VANCOUVER, August 5, 2015 – The Office of the BC Information and Privacy Commissioner (OIPC) has confirmed that the BC government is not prevented by law from posting reports that contain personal information. This follows the BC government’s claim that their refusal to post certain “embarrassing” reports online was based on restrictions in the Freedom […]

Information Commissioner says other ministries should also look for information that must be released in public interest VANCOUVER, July 2, 2015 – In a major report released this morning, Information and Privacy Commissioner Elizabeth Denham has gone beyond simply telling the BC Government to re-examine its files for information to be released surrounding the Mount […]

Information Commissioner closes big loophole in FOI law   VANCOUVER, June 19, 2015 – In a series of decisions released today, the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner has ruled that governments and public bodies can no longer withhold information in a record on the basis that it is ‘outside the scope’ of the […]

Below are the submissions and supporting affidavits from FIPA and the BC Government in the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner (OIPC) Hearing in March 2014, which resulted in Order F14-45. Submissions: FIPA intial submissions FIPA reply submission BC Government reply submission BC Government initial submission Affidavits: Taylor Affidavit Johnson Affidavit Madden Affidavit Email […]

Government affidavits claimed an RCMP investigation was ongoing VANCOUVER – The BC Freedom of Information and Privacy Association (BC FIPA) has asked Information and Privacy Commissioner Elizabeth Denham to investigate the BC government’s claims that the RCMP had an active investigation into the 2012 firings at the Ministry of Health. An Access to Information request […]

June 9, 2015 Elizabeth Denham Information and Privacy Commissioner of British Columbia PO Box 9038, Stn. Prov. Govt. Victoria, BC V8W 9A4 RE: BC Government submissions in OIPC file F12-50727   Dear Commissioner, I am writing to ask you to conduct an investigation under s.42 of the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act […]

W. Taylor Affidavit S. Johnson Affidavit Email from Sgt Cowan RCMP Exhibit A

Click to read our latest blog on the Huffington Post The spring session of the B.C. Legislature has just wrapped up with a bang. The NDP released a letter from a former Liberal executive assistant to the minister of transportation alleging that he was ordered to delete dozens of emails related to the Highway of […]

“No responsive records” systematically used by Government to avoid releasing documents in Freedom of Information requests VANCOUVER— The BC Freedom of Information and Privacy Association (FIPA) is concerned that the alleged destruction of email records related to missing women on the Highway of Tears is a new and disturbing part of an ongoing trend by […]

Follow us on Twitter and retweet our response to Harper’s retroactive attack on access to information. For more, read our letter to Stephen Harper.  

May 14, 2015 The Right Honourable Stephen Harper Prime Minister of Canada Langevin Block Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0A2   Re: Use of the Parliamentary Time Machine Dear Prime Minister: Like most Canadians, we are shocked by your government’s decision to bring in legislation to retroactively undermine the Access to Information Act using amendments buried in […]

Nobody likes going public with embarrassing reports, but the B.C. government has conjured some of its most creative legal analyses yet in an attempt to keep less flattering information out of the public realm. The B.C. government has refused to post both the McNeil report, which examines the mysterious Ministry of Health data breach firings, […]