BC Freedom of Information and Privacy Association
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Doug Ford vows to find out how more than 150 inmates were improperly released
Ontario’s premier and solicitor general have vowed to figure out how the province’s jails improperly released more than 100 inmates over several years. Premier Doug Ford says the situation is unacceptable and he will get to the bottom of what happened. Global News unearthed government documents through freedom of information laws that show the province…
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Trump urges extending foreign surveillance program as some lawmakers push for US privacy protections
WASHINGTON (AP) — Congress is set to take up the reauthorization of a divisive program that lets U.S. spy agencies pore over foreigners’ calls, texts and emails, with supporters like President Donald Trump saying it has saved lives while critics point to longstanding concerns about warrantless surveillance of Americans. A key provision of the Foreign…
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Ontario plans massive jail expansion, internal government documents show
Ontario is planning a massive expansion of jails over the next few decades, The Canadian Press has learned. The province’s jails are bursting and have been significantly over capacity for years, with the situation worsening. Ontario plans to add nearly 6,000 jail beds by 2050, documents obtained by University of Ottawa researchers through freedom-of-information laws…
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MP opens constituency office in New Liskeard
MP opens constituency office in New Liskeard Sue Nielsen Local Journalism Initiative Reporter TEMISKAMING SHORES – Pauline Rochefort, Member of Parliament for Nipissing-Timiskaming, plans to serve the people of her riding more effectively with the opening of her new constituency office in New Liskeard on February 19. The new office is located at 65 Whitewood…
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Aid groups petition Israeli court to let them keep working in Gaza after ban over new rules
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Seventeen international aid groups said Tuesday they have petitioned Israel’s Supreme Court to allow them to keep working in the Gaza Strip and other Palestinian areas, where Israel is set to bar them for refusing to comply with new rules. Israel says it will ban 37 aid groups by March…
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Russia opens criminal investigation against Telegram app founder Pavel Durov
MOSCOW (AP) — Pavel Durov, the founder of the Telegram messaging app, said Tuesday that the Russian government had opened a criminal investigation against him on charges of “aiding terrorism.” Durov, who was born and began his career in Russia, accused Moscow of fabricating pretexts to restrict access by Russians to the Telegram service as…
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After guilty plea in Indian plot to kill Sikh activist, Ottawa condemned for push to withhold ‘sensitive’ information in Nijjar murder trial
The man who U.S. prosecutors allege conspired with an employee of the Indian government to kill the leader of a Sikh separatist movement in New York pleaded guilty on February 13 to his role in a foiled assassination plot that Canadian government officials say is part of a wider, transnational effort by the Hindu nationalist…
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ICE officer training is ‘deficient’ and ‘broken,’ former agency lawyer tells congressional forum
WASHINGTON (AP) — A former U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement lawyer who was responsible for training new deportation officers warned Monday that the agency’s training program for new recruits is “deficient, defective and broken.” Ryan Schwank’s comments during a forum held by congressional Democrats come at a time of intense scrutiny of the officers tasked…
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Witness who saw friend fatally shot by immigration agent in Texas last year dies in car accident
WASHINGTON (AP) — The passenger in the car when Texas driver Ruben Ray Martinez was fatally shot last year by a federal immigration agent gave a lengthy statement to lawyers for the slain man’s family disputing the government’s version of events. That witness died Saturday in a fiery car crash in San Antonio, according to…
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Liberals accept Conservative budget amendments on ‘regulatory sandboxes’
The federal Liberals accepted a Conservative proposal Monday to put guardrails around proposed new cabinet powers as they debated the government’s omnibus budget bill. The finance committee tackled 606 clauses in the budget implementation legislation over five-and-a-half hours Monday as MPs faced a tight timeline to review the fast-tracked Bill C-15. That legislation proposes to…
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Police are finding suspects based on their online searches as courts weigh privacy concerns
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Criminal investigators hoping to develop suspects in difficult cases have been asking Google to reveal who searched for specific information online, seeking “reverse keyword” warrants that critics warn threaten the privacy of innocent people. Unlike traditional search warrants that target a known suspect or location, keyword warrants work backward by identifying…