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 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 […]

BC FIPA has weighed in on the side of privacy in the debate over the implementation of the American Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) in this country. In our submission to a consultation by the federal Ministry of Finance on the deal signed last month between Canada and the US, we highlighted the damage […]

Internal e mails FIPA received through freedom of information show that bureaucrats at the BC regulator of financial institutions (FICOM) have privacy concerns regarding the implementation of the US Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) in Canada. Download document

FIPA’s submission to a consultation by the federal Ministry of Finance on the implementation of the American Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) in Canada. We highlighted the damage this would do to privacy rights as Canadians living in the US, and Americans living in Canada could have their financial information identified for sending to […]

The BC government continues to misinterpret the definition of ‘transitory records’ in order to hide from FOI and delete records they don’t want to release. Former Health Minister Margaret MacDiarmid’s e mail regarding the Burnaby Hospital Consultative committee is one such example. Download release

Email sent to former Health Minister Margaret MacDiarmid on her private e mail account, regarding Burnaby Hospital Consultative committee. The email was leaked to the NDP in 2013. The Ministry of Health deleted the original email, classifying it as ‘transitory’. Download the document

The response to FIPA’s complaint to the OIPC, regarding a FOI request with the Ministry of Health that was returned with ‘no responsive records’. FIPA had requested an email about the Burnaby Hospital Consultative committee that has been sent to Health Minister Margaret MacDiarmid’s private e mail account. The OIPC stated that the record had […]

The Information and Privacy Commissioner of BC is conducting an investigation into police information checks, due to concern that the information currently included in police checks is so broad that it is almost impossible to imagine circumstances that would justify releasing it to potential employers. We have some major concerns with the kinds of information […]

The United States Trade Representative has identified BC‘s Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FIPPA) as a trade barrier (see page 60-61), but the BC government claims it doesn’t have any records of complaints or communications with the USTR. We at BC FIPA have obtained internal USTR documents through the American Freedom of […]