Your Access and Privacy Online News Summary for Saturday, February 21st. This week, the Senate delivers a significant report on Bill C-4, Part 4, with a majority of committee members warning that the proposed political party privacy regime falls far short of minimum standards — and recommending that it be removed, severed, or sunset.  We’re also tracking how access-to-information […]

ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) — The federal government is asking a court to “run roughshod” over the First Amendment after seizing electronic devices from a Washington Post reporter’s Virginia home last month, an attorney for the newspaper argued Friday. U.S. Magistrate Judge William Porter didn’t rule from the bench on the newspaper’s request for an order […]

WASHINGTON (AP) — Newly released records show a U.S. citizen was shot and killed in Texas by a federal immigration agent last year during a late-night traffic encounter that was not publicly disclosed by the Department of Homeland Security. The death of Ruben Ray Martinez, 23, would mark the earliest of at least six deadly […]

The British Columbia Court of Appeal has dismissed a bid by U.S. facial recognition firm Clearview AI to overturn findings that the company is subject to Canadian privacy laws, despite no longer doing business in the country.  The ruling released this week says Clearview AI was investigated by the information and privacy commissioners of B.C., […]

British Columbia health care workers unlawfully accessed highly sensitive personal information on victims of Vancouver’s Lapu Lapu Day festival attack mostly out of “curiosity,” the province’s privacy commission says.  A report released by the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner said it was notified of privacy breaches within days of the deadly attack, and […]

A third recall petition against a member of Alberta’s legislature has failed, while another has been withdrawn. Casey Klein says her campaign against United Conservative Party backbencher Nolan Dyck gathered just over 1,000 signatures, roughly 10 per cent of what was needed by Thursday’s deadline. Klein, a resident of Grande Prairie, about 460 kilometres northwest […]

A growing grassroots movement in East St. Paul and other Manitoba communities is drawing more residents into municipal politics, as controversial regional decisions spark concern about local autonomy and transparency. Residents who had never attended council meetings are now organizing, sharing information and pushing elected officials to consult the public before committing to major regional […]

Finance Minister Rene Legacy said the province’s deficit has grown to $1.3 billion amid higher spending in health care and social development.  Total revenue is projected to be $372.1 million lower than budgeted, largely driven by lower corporate income tax and personal income tax revenue, as well as lower Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) revenue. It […]

Federal authorities charged a Florida man Tuesday with providing banned substances to an athlete in a case involving the 45-month doping ban handed to Olympic sprinter Marvin Bracy-Williams last year. The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Orlando announced the indictment of Paul Askew of Jacksonville for violating the Rodchenkov Act, a law enacted in 2020 that […]

The Israeli military says more than 1,500 people with Canadian citizenship — soldiers holding dual or multiple citizenships — were serving in its ranks as of a year ago, according to documents obtained by an Israeli organization. The news comes months after the RCMP confirmed it would be collecting reports from members of the public […]

How many people are overdosing while they are patients at British Columbia’s hospitals? This data is essential to understanding the importance of opening hospital-based overdose prevention sites, addiction medicine doctors told The Tyee. In an atmosphere where the province’s drug policy is a hot-button topic, it’s also key to developing public understanding about why the […]

ATLANTA (AP) — The NAACP and other organizations are asking a judge to protect personal voter information that was seized by the FBI from an elections warehouse just outside Atlanta. Georgia residents entrusted the state with their “sensitive personal information” when they registered to vote, and the Jan. 28 seizure of ballots and other election […]