MEDIA RELEASE BC government bill does not create a duty to document government decisions  Legislation introduced today is completely discretionary says FIPA VANCOUVER, March 8, 2017 – The bill introduced this afternoon by Finance Minister Mike de Jong is a sad excuse for action on creating a duty to document government decisions. Despite demands from […]

Download the full February 2017 Bulletin, or use the links below to read individual articles online. In this issue: The Final Verdict to our Election Act Challenge: An Unusual Victory Many thanks to our pro bono lawyers BC Throne Speech has none of needed reforms for FOI and privacy FIPA weighs in on Privacy Act, PIPEDA reforms […]

New year, new changes to the Board and Staff 2017 is well under way, and is shaping up to be another great year for FIPA. After our Special General Meeting that was held on November 16, 2016, we have a couple of changes to our board and staff. In January, our Program Director, Joyce Yan, joined […]

What do the province’s leaders think of Freedom of Information and privacy issues in BC? With the BC Election only a few months away, we are preparing to send the party leaders a series of questions on Freedom of Information and privacy issues in British Columbia – just as we did in 2013. We sent […]

FIPA weighs in on Privacy Act, PIPEDA reforms FIPA has been active regarding federal privacy law, appearing twice before the Commons ATI, Ethics and Privacy (ETHI) committee over the past few months. The Committee was looking into proposal for reform of the 1980s vintage Privacy Act, and asked FIPA to appear to provide input into […]

BC Throne Speech has none of needed reforms for FOI and privacy The Speech from the Throne kicked off the last legislative session before the May 9 provincial election, but the ruling BC Liberals took a pass on even mentioning FOI and privacy. The week before, Premier Christy Clark raised the issue of mandatory breach […]

Many thanks to our pro bono lawyers We would like to express our deepest gratitude to our pro bono lawyers, Sean Hern of Farris Vaughn and Alison Latimer of Underhill, Boies Parkers, Gage & Latimer, who have represented FIPA in our Election Act challenge over the past four years. Without their dedication and hard work, […]

The Final Verdict to our Election Act Challenge: An Unusual Victory  Our 4 year battle has finally come to an end. Late last month, the Supreme Court of Canada dismissed our appeal but ultimately sided with FIPA by making it clear that election advertising, in its “grammatical and ordinary sense,” does not apply to those […]

MEDIA RELEASE BC government keeps important environmental records behind closed doors Environmental Law Centre and FIPA ask Information Commissioner to investigate VANCOUVER, February 24, 2017 – In a report released today, the Environmental Law Centre (ELC), and the BC Freedom of Information and Privacy Association (FIPA), called out the BC government for failing to proactively […]

MEDIA RELEASE BC Government has big surplus, but no plans to compensate victims of PharmaNet breach FIPA urges the Ministry of Health to pick up ID theft mitigation costs Vancouver, February 20, 2017 – After the recent PharmaNet privacy breach, which victimized 7,500 British Columbians, it is astounding that the Ministry of Health has not […]

On February 1st, Elections BC released their “Handmade Election Advertising” bulletin in response to the Supreme Court of Canada’s judgement last Thursday which clarified Election BC’s previous erroneous interpretation of BC’s Election Act’s third party spending provisions. The Bulletin is plainly and obviously inconsistent with the SCC Judgment in many respects. See our joint letter with the […]

MEDIA RELEASE January 26, 2017 Supreme Court of Canada forces Elections BC to use proper interpretation of Third party advertising law VANCOUVER, January 26, 2017 – In a decision released this morning, the Supreme Court of Canada has made it clear that election advertising laws do not apply to those who are merely expressing their own […]