VANCOUVER, October 16, 2015 – One month ago, a coalition of 22 NGOs from across Canada signed a joint statement calling on the leaders of Canada’s federal parties to make concrete commitments to reform Canada’s outdated Access to Information Act. Today, we are pleased to see the NDP and Liberal parties have included commitments in their platforms […]

Federal government summary states domestic data storage requirements are banned under TPP  VANCOUVER, October 8, 2015 – The BC Freedom of Information and Privacy Association (FIPA) is expressing concern that certain legal requirements in BC’s privacy law will be undercut by the now-finalized Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) deal. According to a summary of the TPP posted by Foreign […]

FIPA is highlighting the importance of both the right to privacy and the open court principle in our submission to a consultation the Court Services Online (CSO) system, being held by the Chief Judge of the BC Provincial Court of BC. The open court principle is fundamental in a democratic society, as it allows citizens to scrutinize the workings […]

Update: Thank you to all who expressed interested in this workshop! FIPA will be celebrating this year’s Right To Know Week by hosting another of our highly-acclaimed workshops on filing Freedom of Information (FOI) requests. Join us in Vancouver on Tuesday, September 29th for FOI 101, and learn the basic practical skills needed to start tackling […]

The following is a joint statement sent to Canada’s major federal parties, and signed by FIPA alongside a number of other organizations interested in improving Canada’s access to information system. Read on to learn more, or read the press release at cjfe.org. The deficit of trust between Canada’s voters and its elected officials has never been higher, […]

Download the letter. Letter from the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner in response to BC FIPA’s complaint about the government’s failure to inform the OIPC of the changed status of an RCMP file on Ministry of Health firings (see press release).

Many questions remain after Commissioner addresses FOI complaint relating to controversial Ministry of Health firings VANCOUVER, September 10, 2015 – The BC Freedom of Information and Privacy Association (FIPA) is raising concerns that RCMP or other files could be left open indefinitely, thereby avoiding requests under the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act. […]

Download the full August 2015 Bulletin, or use the links below to read individual articles online. In this issue: Political Parties and Your Personal Privacy Where do the Parties Stand on Access to Information Reform? OIPC to B.C. Government: Yes, You Can Post Those Embarrassing Reports Hacked: Real-Life Stories of Connected Cars Gone Bad The TPP’s Threat […]

In the April issue of the Bulletin, we described our complaint about the B.C. Government’s odd excuse for failing to post two embarrassing reports online: they claimed that they were simply complying with the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FIPPA). In response to our complaint, the Office of the B.C. Information and […]

As Canadians prepare to vote in the upcoming federal election, we at FIPA are working to determine where political parties stand on key access to information issues. Together with Newspapers Canada and the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, we’ll be asking parties to describe what they will do to repair and improve transparency policies and practices, and […]

How can federal political parties use your personal information? Unfortunately, in Canada the answer is ‘any way they see fit.’ You read that correctly: Unlike most public or private organizations in this fair nation—whether public, private, non-profit, for-profit, professional or volunteer run— federal political parties are not governed by any privacy-specific legislation. And as parties […]

Download letter now Letter from the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner in response to BC FIPA’s complaint about the BC government refusing to post reports.