Access to Information

Topic: Access to Information


Facebook parent Meta sues the FTC claiming ‘unconstitutional authority’ in child privacy case

MENLO PARK, Calif. (AP) — The parent company of Instagram and Facebook has sued the Federal Trade Commission in an attempt to stop the agency from reopening a 2020 privacy settlement with the company that would prohibit it from profiting from data it collects on users under 18. In a lawsuit filed late Wednesday in federal court […]

Read More


Transparency Fosters Trust

Freedom-of-information or access-to-information laws are not something that the average person thinks about every day, but they are a part of laws in every province and territory in the country and are designed to give people the right to obtain records from public institutions. Having access to the information they need to make informed decisions […]

Read More


Charges dismissed against 3 emergency management supervisors in 2020 death

WAYNESBURG, Pa. (AP) — A judge has dismissed all charges against three western Pennsylvania emergency management supervisors who had been accused of obstructing an investigation into an emergency dispatcher accused of failing to send an ambulance to the rural home of a woman who died of internal bleeding about a day later. Senior Judge Katherine […]

Read More


Lawyer for pharma company argues against single trial in B.C. opioid damages case

VANCOUVER — Holding a single trial in British Columbia to determine damages for each province and territory related to opioid health-care costs would be a “monster of complexity,” one of the dozens of lawyers for pharmaceutical firms told a court on Wednesday. Gordon McKee, a lawyer for Janssen Inc. and Johnson & Johnson, told the […]

Read More


Ontario releases ‘business case’ for moving science centre to Ontario Place

TORONTO — Relocating the Ontario Science Centre from its current east Toronto location to Ontario Place would save about $250 million over 50 years — largely because the new building will be half the size — according to an analysis the provincial government is using to justify move. Those savings — which one opposition leader […]

Read More


Diplomas for sale: $465, no classes required. Inside one of Louisiana’s unapproved schools

SPRINGFIELD, La. (AP) — Arliya Martin accepted her high school diploma with relief and gratitude. It was her ticket to better-paying work, she felt, after getting kicked out of high school and toiling for eight years at factory jobs to support her children. But Martin didn’t take any classes or pass any tests to receive […]

Read More


Auditor general raises concerns about B.C.’s bookkeeping for 16th time

VICTORIA — British Columbia’s auditor general is repeating himself over concerns about the way the provincial government keeps its books, just as the Ministry of Finance’s quarterly report projects a $5.6-billion deficit. Michael Pickup says if B.C’s financial statements followed Canadian public sector accounting standards there would be about another $7 billion in the revenue column, and liabilities would […]

Read More


Feds aimed secret cybersecurity briefing at energy sector executives: memo

OTTAWA — Federal security officials have been briefing leaders of major energy and utility firms on cyberthreats, one element of a concerted government effort to underscore the serious risks to the sector. A newly disclosed Public Safety Canada memo reveals a secret-level June meeting was part of a strategy to raise awareness among company executives […]

Read More


Maui residents wonder if their burned town can be made safe. The answer? No one knows

When Daniel Skousen scrubs at the ash and soot covering his Maui home, he worries about the smell. What chemicals created the burning-trash-barrel scent that has lingered since a deadly wildfire tore through Lahaina in August? Should he believe government agencies’ assessment of when the air, land and water will be safe enough for his […]

Read More


CU of M ex dean `not a person who can be trusted to be a lawyer

An attorney for the Law Society of Manitoba has hinted the watchdog plans to request the disbarment of a former dean of law who is accused of filing more than $500,000 in phony work expenses. The society’s disciplinary committee — a panel of two lawyers and a public representative — heard final submissions in the […]

Read More


Stop asking questions; pay the bill’

An ex-law dean accused of embezzling more than a half-million dollars from the University of Manitoba asked an employee to set up a Swiss bank account as a payee and, on another occasion, told her to “stop asking questions” about his expense claims. The professional disciplinary hearing of Jonathan Black-Branch heard from two witnesses — […]

Read More


House Republicans issue a subpoena to federal prosecutor in Hunter Biden’s case

WASHINGTON (AP) — House Republicans issued a subpoena Tuesday to a federal prosecutor involved in the criminal investigation into Hunter Biden, demanding answers for what they allege is Justice Department interference in the yearslong case into the president’s son. Rep. Jim Jordan, chair of the House Judiciary Committee, called on Lesley Wolf, the assistant U.S. […]

Read More