MASKWACIS — An Alberta First Nation signed a two-year agreement with Ottawa Wednesday that gives it the autonomy to administer its own child welfare. Louis Bull Tribe in Maskwacis, Alta., south of Edmonton, is the first in the province to sign such an agreement. “This is an important day for Louis Bull Tribe,” Chief Desmond […]

SASKATOON — Public Safety Canada and the Canadian Armed Forces were caught off guard by a request for help from Saskatchewan during the height of the fourth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. Documents obtained under freedom of information laws show employees in the federal departments were surprised when Saskatchewan Health Minister Paul Merriman sent a letter in October 2021 […]

The same Brampton Council members who passed a motion that bans outdoor election signs are responsible for 1,083 election sign violations during the recent municipal campaign — about a third had Mayor Patrick Brown’s name on them. When the motion was brought forward on November 23 by Rowena Santos, who had pushed to ban election […]

The assault style firearms ban that came into effect in Canada on May 1, 2020, has been highly controversial since its inception and implementation. Proponents of the ban say that it is a necessary step in protecting Canadians from gun violence, whereas those opposed to the ban insist that it has been an overly heavy-handed […]

EDMONTON — Alberta is preparing to change how it ensures oilsands companies are able to pay for the mammoth job of cleaning up their operations, but critics fear a year of consultations hasn’t been enough to avoid repeating past mistakes. “There’s no signal to me from this government that they are going to hold industry […]

OTTAWA — The federal government does not have a willing partner to find a way to introduce fire codes on First Nation reserves, a newly released document shows. The senior director for the Indigenous Fire Marshal Service, however, says there are steps Ottawa can take now to better protect communities. “Doing nothing is not an […]

Investigation Report 23-01: Access application fee six-month review While the review revealed mixed findings we were glad to have input and impact through our submission and pleased to see the report recognizes the fundamental barrier to access that the fees create. We look forward to prompt action by the Government to act upon these recommendations […]

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court has never been so slow. For the first time, the justices have gone more than three months without resolving any cases in which they heard arguments, since their term began in early October. By this point, they always had decided at least one case, and usually a handful, according […]

OTTAWA — Global Affairs Canada plans to install a plaque commemorating Canada’s evacuation of Afghans and embassy staff when its capital Kabul fell to the Taliban, but critics argue that sends the wrong message. The plaque carried a $10,000 price tag and was approved in a July 2022 memorandum that The Canadian Press obtained through an access-to-information request. It […]

Ensuring people are empowered to access information is central to our mandate. That’s why we’re so pleased to continue working with Courthouse Libraries BC to make sure Freedom of Information 101 is available through their Vimeo platform and updated regularly. Check out this latest material here. This is a skills training webinar for newcomers to […]

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkey on Tuesday denounced as “absurd” a decision by a Swedish prosecutor not to open an investigation into a protest by Kurds in central Stockholm where an effigy of the Turkish president was hung from a lamppost. Last week’s protest outside Stockholm City Hall drew an angry backlash from Turkey, a […]

HALIFAX — Nova Scotia’s opposition parties pushed Monday for more public accountability from the government over the province’s struggling hospital emergency departments. NDP Leader Claudia Chender called for Health Minister Michelle Thompson and provincial health authority CEO Karen Oldfield to appear before the legislature’s health committee on Thursday — a request that was later turned […]