Muslim groups and Culture Minister Marc Miller are decrying an alleged attack on an imam of a mosque in Victoria on Thursday night. Miller said in a tweet that the reported assault is “appalling and vile” and that such violence and Islamophobia have no place in Canada. The BC Muslim Association said in a statement […]

The European flag and the United Jack flag are held by Anti Brexit campaigners walking past Nelson’s Column in Trafalgar Square towards Britain’s parliament in London, Saturday March 25, 2017. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)Kirsty Wigglesworth Ten years ago this week, the United Kingdom voted to quit the European Union, setting off years of political turmoil and […]

Over the last two weeks of the parliamentary sitting, the Liberal government made a series of moves related to AI and digital regulation. It introduced a new AI strategy, a bill requiring social media platforms to ban kids under 16 and a long-awaited privacy bill. It also moved to block new rules requiring streamers to […]

Information commissioner Caroline Maynard says a federal proposal to narrow the scope of the Access to Information Act is a move in the wrong direction that could exclude “entire swaths of government-held records” from public scrutiny. Maynard makes the blunt warning in a newly published submission to the Treasury Board Secretariat’s latest review of the […]

Montreal’s police department says it knows some Black employees fear reprisals for denouncing racism and misconduct within their ranks. The department made the comments in response to revelations by The Canadian Press on Thursday about a scathing letter sent on June 14 by a committee of Black employees to deputy police director, Marc Charbonneau. “With […]

Your Access and Privacy Online News Summary for Saturday, June 20th. This week: Ottawa moves on privacy, online safety, and surveillance powers; FIPA releases new work on access rights and transparency systems; and New Brunswick’s review of its access and privacy law points to familiar questions about timeliness, recordkeeping, voter privacy, and independent oversight. Writing: Shaun […]

Black employees of the Montreal police force have sent a letter to management saying some have concerns about going to work after the dismantling of a patrol unit over serious allegations of racist misconduct. The letter was dated June 14, two days after senior police officials held a late evening news conference announcing they had […]

Lawyers for an Ontario man accused of stealing and leaking Texan Republican Party data in 2021 say he has pleaded guilty before a Canadian court. In a statement released this afternoon, Arash Ghiassi and Riaz Sayani say Aubrey Cottle has “formally accepted his role” in the hacking of the party’s website five years ago.  Ghiassi […]

A bill winding its way through Sacramento right now would make some of the biggest changes in decades to the California Public Records Act — the 58-year-old state law that guarantees everyone has access to government documents and data. Proponents argue AB 1821 is necessary to help local governments weather a deluge of burdensome requests […]

A large, dark wound protrudes from the side of the deer’s head, stretching from the base of its antler toward its ear. The animal’s big, dark eyes reflect a weary helplessness.  That’s the hauntingly “heartbreaking” image that stared back at animal rights lawyer Kaitlyn Mitchell from her computer screen after a Marineland employee reached out […]

FIPA report calls for a new way to understand whether B.C.’s freedom of information system is working.  FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Victoria, B.C. 2026.06.18 — The B.C. Freedom of Information and Privacy Association (FIPA) is releasing Drawing Access Together, a report based on over three years of research into the province’s freedom of information (FOI) systems.   The report finds that most public bodies do not maintain documented standards […]

The federal government has rammed the controversial Lawful Access Act through Parliament despite massive opposition. June 18, 2026, OTTAWA – Twenty-one civil liberties organizations, privacy groups and individual experts are deeply alarmed that, late last night, the federal government cut off debate at the Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security on the very […]