FIPA is celebrating a step forward in our battle for free expression during elections in British Columbia. On Monday, the Supreme Court of Canada granted FIPA leave to appeal the BC Court of Appeal’s split decision to uphold third-party ‘advertising’ restrictions in the provincial Election Act. We expect that our appeal will be heard in […]

VANCOUVER, November 5, 2015 – The BC Freedom of Information and Privacy Association (FIPA) is strongly concerned for British Columbia’s privacy law, following the release of the final text of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement. The group had been worried that provisions of the TPP—a multinational trade agreement between the U.S., Canada and ten other countries, […]

VANCOUVER, November 4, 2015 – The BC Freedom of Information and Privacy Association (FIPA) congratulates members of the new Cabinet named by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and calls on them to advance and protect Canadians’ access to information and privacy rights. “FIPA welcomes our new Cabinet Ministers, and calls on them to work to repair […]

Download the full October 2015 Bulletin, or use the links below to read individual articles online. In this issue: Access to Information and the Federal Election FIPA Appears Before the Information & Privacy Review Committee FIPA Out and About During Right To Know Week FIPA Weighs in on Privacy & Open Courts Find more issues of the […]

FIPA highlighted the importance of both the right to privacy and the open court principle in our submission to a consultation the Court Services Online (CSO) system, which was held by the Chief Judge of the BC Provincial Court of BC. The open court principle is fundamental in a democratic society, as it allows citizens to scrutinize the workings of […]

It was a busy Right To Know Week for the FIPA team. In addition to our day-to-day work pushing for a stronger access to information system, we spent this week going out into the world to spread the good word about FOI. First, we hosted FOI 101, an introductory workshop on filing freedom of information […]

FIPA was the first witness to appear before the Special Legislative Committee reviewing the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act in Vancouver, BC, and we had lots of material for the committee to consider. You can read our entire submission here, in the “Policy Submissions and Letters” section of our website. The Act […]

Together with the Canadian Taxpayers Federation and Newspapers Canada, FIPA planned to ask the federal parties to describe what they would do to repair and improve transparency policies and practices. This effort quickly expanded to include 22 transparency organizations from across the country. Jointly with all of those groups, FIPA developed and signed a joint […]

Information and Privacy Commissioner refers matter to RCMP VANCOUVER, October 22, 2015 – The BC Freedom of Information and Privacy Association (FIPA) is appalled, but not surprised by the stunning findings in the BC Information and Privacy Commissioner’s report on the destruction of email records related to missing women on the Highway of Tears. Commissioner Elizabeth […]

VANCOUVER, October 16, 2015 – One month ago, a coalition of 22 NGOs from across Canada signed a joint statement calling on the leaders of Canada’s federal parties to make concrete commitments to reform Canada’s outdated Access to Information Act. Today, we are pleased to see the NDP and Liberal parties have included commitments in their platforms […]

Federal government summary states domestic data storage requirements are banned under TPP  VANCOUVER, October 8, 2015 – The BC Freedom of Information and Privacy Association (FIPA) is expressing concern that certain legal requirements in BC’s privacy law will be undercut by the now-finalized Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) deal. According to a summary of the TPP posted by Foreign […]

FIPA is highlighting the importance of both the right to privacy and the open court principle in our submission to a consultation the Court Services Online (CSO) system, being held by the Chief Judge of the BC Provincial Court of BC. The open court principle is fundamental in a democratic society, as it allows citizens to scrutinize the workings […]