In this issue: FIPA wins 6-year battle for release of $300 million IBM contract FIPA to start 2011 with new Executive Director BC Ferries FOI policy thwarts requests from advocacy groups and media FIPA asks for investigation of false claims of “no records” by government Third BC Information Summit a big success Legal Actions: Black […]

FIPA has joined with CIPPIC and other Canadian rights groups to send an open letter to the House of Commons ETHI Committee calling for thorough review of Bill C-29, cynically titled the ‘Safeguarding Canadian’s Personal Information Act’. Bill C-29 proposes a number of amendments to Canada’s federal privacy protection statute, the Personal Information Protection and […]

A new study has found that BC’s third party advertising rules caused extensive problems for “small spenders” such as non-profits and charities during the 2009 provincial election. The rules – brought in through the controversial Bill 42 in 2008 – led to widespread confusion, wasted resources, anxiety and self-censorship among organizations that spent little or […]

This week a shocking case was revealed in which the sensitive personal information of a federal government critic was examined by hundreds of government employees. According to the BC Freedom of Information and Privacy Association, the BC government is moving forward with unprecedented plans for personal information sharing that will make this kind of privacy […]

Tom Hanson/The Canadian Press Confidential medical and financial information belonging to an outspoken critic of Veterans Affairs, including part of a psychiatrist’s report, found its way into the briefing notes of a cabinet minister. Highly personal information about Sean Bruyea was contained in a 13-page briefing note prepared by bureaucrats in 2006 for then-minister Greg […]

Don’t miss the BC Information Summit 2010! Transparency Turnaround: When public information goes private and personal information goes public September 29, 2010 The Theatre at UBC Robson Square Campous http://infosummit.ca/ This event will be of special interest to information and privacy professionals, lawyers, journalists, librarians, record managers, archivists and anyone who uses or has to […]

BC FIPA sought a judicial review of the order by the Office of Information and Privacy Commissioner of British Columbia dated January 27, 2009, (F09-02) regarding the scope of the exemption for “advice and recommendations” under s. 13(1) of the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FIPPA). BC FIPA did not agree with […]

In this issue: Meet BC’s new Information and Privacy Commissioner FOIPP Act review report a mixed bag FIPA report blasts massive data-matching scheme Legal Actions: Are submissions to government consultations ‘policy advice’? BC government loses again in attempt to keep big contracts secret Dowload the bulletin (pdf).

Heritage Minister James Moore accuses ‘radical extremists’ of opposing his proposed copyright legislation. FIPA’s Vincent Gogolek wonders if the minister is one of the mysterious ‘Agents of Foreign Influence’ cited by CSIS director Richard Fadden – certainly he’s under the influence of American cultural industries, their lobbyists and possibly the U.S. government. Open Letter To: […]

BC FIPA presented its submission to the Alberta Legislative Standing Committee on Health review of the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FOIPPA). The submission consists of an extensive report prepared by journalist and researcher, Stanley L. Tromp. Based on a comparative analysis of FOI laws around the world it makes 79 recommendations […]

The unanimous report handed down by the Special Committee reviewing BC’s Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act has a lot of positive recommendations, but a few recommendations could be huge problems for FOI and privacy rights in this province. First, the good stuff. The committee has repeated a number of the recommendations of […]

Read about all the ways that FIPA is pursuing its mission to protect and advance the freedom of information and privacy rights of people in BC and throughout Canada in Annual Report for 2009 (pdf).