FIPA congratulates the Canadian Identity Theft Support Centre (CITSC) on the official launch of their victim support services! The Canadian Identity Theft Support Centre is a non-profit organization focused on assisting victims and potential victims of identity crimes. Experts work directly with victims and advise them on the step-by-step practices that will assist them in […]

There has been a lot of discouraging news on the FOI and privacy front recently as a raft of new legislation introduced in the last couple of weeks undercuts the law protecting our FOI and privacy rights. All four bills have been criticized by provincial Information and Privacy Commissioner Elizabeth Denham in an unprecedented barrage […]

FIPA has won yet again in our eight-year fight for the release of the BC Government’s Workplace Services contract with IBM. The BC Supreme Court today rejected all the BC government’s arguments opposing the release of the remaining details of the $300 million contract, which expires in 2014. The government was arguing that section 15 […]

BC Supreme court justice Bracken has set down his ruling on a judicial review application sought by the Minister of Citizens Services in the ongoing dispute regarding disclosure of the IBM contract with the Ministry for “Workplace Support”: British Columbia (Minister of Citizens’ Services) v. British Columbia (Information and Privacy Commissioner) 2012 BCSC 875 The […]

FIPA, along with the Environmental Law Clinic at the University of Victoria (ELC), today announces the release of our latest submission to the Information and Privacy Commissioner. Outlining six cases where the public was not told about potentially hazardous situations, the submission requests an investigation into the disregard of Section 25 of the Freedom of […]

The University of Victoria Environmental Law Clinic ,on behalf of BC FIPA, has a submission to the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner to request an investigation into the disregard of section 25 of the BC Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FIPPA) by public bodies. BC FIPA is concerned that there […]

In today’s Vancouver Sun, FIPA’s Executive Director Vincent Gogolek teams up with Michael Vonn of the BCCLA and Shannon Daub of the CCPA to push back against the BC Government’s election advertising ‘gag law.’ Meant to keep big money advertising out of election campaigns, the law misses the mark, and ends up crushing small spenders […]

Election advertising law doesn’t just limit big spenders – small spenders get tangled in complicated rules that undermine democratic debate. Instead of re-introducing controversial “pre-campaign” limits, the provincial government should focus on fixing other problems in BC’s third party election advertising rules – problems that created a chill effect in the lead-up to the 2009 […]

BC’s Minister of Social Development Stakes Government’s Reputation on Safety and Privacy of new Integrated Case Management System Controversy is growing over the BC government’s new $182 million Integrated Case Management (ICM) system now being rolled out across BC. The ICM system will create a database of unprecedented scope and detail about the lives of […]

We may be small but we have a big reach! Read all about the extent of FIPA’s work in our Annual Report for 2011 (pdf).

In this issue: FIPA, allies call for public inquiry into integrated case management system Federal information commissioner announces ATIA consultations New ID theft support centre launched INFO SUMMIT 2012 – September 19, 2012 BC Government finally releases $300 million IBM contract Commissioner Denham launches section 25 investigation after FIPA, ELC complaint Staff changes and new […]

In this issue: Big Challenges ahead for Freedom of Information and Privacy Government reaches a new low in FOI avoidance FIPA calls for penalties when government abuses FOI process FOIPPA Amendments pave way to unprecedented sharing of personal information BC government abandons e-Health Act, issues Health Minister a free pass to collect personal health information […]