clicking on the link below. Download […]

In a letter sent today, BC FIPA, the Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF), and Newspapers Canada are urging Prime Minister Stephen Harper to bring the PMO and Ministers’ offices under the Access to Information Act, after Information Commissioner Suzanne Legault identified three ministerial staff as having interfered with a number of ATI requests. The letter signed […]

In a decision released today, Justice Bruce Cohen of the BC Supreme Court declined to strike down provisions of the BC Elections Act that infringe constitutional guarantees of freedom of expression because he found they were justified in a free and democratic society. FIPA brought the constitutional challenge last year, after attempts to persuade the […]

The Department of Public Works denies the Federal Information Commissioner’s request for an RCMP investigation of ministerial interference in FOI requests.   Download release

We are very pleased to welcome award-winning whistleblower Sylvie Therrien as our guest speaker at FIPA’s 2014 Annual General Meeting. In a culture where roadblocks to freedom of information are becoming all the more common, whistleblowing is an essential part of keeping government transparent and holding decision-makers accountable. Whistleblowers have recently come under threat in […]