Seven weeks ago, Prime Minister Mark Carney assigned former cabinet minister Chrystia Freeland to be Canada’s new special envoy for the reconstruction of Ukraine. Canadians haven’t heard much about the job since, and nothing at all about how Ukraine can be rebuilt while Russia continues its wide-scale bombing of critical infrastructure. But experts say Canada […]

This is your Access and Privacy News Summary for Saturday, November 8th.   It’s a big week in Ottawa — Information and Privacy Commissioners from across Canada have issued a joint resolution calling on governments to protect democracy through stronger access and information management.   We’ll also look at how access-to-information laws continue to shed light on federal decision-making, from foreign aid to digital sovereignty.  […]

Separatism. Sovereignty. Statehood. Danielle Smith has repeatedly invoked the idea of Alberta independence during her time in office. But documents obtained by the Investigative Journalism Foundation suggest it is not an economic scenario the provincial government is seriously studying. In his decades with the public service, Lennie Kaplan, former senior manager for the Fiscal and […]

CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — A businessman who confessed to being a fixer who delivered bribes to South African government officials, lawmakers and others in a corruption scheme that enraged the nation avoided jail time in a plea deal announced Thursday by state prosecutors. Angelo Agrizzi, who provided dramatic testimony at an inquiry into […]

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Congressional Budget Office on Thursday confirmed it had been hacked, potentially disclosing important government data to malicious actors. The small government office, with some 275 employees, provides objective, impartial analysis to support lawmakers during the budget process. It is required to produce a cost estimate for nearly every bill approved by […]

data on researchers who applied for health and science grants. The Standing Committee on Health and Research had originally sought details on student and faculty applications to three agencies between 2000 and 2025 but now says it will accept anonymized, high-level data that better preserves privacy. The motion seeks information collected by the Social Sciences […]

A former researcher with Quebec’s hydro utility who is facing economic espionage charges said Thursday he was applying for work at universities in China as a contingency plan because he was unhappy at Hydro-Québec. Yuesheng Wang, 38, maintained under cross-examination that there was nothing nefarious about his interest in moving back to China. He explained […]

A Grande Prairie local has applied for a petition to recall Grande Prairie MLA Nolan Dyck. Recall petitions for United Conservative Party MLAs are growing across the province following the government’s use of the notwithstanding clause to force teachers back to work.  “Dyck was chosen by the people to represent their interests and not echo […]

The Liberal government says it will restore a privacy provision to the Online Streaming Act, more than two years after it was accidentally deleted. The federal budget released this week says the government will make a legislative amendment to “restore the right to privacy of individuals to the interpretation provisions and remove a duplicative provision […]

LAS VEGAS (AP) — State workers were put on paid administrative leave. Nevada residents couldn’t receive their driver’s licenses. Employers were unable to conduct background checks on new hires. These were all effects of a massive cyberattack in Nevada that took nearly a month to fully restore its services. The ransomware attack – though discovered […]

More than 5,000 researchers have signed an open letter pushing back against a parliamentary committee order that they say draws parallels with the U.S. government’s crackdown on equity, diversity and inclusion funding in health and science research. The Standing Committee on Science and Research adopted a motion on Oct. 1 requiring health and science grant […]

WASHINGTON (AP) — IRS Direct File, the electronic system for filing tax returns for free, will not be offered next year, the Trump administration has confirmed. An email sent Monday from IRS official Cynthia Noe to state comptrollers that participate in the Direct File program said that “IRS Direct File will not be available in […]