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 […]

MEDIA ADVISORY JANUARY 20, 2017 Supreme Court of Canada to hand down decision on striking down ban on unregistered speech in BC’s election law on Thursday, January 26, 2017 Ottawa, January 20, 2017 – On Thursday, January 26, 2017, the Supreme Court of Canada will hand down its decision on the BC Freedom of Information […]

NEWS RELEASE OCTOBER 11, 2016   Supreme Court hears FIPA’s Election Act challenge The Supreme Court of Canada reserves decision on striking down ban on unregistered speech in BC’s election law VANCOUVER, October 11, 2016 – The Supreme Court of Canada will take the time to make its decision in the BC Freedom of Information […]

The federal government has taken a while to get moving on its election promise to make amendments to Bill C-51, but it now looks like things may be starting to stir. There have been a number of false starts to date. For example, Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale, writing in the Huffington Post in early […]

With the provincial election just around the corner, FIPA’s fight against restrictions on freedom of expression in BC’s Election Act is going to make its final stop in the Supreme Court of Canada this October. This is barely six months before the BC election campaign begins. The Election Act requires any persons or groups who […]

In 2015, the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada chose “Reputation and Privacy” as one of its priority areas for the next five years. The OPC wanted to examine the risks “stemming from the vast amount of personal information posted online”, with the goals of enriching the public debate, ensuring they can advise Parliament […]