Privacy Commissioner of Canada Jennifer Stoddart has sent an open letter to Canadian Minister of Public Safety Vic Toews to outline her deep concerns about “lawful access” legislation that is expected soon from the Harper government. “Lawful access” refers to the legal authority of police and security officials to monitor, intercept, seize, and search our […]

CORPORATE SUBSIDIARIES OF PUBLIC BODIES NOW BEYOND THE LAW Edit: See October 25, 2011 update below. A decision by the Information and Privacy Commissioner’s Office last week confirms that BC universities and other public bodies can create independent companies whose records are beyond the reach of the province’s freedom of information law. And even though […]

PROPOSED CHANGES WOULD RADICALLY ALTER FREEDOM OF INFORMATION LAW Your privacy is at risk as never before in B.C., and the immediate threat isn’t coming from Facebook or Canada’s spy agency – it’s a bill before the B.C. legislature. Without consulting you, our premier and a gaggle of techno-bureaucrats have decided to sacrifice B.C.’s privacy […]

FIPA and the BC Civil Liberties Association are raising the alarm over amendments to the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act introduced yesterday. “The government has decided on a policy to massively increase the personal information collected, stored and shared with others,” said Micheal Vonn, Policy Director of the BCCLA. “Yet, projects like […]

A total refusal to release contracts in Winnipeg. Quebec’s denial of basic accountability information about top officials’ spending. Passenger manifests for Ontario’s executive aircraft. The federal government’s stubborn refusal to release data in a useful form. These are just some of the findings of the Newspapers Canada sixth annual National Freedom of Information Audit, which […]

There is a growing furor in Parliament over the actions of a former ministerial aide who Canada’s Information Commissioner found had interfered with an access-to-information request. (See “Transparency groups urge Commons inquiry into RCMP’s dropping investigation into violation of Access to Information Act“) Parliamentary Secretary Dean del Mastro stood tall for former ministerial aide Sebastien […]

FIPA, together with the Canadian Taxpayers Federation and Newspapers Canada, is urging the Parliamentary Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics (ETHI) to hold hearings into an abrupt RCMP decision to drop its criminal investigation into a federal Conservative staffer who deliberately blocked the release of documents requested under the Access to Information Act. […]

In this issue: BC’s ‘Open Information, Open Data’ plan shows promise …but the other side of ‘Government 2.0’ requires radical changes to our “antiquated” privacy protections Coalition formed to battle online spying bills FIPA turns 20! Birthday party September 28 Commissioner Denham says BC Ferries-style FOI policy “frustrates the purposes of FIPPA” BC Ferries ‘loses’ […]

GOVERNMENT STAFFERS APPARENTLY ABOVE THE LAW Vancouver – A federal Conservative staffer who deliberately blocked the release of documents requested under the Access to Information Act will get away scot free after the RCMP decided to drop its investigation into the incident. He was facing the possibility of up to two years in jail and […]

JOINT LETTER QUESTIONS WHY GOVERNMENT IS AVOIDING DEBATE ON INTERNET SURVEILLANCE LEGISLATION A new “Stop Online Spying” coalition of Canadian public interest organizations and academics released a joint letter to Prime Minister Stephen Harper today, voicing grave concerns about pending omnibus legislation that would allow for warrantless online spying on Canadians (“Lawful Access” legislation). The […]

The Vancouver police board will review the department’s policy of releasing information requested under the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act simultaneously to both the requester and the public, after being told by FOI advocates it is not adhering to the spirit of the law. On Wednesday Vincent Gogolek, the executive director of […]

GOVERNMENT MOVES TO ROUTINELY RELEASE SOME INFORMATION, BUT LOTS OF RECORDS REMAIN BEHIND CLOSED DOORS With its new “Open Information – Open Data” policy, the BC government has taken a big step forward on how it releases information to the public. But according to the BC Freedom of information and Privacy Association, there is still […]