Access to Information

Topic: Access to Information


Aspiring Montreal cop believes career blocked because of uncle she never knew

MONTREAL — Miriam Ikhlef felt like she had everything she needed to become a police officer. A graduate of the Universite de Montreal’s security and police studies program, she’d been working as a 911 dispatcher for the Montreal police service for 13 months, even earning a commendation for how she handled a call involving a […]

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Lawyers and professors rally against proposed changes to lobbying rules

On Monday, more than 30 lawyers and professors joined forces in an open letter to speak out against proposed changes to lobbying rules in Canada. Opponents say lobbying stands to become more unethical if suggested changes from the commissioner of lobbying Nancy Belanger go through. Faisal Bhabha, associate professor at Osgoode Hall Law School, said […]

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CSIS warns ‘smart city’ technology can open door to attacks, foreign interference

OTTAWA — Canada’s intelligence service warns that technological innovations adopted by municipalities could be exploited by adversaries such as the Chinese government to harvest sensitive data, target diaspora communities and interfere in elections. A newly released report by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service urges policy-makers and the technology industry to consider steps that can be […]

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RCMP told feds it could offer advice to Winnipeg police on landfill search: document

OTTAWA — A newly released document shows the head of the RCMP told Ottawa the national police force could offer guidance to the Winnipeg police on searching a landfill for the remains of two First Nations women. As anger grew over the initial refusal by the Winnipeg police to search the site, RCMP Commissioner Brenda […]

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Chinese Canadians walk tightrope in political arena amid foreign interference debate

Mark Lee, a professional translator and former council candidate in Richmond, B.C., says he knows what it’s like to walk the fine line faced by fellow Chinese Canadians entering the political arena amid scrutiny of alleged foreign interference. He says he’s not ignorant of the risks and considers potential political interference a serious issue that […]

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MP Kurek talks environment, ethics, flood mitigation at town hall

Battle River-Crowfoot MP Damien Kurek held a town hall meeting with residents of Drumheller on Tuesday evening, February 28, drawing a full audience to the Town of Drumheller council chambers. This was the third town hall meeting MP Kurek held on Tuesday, having held town hall meetings in Three Hills and Morrin in the morning […]

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Alberta Energy Regulator may have ignored law by not disclosing oilsands leak: lawyer

CALGARY — Alberta’s energy regulator may have ignored provincial law by not publicly disclosing that waste from a large oilsands tailings pond was escaping containment and seeping into groundwater, says a lawyer. Drew Yewchuk of the University of Calgary’s Public Interest Law Clinic is asking the province’s Information Commissioner to investigate how and why the […]

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Ontario study finds ‘circular hockey hub’ vaccine clinic most efficient model

TORONTO — Mass immunization clinics in which vaccinators and volunteers move around a circular set-up of chairs – with clients staying seated – was by far the most efficient model in an Ontario government study comparing different sites. The Ministry of Health study, obtained by The Canadian Press through a freedom-of-information request, looked at nine […]

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Climate change threatens Canadian security, prosperity, warns stark spy agency brief

OTTAWA — Canada’s spy service warns that climate change poses a profound, ongoing threat to national security and prosperity, including the possible loss of parts of British Columbia and the Atlantic provinces to rising sea levels. A newly released analysis by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service also foresees an increase in ideologically motivated violent extremism […]

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Fisheries Department scrambled to claw back ‘ill timed’ lobster tweet

OTTAWA — Some people can’t see the forest for the trees. Others can’t see the hurricane for the lobsters. On Sept. 24, around 9 a.m. Atlantic time, a few hours after Hurricane Fiona had slowed slightly into a post-tropical cyclone and slammed into Nova Scotia, the federal Fisheries Department issued two preplanned posts on Twitter […]

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Black activist who became PM of Dominica was target of RCMP dirty tricks: documents

OTTAWA — It has long been known that the RCMP Security Service took a keen interest in Roosevelt “Rosie” Douglas, a Black rights activist who attended school in Canada and would go on to be prime minister of Dominica. But recently released records reveal just how far the Mounties would go in the early 1970s […]

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School boards urge Ontario to lift moratorium on closures

TORONTO — Ontario’s public school boards are calling on the province to lift a moratorium on school closures and to finally complete a review — started six years ago — of how those closure decisions get made. The previous Liberal government first promised the review and enacted the moratorium in 2017, when it was under […]

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