Access to Information

Topic: Access to Information


11 states consider ‘right to repair’ for farming equipment

DENVER (AP) — On Colorado’s northeastern plains, where the pencil-straight horizon divides golden fields and blue sky, a farmer named Danny Wood scrambles to plant and harvest proso millet, dryland corn and winter wheat in short, seasonal windows. That is until his high-tech Steiger 370 tractor conks out. The tractor’s manufacturer doesn’t allow Wood to […]

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‘These are real people’: NDP MP slams Correctional Service Canada over systemic racism

Blake Desjarlais laboured to steady his voice. On Thursday, the NDP MP for Edmonton Griesbach spoke at a public accounts committee meeting after the release of an auditor general’s report on systemic barriers facing prisoners in federal jails. “(Correctional Service Canada) acknowledged in November 2020 that systemic racism is present in the correctional system; it’s […]

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Cambodia independent radio station VoD closes on PM’s orders

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — One of Cambodia’s last free media outlets, Voice of Democracy radio, ceased operations on Monday after Prime Minister Hun Sen ordered its closure for allegedly slandering his son in a story. The story — which was also published on the website of VoD, as the station is better known — […]

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Archives wanted Boston Biden docs, not believed classified

WASHINGTON (AP) — As the National Archives became aware of classified documents in President Joe Biden’s old office in Washington, Archives officials also took custody of papers that had been shipped to a law office in Boston by the president’s personal attorney, according to emails released Friday. No classified documents were believed to be in […]

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AP Investigation: Prison boss beat inmates, climbed ranks

The prison staff didn’t know much about the new acting warden. Then, they say, he made a bizarre and startling confession: Years ago, he beat inmates — and got away with it. Thomas Ray Hinkle, a high-ranking federal Bureau of Prisons official, was sent to restore order and trust at a women’s prison wracked by […]

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Saskatchewan underestimated need for rapid tests during fourth wave, emails indicate

SASKATOON — Saskatchewan underestimated how many rapid antigen tests were needed during the height of the fourth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, while also touting the tests as a key part of its plan to halt transmission of the virus, internal emails indicate. Documents obtained under freedom of information laws show the province emailing Health Canada in […]

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Ottawa spending $2M for international commission to offer advice on unmarked graves

Ottawa is spending $2 million for an international organization to provide Indigenous communities with options for identifying possible human remains buried near former residential school sites. The office of Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Marc Miller said in a statement Tuesday it is signing a technical agreement with the International Commission on Missing Persons. Based at The […]

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Should mandatory minimum sentencing exist? Supreme Court rulings highlight ongoing debate

A trio of Supreme Court decisions Friday overturned one rule on mandatory minimum sentencing but upheld two others, highlighting Canada’s ongoing debate on how to approach the contentious topic. The four-year mandatory minimum sentence for firing a gun at a house was deemed unconstitutional, with the court ruling it amounts to cruel and unusual punishment. […]

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Alberta First Nation signs child welfare agreement with feds, without the province

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 […]

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Feds caught off guard by Saskatchewan ‘unforeseen’ request for COVID 19 help

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 […]

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Brampton election sign chaos continues: FOI docs reveal council members trying to ban them outside used 1,083 illegally placed signs

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 […]

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Assault Style Firearm Buyback Program Still Hazy At The Edges

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 […]

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