FIPA’s submission on FIPPA reform FIPA has been busy the past few months pushing for Freedom of Information and privacy reform. During this time, we ramped up pressure on the new government with our Ipsos poll and a joint letter sent to Premier John Horgan pushing for information rights reform. In response, the BC Ministry of Citizens’ Services has […]

Exciting news! The BC Ministry of Citizens’ Services has launched a public consultation on freedom of information and privacy rights in BC, and we need your help! Here’s your chance to voice your thoughts, concerns or ideas for change. Help us put an end to record destruction, failure to create records, FOI loopholes, and other […]

Earlier today we sent a joint letter to Premier John Horgan supporting Freedom of Information and privacy reform, and offering our help to bring this about. The text of the letter, signed by a number of well-known groups and individuals, is set out below. See here for the PDF copy.   February 22, 2018 The […]

July 18, 2017 FIPA’s Submission on NAFTA Consultation With the US government’s extremely concerning list of objectives for the upcoming NAFTA negotiations put forth yesterday by the US Trade Representative, BC FIPA has sent Minister Freeland and Global Affairs Canada our submission regarding the dangers facing our information and privacy rights in the coming NAFTA […]

MEDIA RELEASE June 19, 2017 Proposed law leaves lots of holes in outdated Access to Information Act VANCOUVER, June 19, 2017 – The bill tabled late this afternoon by the three ministers in Ottawa does not meet the promises made by the Liberal Party of Canada in 2015. What was announced today will make some […]

This Just In: Liberals, NDP and Greens respond to FIPA’s election questionnaire. Just in time for next week’s vote, we are pleased to reveal the responses we received from all three major parties to our election questionnaire. This is the detailed statement of positions on information, privacy, and other issues that have not had much […]

With the provincial election campaign underway, we believe it is important to know where the leaders of BC’s three leading political parties stand on important Freedom of Information and privacy issues. Like we have done during previous elections, FIPA sent a series of questions on Freedom of Information and privacy issues to the BC Liberals, […]

MEDIA RELEASE BC government bill does not create a duty to document government decisions  Legislation introduced today is completely discretionary says FIPA VANCOUVER, March 8, 2017 – The bill introduced this afternoon by Finance Minister Mike de Jong is a sad excuse for action on creating a duty to document government decisions. Despite demands from […]

What do the province’s leaders think of Freedom of Information and privacy issues in BC? With the BC Election only a few months away, we are preparing to send the party leaders a series of questions on Freedom of Information and privacy issues in British Columbia – just as we did in 2013. We sent […]

The Final Verdict to our Election Act Challenge: An Unusual Victory  Our 4 year battle has finally come to an end. Late last month, the Supreme Court of Canada dismissed our appeal but ultimately sided with FIPA by making it clear that election advertising, in its “grammatical and ordinary sense,” does not apply to those […]

On February 1st, Elections BC released their “Handmade Election Advertising” bulletin in response to the Supreme Court of Canada’s judgement last Thursday which clarified Election BC’s previous erroneous interpretation of BC’s Election Act’s third party spending provisions. The Bulletin is plainly and obviously inconsistent with the SCC Judgment in many respects. See our joint letter with the […]

MEDIA RELEASE January 26, 2017 Supreme Court of Canada forces Elections BC to use proper interpretation of Third party advertising law VANCOUVER, January 26, 2017 – In a decision released this morning, the Supreme Court of Canada has made it clear that election advertising laws do not apply to those who are merely expressing their own […]