This document analyzes BC’s Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA) relative to Alberta’s Personal Information Protection Act, Quebec’s Act Respecting the Protection of Personal Information in the Private Sector, and Canada’s Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act. It highlights key differences, provision by provision, in BC’s PIPA relative to other jurisdictions. As it is a side by side analysis of Canada’s private-sector privacy […]

Stanley Tromp has updated his 2008 book, Fallen Behind: Canada’s Access to Information Act in the World Context. From Stanley Tromp: The first edition of this book in 2008 detailed how Canada’s Access to Information Act had fallen behind the rest of the world’s FOI laws. Since then, the problem has only grown far worse […]

How Canada’s major federal political parties compare on issues related to privacy and access to information The table below uses publicly available information contained within the platforms of Canada’s four major political parties: the Liberal Party, the Conservative Party, the New Democratic Party, and the Green Party. FIPA is a non-partisan organization and this chart […]

Vancouver, September 26, 2019 – As part of Right to Know Week 2019, Independent journalist Stanley Tromp has published the BC Freedom of Information (FOI) News Story Index. The new resource, which received support from the BC Freedom of Information and Privacy Association, is a database that documents significant news items produced using BC’s FOI […]

It is election season, and the leaders of Canada’s political parties are making promises, presenting platforms, and answering questions about plans and policies. The next Government of Canada will have to take positions on transparency reform, privacy in a digital age, democracy and Big Data, and the regulation of increasingly-intrusive surveillance practices. We want to […]

Best Practices in Whistleblower Legislation, prepared by Carroll Anne Boydell, instructor of criminology at Kwantlen Polytechnic University on behalf of the British Columbia Freedom of Information and Privacy Association, compares BC’s new whistleblower legislation, the Public Interest Disclosure Act (PIDA), to international best practices standards. Best practice principles exist for laws, regulations, and procedures aimed […]

Download the full February 2016 Bulletin, or use the links below to read individual articles online. In this issue: The results are in! Poll shows BC favours a strong FOI system Will Trudeau get rid of Ottawa’s information black hole? Our challenge to BC’s Election Act in the Supreme Court of Canada Much ado about unverified claims […]

Download the full October 2015 Bulletin, or use the links below to read individual articles online. In this issue: Access to Information and the Federal Election FIPA Appears Before the Information & Privacy Review Committee FIPA Out and About During Right To Know Week FIPA Weighs in on Privacy & Open Courts Find more issues of the […]

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 […]

FIPA Mini-Bulletin: June 2015 The past month has been action-packed at FIPA. At the Federal level, the passing of Bill C-51 in the Senate and the Conservative Government’s retroactive attack on access to information through the C-59 Omnibus Bill set the tone for the month. In BC, allegations were made by a former executive assistant […]

FIPA’s 2014 Annual Report is online! Read about our work this past year here.

It took two years, but the records requested by FIPA in 2012 regarding contracts and other records related to the mysterious Ministry of Health data breach case have finally been released and are posted on our website. FIPA had requested the following information: Data sharing and other agreements involving the Ministry and four named individuals; […]