Access to Information

Topic: Access to Information


Napanee council approves updated CCTV policy as camera network expands

The Council of the Town of Greater Napanee has approved an updated policy governing the municipality’s Closed-Circuit Television (CCTV) surveillance system following the expansion of its public-space security camera network. The revised policy was presented to Council on Tuesday, Mar. 11, 2026, by Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) Matthew Grant, who said the changes reflect the […]

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Ontario to make premier, cabinet ministers’ records secret as it tightens FOI laws

Ontario is set to make Premier Doug Ford and cabinet members’ records secret as it “modernizes” freedom-of-information laws, a change the province’s privacy watchdog warns will eviscerate public accountability. Public and Business Service Delivery and Procurement Minister Stephen Crawford, however, said his government is still “one of the most transparent governments in the history of […]

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Environment committee engaging in ‘junior high behaviour’: former climate advisers

Two former advisers on Ottawa’s climate policies say recent antics by parliamentarians at the House of Commons environment committee demonstrate why they resigned from Canada’s independent net-zero advisory body last year. Simon Donner and Catherine Abreu were at the centre of some committee fireworks on Thursday, when Conservative and Bloc Québécois MPs tried to move […]

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15,000-plus students regularly skip school across Manitoba, leaked documents show

More than 15,000 students — including six in 10 children and youth in one Manitoba school division — were chronically absent from class in 2023-24. Leaked government documents expose the troubling state of truancy in elementary and high schools across the province. “Unbelievable” and “mind-blowing” were among the descriptors that came to mind for Kent […]

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The RCMP vs. the media: Bracken trial approaches its endgame

The lawyers are standing around, casually talking to one another. A dozen or so people in the four rows of public seating quietly chatter to  each other. Then, a hefty, clean-shaven middle-aged man with short dark  brown hair and a suit enters the courtroom. The room goes quiet. The man, whose tie is fastened to […]

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Here’s what the Liberals’ new bill on ‘lawful access’ for police and spies would do

The federal government has tabled legislation in the House of Commons it says would help law enforcement and the Canadian Security Intelligence Service investigate threats. Here’s what the new bill proposes: Confirmation of service demand: The bill would require internet and phone companies to tell authorities whether they provide a service to a particular person […]

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Politicians and environmentalists call for transparency on N.B. highway toxin spill

Environmentalists and New Brunswick’s Green Party are calling for more transparency after it took nearly two days for the provincial government to issue a warning about a chemical spill that left drivers south of Fredericton commuting through toxins.  “From stem to stern, their spill response and public transparency and reporting need to be overhauled,” Green […]

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Newfoundland and Labrador overhauls procurement after report errors thought to be AI

The Newfoundland and Labrador government has overhauled its process for awarding contracts after false citations thought to be generated by artificial intelligence turned up in two reports, including one prepared by Deloitte Canada. Vendors bidding on work for the provincial government must now say if they intend to use artificial intelligence in completing the contract, […]

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Tracking Hospital Overdoses Isn’t Easy as It Seems: Dr. Bonnie Henry

The Tyee has spent over half a year trying to figure out how many people are overdosing while they are patients at British Columbia’s hospitals. In February, we published a summary of what we’d managed to learn after filing seven freedom of information requests, or FOIs, and elevating two of those requests to complaints with […]

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Press freedom in the Americas saw a ‘dramatic deterioration’ last year, watchdog says

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — Press freedom in the Americas suffered a “dramatic deterioration” in 2025, a regional watchdog said Tuesday in an assessment of conditions for the profession in 23 countries across the Western Hemisphere. The Miami-based Inter American Press Association, or IAPA, has been publishing an annual freedom of speech list, known as the Chapultepec index, […]

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Information commissioner ‘disappointed’ by lack of federal ambition on access reform

The federal information watchdog says she’s surprised that government proposals for updating the Access to Information Act avoid “the most pressing issue” dogging the system — unacceptable delays in answering requests. Information commissioner Caroline Maynard says most of the complaints her office receives relate to the failure of federal departments and agencies to respond to […]

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Videos show US citizen’s shooting death in Texas last year by federal immigration agent

WASHINGTON (AP) — Newly released videos showing the fatal shooting of a U.S. citizen by a federal immigration agent in Texas last year call into question assertions by the Department of Homeland Security that a driver intentionally rammed an agent with his car immediately before he was killed. The videos, including from officer body cameras, […]

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