BC Freedom of Information and Privacy Association
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Openness advocates unimpressed by early proposals for Access to Information reform
Advocates of more federal transparency are concerned a federal review of the Access to Information regime will not fix long-standing problems, and that it could even make things worse. The Treasury Board Secretariat announced the government review, which takes place every five years, in a news release last June. For a $5 fee, people can…
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Canada is claiming credit for tackling ghost gear, despite scuttling funding
Canada continues to tout itself as a “world leader” in tackling ghost gear’s threats to marine life and coastal communities even though funding for the program dried up in 2024. Fisheries and Oceans Canada’s (DFO’s) former investments to address abandoned, lost or discarded fishing gear, were axed without explanation by the federal Liberals more than…
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Federal judge dismisses Justice Department lawsuit seeking Oregon’s voter rolls
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A federal judge in Oregon dismissed a Justice Department lawsuit seeking Oregon’s unredacted voter rolls on Monday in another setback to wide-ranging efforts by President Donald Trump’s administration to get detailed voter data from states. In a hearing, U.S. District Judge Mustafa Kasubhai said he would dismiss the suit and issue…
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Australia’s highest court denies decorated Afghanistan veteran Ben Roberts-Smith’s final appeal
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Australia’s highest court on Thursday removed the last chance for highly decorated veteran Ben Roberts-Smith to clear his name of findings that he unlawfully killed four unarmed Afghans under Australian soldiers’ control more than a decade ago. The High Court said it would not hear his appeal against a federal judge’s…
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Gregory Bovino, head of Los Angeles campaign, shows how immigration agents rack up arrests
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Gregory Bovino’s distinguished Border Patrol career was in a downward spiral. In August 2023, he was relieved of command of the agency’s El Centro, California, sector, where he rose to be one of 20 regional chiefs across the country. Bovino blamed several perceived transgressions, details of which have not been previously…
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Google facing $425.7 million in damages for nearly a decade of improper smartphone snooping
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A federal jury has ordered Google to pay $425.7 million for improperly snooping on people’s smartphones during a nearly decade-long period of intrusions. The verdict reached Wednesday in San Francisco federal court followed a more than two-week trial in a class-action case covering about 98 million smartphones operating in the United…
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Code of conduct investigation launched into Halifax Mayor Andy Fillmore
Two Halifax residents say the city’s mayor is being investigated for an alleged breach of the municipal code of conduct because of comments he made about the power structure at city hall. The residents say Andy Fillmore was misleading when he told the CBC earlier this summer that the mayor reports to the chief administrative…
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New Brunswick elections agency says major challenges threaten free and fair voting
New Brunswick’s elections agency is warning that it has an outdated management system and faces other challenges that threaten its ability to run a free and fair vote. In its most recent annual report, Elections New Brunswick outlined three major challenges facing the agency. The report is to be presented before a legislative committee on…
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Two Canadians likely dead after Lisbon streetcar crash, police say
Local police say there’s a “high possibility” that two Canadians are dead after a popular 19th-century streetcar crashed in Portugal’s capital on Wednesday, The Associated Press reports. The AP has reported that the Portugal’s attorney general’s office said eight victims have been identified so far: five Portuguese, two South Koreans and a Swiss national. It…
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Citing U.S. loophole, NDP pitches tighter arms controls on Israel
NDP MP Jenny Kwan says she will ask Parliament to close a loophole that could allow the U.S. to purchase Canadian weapons for Israel, despite a ban on exporting various forms of arms to that country. “It is about ensuring Canada is never complicit in atrocities,” Kwan told a Thursday news conference on Parliament Hill.…
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Documents released to Nova Scotia NDP show public housing wait-list up over 8,000
Nova Scotia’s wait-list for public housing surpassed 8,000 people in June — a jump of about 1,200 people over an eight-month period, according to figures released Thursday by the Opposition NDP. The updated numbers are contained in documents released to the NDP through a freedom of information request by the Nova Scotia Provincial Housing Agency.…