BC Freedom of Information and Privacy Association
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After 40-year mystery, police say ‘Mr. X’ in 1985 Air India bombing is dead
Police in British Columbia believe they have solved a decades-long mystery by identifying a suspect known as “Mr. X” who is thought to have helped test a bomb before the 1985 Air India terror attack. But they say the suspect died before facing charges, and police will not be releasing his name. The statement from…
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Newly launched Access to Information review is flawed, transparency advocates say
A newly launched federal review of the Access to Information system is being greeted with deep skepticism by transparency advocates. The Treasury Board Secretariat announced the government review, which takes place every five years, in a news release late Friday. The release says officials will seek input from a broad range of Canadians, Indigenous groups,…
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Aflac finds suspicious activity on US network that may impact Social Security numbers, other data
Aflac says that it has identified suspicious activity on its network in the U.S. that may impact Social Security numbers and other personal information, calling the incident part of a cybercrime campaign against the insurance industry. The company said Friday that the intrusion was stopped within hours. “We continue to serve our customers as we…
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Kansas’ AG is telling schools they must out trans kids to parents, even with no specific law
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas’ attorney general is telling public schools they’re required to tell parents their children are transgender or nonbinary even if they’re not out at home, though Kansas is not among the states with a law that explicitly says to do that. Republican Kris Kobach’s action was his latest move to restrict…
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Nevada high court dismisses casino mogul Steve Wynn’s defamation suit against The Associated Press
LAS VEGAS (AP) — The Nevada Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed a defamation lawsuit brought by casino mogul Steve Wynn against The Associated Press over a story about two women’s accounts to police alleging he engaged in sexual misconduct. The court cited state anti-SLAPP law in rejecting Wynn’s claim that he was defamed in the…
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Saskatchewan changing how it procures hotels for those on social assistance
The Saskatchewan government says it’s changing how it procures hotels for those on social assistance after a motel owned by a legislature member raised rates when the province paid. The Saskatchewan Party government says in a letter released Friday it will now get quotes from three hotels and direct people to the cheapest one while…
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Poilievre pledges to fix broken access-to-information system, release more faster
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is pledging to fix the federal access-to-information system to speed up response times and release more information. He made the commitment during a news conference in Vancouver on Thursday, where the Opposition leader announced a new revenue plan for First Nations alongside leaders in the region. Successive reviews have concluded the…
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New York woman sentenced to probation and fines in COVID aid fraud schemes
NEW YORK (AP) — A Brooklyn woman who pleaded guilty to fraud in connection with various pandemic-era relief schemes was sentenced Thursday to three years of probation and $650,000 in penalties. Prosecutors said Chanette Lewis, 32, carried out some of the schemes by leveraging her job at a call center, part of a New York…
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A criminal actor is to blame for a dayslong cyberattack on a Chicago hospital, officials say
CHICAGO (AP) — A large children’s hospital in Chicago remains hobbled by a cyberattack that began more than a week ago, cutting doctors and nurses off from digital patient records and limiting parents’ ability to communicate with their kids’ caregivers. Officials at Lurie Children’s Hospital said Thursday that they are still working with the FBI…
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Near-total abortion ban rejected by Virginia House panel
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Lawmakers in the Virginia House of Delegates — controlled by Democrats who flipped the chamber in November after campaigning on abortion rights — decisively voted down a bill that would have instituted a near-total abortion ban. On a bipartisan 8-0 vote Wednesday night, a House subcommittee rejected the measure that would…
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CIA terminates whistleblower who prompted flood of sexual misconduct complaints
The CIA this week terminated a woman whose whistleblower account of being assaulted in a stairwell at the spy agency’s headquarters prompted a flood of colleagues to come forward with their own complaints of sexual misconduct. The woman’s attorney called the action a brazen retaliation. While the CIA said that accusation was “factually inaccurate,” it…