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 […]

MEDIA ADVISORY JANUARY 20, 2017 Supreme Court of Canada to hand down decision on striking down ban on unregistered speech in BC’s election law on Thursday, January 26, 2017 Ottawa, January 20, 2017 – On Thursday, January 26, 2017, the Supreme Court of Canada will hand down its decision on the BC Freedom of Information […]

NEWS RELEASE JANUARY 19, 2017   BC government claims it has no records related to Carney speech about Vancouver real estate market  FIPA asks Information Commissioner to investigate Yet another incredible ‘no responsive records’ response to a FIPA FOI request FIPA has filed a complaint with the Acting BC Information and Privacy Commissioner after the […]

On January 18, 2017 FIPA filed a complaint with the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner of BC relating to the BC Ministry of Finance’s failure to locate and provide records on Mark Carney’s speech on Vancouver’s real estate market in 2011. The Ministry’s response was due January 10, 2017, but it was delayed until January […]

The Federal Government has asked Canadians for their thoughts on Canada’s national security framework. The deadline for submissions is December 15, 2016. See our responses to the questionnaire here.

Download the full November 2016 Bulletin, or use the links below to read individual articles online. In this issue: Supreme Court of Canada hears FIPA’s Election Act challenge FIPA events update FIPA’s inaugural 25th Anniversary Leadership Award Recipient Privacy Act and C-51 consultations Revised bylaws and SGM Find more issues of the Bulletin here.

Mark your calendars—the Special General Meeting is only one week away! Here, we will be voting in new directors to the board, and amending our current bylaws and constitution in compliance with the new BC Societies Act. At the SGM, members of the BC Freedom of Information and Privacy Association will be asked to vote […]

Earlier this month FIPA took part in a civil society consultation on national security and possible changes to Bill C-51. The Ottawa meeting was at the invitation of Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale and Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould and had about two dozen participants. The meeting lasted a couple of hours, and FIPA highlighted concerns […]