BC Freedom of Information and Privacy Association
Your Data Your Rights
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Oil giant broke deal to deactivate thousands of pipelines and faced no penalty, documents reveal
This investigation is a collaboration between The Narwhal and the Investigative Journalism Foundation. One of Canada’s largest oil and gas companies violated a deal it struck with B.C.’s energy regulator to address thousands of inactive pipelines in the province — and faced no financial penalties for doing so. Internal government documents obtained by The Narwhal…
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Former University of Winnipeg regent who quit in protest cited governance concerns
Twelve days after a University of Winnipeg board member resigned in protest over governance concerns at the cash-strapped campus, his ex-colleagues approved a balanced budget that rests on continued austerity measures. The board of regents — a group of appointees who are alumni, administrators and public representatives, among others, and in charge of policy making…
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Daily contact, a Ford phone call: docs reveal Ontario government’s close relationship with Enbridge
In early October 2023, a senior bureaucrat in the Ontario Energy Ministry emailed an Enbridge official with a “sort of urgent” request. Newly released internal documents show that Premier Doug Ford had called the natural gas giant that month to discuss delays in obtaining a natural gas connection for a facility whose name is redacted…
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Black activist who became PM of Dominica was target of RCMP dirty tricks: documents
OTTAWA — It has long been known that the RCMP Security Service took a keen interest in Roosevelt “Rosie” Douglas, a Black rights activist who attended school in Canada and would go on to be prime minister of Dominica. But recently released records reveal just how far the Mounties would go in the early 1970s…
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School boards urge Ontario to lift moratorium on closures
TORONTO — Ontario’s public school boards are calling on the province to lift a moratorium on school closures and to finally complete a review — started six years ago — of how those closure decisions get made. The previous Liberal government first promised the review and enacted the moratorium in 2017, when it was under…
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Indigo employees’ data breached in ransomware attack
A ransomware attack compromised the data of current and former employees at Canada’s biggest bookstore chain, Indigo Books & Music Inc. says. In a statement on its website, Indigo said the breach on Feb. 8 left no indication that customers’ personal information, such as credit card numbers, had been accessed, but that “some employee data…
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Privacy commissioners looking into TikTok should investigate other apps: expert
TORONTO — At least one public policy expert says an investigation into TikTok launched by Canada’s Privacy Commissioner should prompt a similar look into other apps. Vass Bednar, the executive director of the Master of Public Policy in Digital Society at McMaster University, says issues around consent and data collection surround several TikTok rivals. While…
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TikTok investigation sign of data privacy, geopolitical climate: academics
TORONTO — An investigation into TikTok launched by Canada’s Privacy Commissioner this week is a symptom of growing unrest around data privacy, but also a sign of the extent of geopolitical tensions, academics say. The investigation revealed Thursday by the federal privacy watchdog and its counterparts in B.C., Alberta and Quebec is meant to delve…
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Feds fail to disclose Coastal GasLink data on salmon eggs, habitat
Shannon McPhail said she felt like the “world’s biggest schmuck” after reading an email from a senior official at Fisheries and Oceans Canada. The official told her it was “impossible to confirm” how many living salmon eggs were in the path of the Coastal GasLink pipeline at a major river crossing. With wild salmon populations…
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Federal and three provincial privacy commissioners launch TikTok investigation
GATINEAU, Que. — Federal and several provincial privacy authorities say they will jointly investigate TikTok. The Privacy Commissioner of Canada says it has teamed up with the offices of the information and privacy commissioners in B.C., Alberta and Quebec to look into the short-form video streaming application. They will examine whether TikTok, which is owned…