BC Freedom of Information and Privacy Association
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The feds raised doubts about a climate scientist’s LNG research. He says they sounded like fossil fuel lobbyists
Edward Burrier chuckled as he told his colleagues what he thought about an academic paper written by a prominent U.S. climate scientist. Burrier, a director of public policy at Canadian fossil fuel giant TC Energy, said the study was largely to blame for public skepticism about whether liquefied natural gas (LNG) is as environmentally friendly…
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Trudeau was warned about Trump’s trade plans before phone call: briefing note
Then-prime minister Justin Trudeau went into his first phone call with a newly re-elected Donald Trump aware that the U.S. president likely was looking to reopen the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement — just a few weeks before he first threatened devastating economy-wide tariffs. A briefing note prepared ahead of the phone conversation between Trudeau and Trump on…
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N.S. legislature sitting marked by moves to consolidate power: political scientist
The Nova Scotia legislature has wrapped up a winter sitting that a political scientist says was marked by government moves to increase cabinet’s authority and shrink the legislature’s ability to provide oversight. Tom Urbaniak, a professor at the University of Cape Breton, said the government’s multiple omnibus bills paint the picture of a government working…
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Federal effort to boost election worker protections fizzles
ATLANTA (AP) — Federal proposals that would have significantly boosted security funding for election offices and heightened penalties for threatening their staff failed to advance this year, leaving state officials looking to their legislatures for support. The massive budget bill that passed Congress on Friday will send $75 million in election security grants to states,…
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Facebook parent Meta will pay $725M to settle user data case
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Facebook’s corporate parent has agreed to pay $725 million to settle a lawsuit alleging the world’s largest social media platform allowed millions of its users’ personal information to be fed to Cambridge Analytica, a firm that supported Donald Trump’s victorious presidential campaign in 2016. Terms of the settlement reached by Meta…
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Canadians gleaned naval intelligence from Russian defector, newly released files show
OTTAWA — The young Russian seaman who turned up exhausted and bleeding on the British Columbia shore struck a Canadian intelligence official as well mannered, sincere and athletic, built like Tarzan of the movies. Less than two years later, defector Sergei Kourdakov would die in a California motel room — apparently by accidentally shooting himself — after…
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Feds opt to focus on making access to info law work better amid calls for reforms
OTTAWA — The federal government says departments will focus on making the access-to-information system work better amid calls for fundamental changes to the transparency law. The Access to Information Act allows people to request government documents, from internal emails to expense reports for a $5 fee, but it is widely considered to be outdated and poorly administered. The law…
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Watchdog: Under 1% of Israel army probes yield prosecution
JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli soldiers accused of harming Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip over the last five years have been indicted in less than 1% of the hundreds of complaints against them, an Israeli rights group reported. The watchdog argued that Israel’s military systematically fails to conduct a credible prosecution of…
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Ransomware attack delays SickKids lab results, systems could be offline for weeks
TORONTO, Ohio — A ransomware attack has delayed lab and imaging results at Toronto’s Hospital for Sick Children and could lead to longer wait times, the hospital said Thursday, noting that some of its systems could be offline for weeks. The hospital said it was unable to provide details about the nature of the attack,…
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‘Gag by-law to selfishly protect incumbents’: Rowena Santos’s Brampton outdoor election sign ban challenged by Canadian Constitutional Foundation
“In selfishly protecting their incumbent positions with this by-law by banning outdoor election signs outdoors on private property, Brampton politicians have trampled on the rights of residents to express their political opinions in the most crucial time — during an election.” That was the stinging statement by Christine Van Geyn, the Canadian Constitution Foundation’s litigation director, who…
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Documents appearing to come from government sent to Muslim charity were forged: RCMP
OTTAWA — The RCMP confirmed Tuesday that documents sent to the Muslim Association of Canada that appeared to be internal records of the Canada Revenue Agency and the Mounties are forgeries. The Globe and Mail reported last week that the association had been sent records, which the newspaper determined to be fake, that implied both…