2025 season episode 46

2025 season episode 46


20251115 Access and Privacy Online

This is your Access and Privacy News Summary for Saturday, November 15th.   With attention still in Ottawa we have a lighter news week while still gaining important insight into privacy items domestically and abroad.  We travel coast to coast with local journalism initiative reporters looking at the DE prioritization of AI policies in Newfoundland, Alberta separatism […]

Read More


The day pipeline security followed me — and what I learned later about Canada’s spy agency

The truck slowly pulled alongside as I idled at the side of a remote dirt road in northern B.C. No cell service, the nearest town half an  hour away. I’d pulled off to let industrial traffic heading the other  direction pass. It was 2022 and I was on my way to meet with Indigenous  land […]

Read More


PCs ‘not prioritizing’ review of AI policies following Education Accord scandal

In the wake of a scandal involving the province’s new Education Accord, which contained fabricated sources and has led many to believe artificial intelligence was involved, a spokesperson from Premier Tony Wakeham’s office told The Independent the new PC government is “not prioritizing” a review of its AI policies. In September, the 10-year education plan […]

Read More


Man arrested on suspicion of calling for attacks on German politicians and publishing hit lists

BERLIN (AP) — A man accused of calling for attacks on German politicians and officials, seeking cryptocurrency donations to be used as a reward for their killing and publishing instructions on how to build explosives has been arrested, prosecutors said Tuesday. The suspect, a German-Polish dual citizen identified only as Martin S. in line with […]

Read More


Prosecutor seeks 2,352-year jail term for Istanbul’s jailed mayor over alleged corruption

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Istanbul’s chief public prosecutor filed a sweeping indictment against the city’s jailed mayor, Ekrem Imamoglu, accusing him of 142 offenses tied to corruption and organized crime, and seeking a total prison sentence exceeding 2,000 years. Imamoglu, a prominent opposition figure widely seen as a key rival to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, […]

Read More


Construction firm chosen for long-awaited Peel Memorial expansion; cost, timeline and what Brampton will get remain unclear

Just as the ground thawed from winter this past March, politicians, including Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown, Premier Doug Ford and local MPPs, joined officials from the William Osler Health System to mark the beginning of construction for the long-awaited expansion of the Peel Memorial Centre for Integrated Wellness. The only problem: there was no construction. […]

Read More


Freeland tasked with tapping Canadian businesses to help rebuild Ukraine

Seven weeks ago, Prime Minister Mark Carney assigned former cabinet minister Chrystia Freeland to be Canada’s new special envoy for the reconstruction of Ukraine. Canadians haven’t heard much about the job since, and nothing at all about how Ukraine can be rebuilt while Russia continues its wide-scale bombing of critical infrastructure. But experts say Canada […]

Read More


Alberta is flirting with separatism. But documents show the province isn’t planning for it

Separatism. Sovereignty. Statehood. Danielle Smith has repeatedly invoked the idea of Alberta independence during her time in office. But documents obtained by the Investigative Journalism Foundation suggest it is not an economic scenario the provincial government is seriously studying. In his decades with the public service, Lennie Kaplan, former senior manager for the Fiscal and […]

Read More


Businessman who blew the whistle on a South African government bribery scandal gets plea deal

CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — A businessman who confessed to being a fixer who delivered bribes to South African government officials, lawmakers and others in a corruption scheme that enraged the nation avoided jail time in a plea deal announced Thursday by state prosecutors. Angelo Agrizzi, who provided dramatic testimony at an inquiry into […]

Read More


The Congressional Budget Office was hacked. It says it has implemented new security measures

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Congressional Budget Office on Thursday confirmed it had been hacked, potentially disclosing important government data to malicious actors. The small government office, with some 275 employees, provides objective, impartial analysis to support lawmakers during the budget process. It is required to produce a cost estimate for nearly every bill approved by […]

Read More


Parliamentary committee revises order to share federal grant applicant data

data on researchers who applied for health and science grants. The Standing Committee on Health and Research had originally sought details on student and faculty applications to three agencies between 2000 and 2025 but now says it will accept anonymized, high-level data that better preserves privacy. The motion seeks information collected by the Social Sciences […]

Read More


Man accused of economic espionage tells court he was unhappy at Hydro-Québec

A former researcher with Quebec’s hydro utility who is facing economic espionage charges said Thursday he was applying for work at universities in China as a contingency plan because he was unhappy at Hydro-Québec. Yuesheng Wang, 38, maintained under cross-examination that there was nothing nefarious about his interest in moving back to China. He explained […]

Read More