Access to Information

Topic: Access to Information


Five things to know Montreal police chief’s video message about racism allegations

Local residents in a multicultural neighbourhood in Montreal may not be the only ones looking for answers about a scandal at their local police station. The police have shared little public information about the investigation since June 12, when Montreal Police Chief Fady Dagher announced police had disbanded a 16-member patrol unit in Montréal-Nord over […]

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Brutality, racism allegations deepen trust gap after years of complaints in Montreal

Frantz Jean-Jacques remembers feeling hopeful after coming out of a meeting more than a decade ago with the commander of a police station in a multicultural neighbourhood of Montreal. Over a dozen local residents attended, including a number of young men who shared troubling stories about their own interactions with police. They came to denounce […]

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FOI records reveal how Ontario approved Napanee plant expansion

Internal Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks (MECP) records obtained through Ontario’s Freedom of Information (FOI) process show ministry officials approved the expansion of Atura Power’s Napanee Generating Station despite acoustic modelling that predicted one startup operating scenario would exceed the applicable provincial noise criterion before proposed mitigation measures were implemented. The records provide […]

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Lawyers concerned by proposed changes to access to information system

Lawyers and organizations working on environmental issues and migrants’ rights are concerned about changes to the access to information Act proposed by Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government. One of the amendments that concerns them most is the restriction on access to certain documents deemed “ephemeral,” which could include emails. “To categorically start excluding records from […]

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Ottawa commissions project to track ‘news deserts’ in Canada

The federal government is working on a project that would map out areas of Canada that lack local news coverage. “Canadian Heritage has recently engaged a team of independent industry experts to develop a local news directory — a multi-phase, multi-year project that will ultimately measure the extent and spread of news deserts and areas […]

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Community voices concerns over airport expansion

A group of concerned residents invited members of the community to a public meeting to discuss the proposed boundary adjustment involving the Brantford Municipal Airport on Tuesday, August 4, 2026. Although the airport is currently owned and operated by the City of Brantford, the lands currently fall within the boundary of the County of Brant. […]

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Internal DFO memo warns Trump-backed bill threatens right whale survival

Staff at the federal Fisheries Department are worried the United States government is about to adopt legislation jeopardizing the survival of the North Atlantic right whale, according to an internal government memo. The memo was sent to senior officials in the federal department in May and released to The Canadian Press through an access to […]

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Ottawa awards Telesat $2.3B Arctic military satellite contract

A Canadian telecommunications firm has signed a deal with the federal government worth $2.3 billion to provide high-speed satellite communications to the Canadian Armed Forces in the Arctic. The federal Defence Investment Agency and Telesat LEO announced the deal on Monday. The contract is meant to secure broadband coverage in remote northern locations for a […]

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Some Canadians tell Carney Ottawa’s spelling protocol should lean British

It seems some Canadians feel quite at home with the federal government’s preference for British spelling. Messages to Prime Minister Mark Carney on the matter indicate several correspondents see the affectation as a way of countering U.S. cultural dominance. A flurry of emails to Carney followed news last December that promoters of Canadian English objected […]

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Human or AI bot? Ottawa consulting on transparency of AI systems

The federal government is asking for input from Canadians about the transparency of artificial intelligence systems. In an online post featuring an AI-generated video of the CN Tower launching into the air like a rocket, Artificial Intelligence Minister Evan Solomon said the government wants to hear from Canadians what meaningful and practical AI transparency might […]

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Quebec bill helps Indigenous families track disappeared loved ones, but some remain wary

Norman Wapachee was born around a decade after his sister Hattie, but he never got to meet her. Instead, he grew up hearing their mom tell stories about her brief time on Earth.  In 1955, Wapachee’s parents took their seven-month old daughter to a hospital in Roberval, QC to treat her pneumonia. Soon after, the […]

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CBC won’t disclose Eurovision costs as memo says Ottawa can’t order it to take part

CBC/Radio-Canada won’t disclose how much participating in the Eurovision song contest could cost. A government document, obtained through access to information law, says information about other countries is limited but total costs ranged from about $400,000 for Portugal to $1.5 million for Israel in 2025. The Canadian Heritage document also says that because the Broadcasting […]

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