Access to Information

Topic: Access to Information


Red River Polytechnic looks to expand after MITT takeover

Red River College Polytechnic is celebrating an enrolment bump and eyeing new high school partnerships as part of its merger with a longtime competitor. For the first time, nearly 400 students attended their first day of RRC Polytech in Winnipeg’s south end on Tuesday. The new campus is outfitted with two school logos — a […]

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Faraday explains library funding decision

Last week, The Bancroft Times wrote an update on the new library build, North Hastings Inspiration Place, that is steadily nearing completion in the downtown core, with a projected opening date of spring, 2027. In this piece, library board member and Bancroft Councillor Val Miles said that Faraday Township had not contributed $35,000 in operating […]

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Some Canadians tell Carney Ottawa’s spelling protocol should lean British

It seems some Canadians feel quite at home with the federal government’s preference for British spelling. Messages to Prime Minister Mark Carney on the matter indicate several correspondents see the affectation as a way of countering U.S. cultural dominance. A flurry of emails to Carney followed news last December that promoters of Canadian English objected […]

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Human or AI bot? Ottawa consulting on transparency of AI systems

The federal government is asking for input from Canadians about the transparency of artificial intelligence systems. In an online post featuring an AI-generated video of the CN Tower launching into the air like a rocket, Artificial Intelligence Minister Evan Solomon said the government wants to hear from Canadians what meaningful and practical AI transparency might […]

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American families stuck in limbo: Citizenship applicants caught in IRCC’s ‘black hole’

Jeffrey Vermeire, right, rides a Toronto streetcar with his family in September 2025. Vermeire says his proof-of-citizenship application was referred to IRCC’s Program Support unit and has remained unresolved for more than a year. Photo courtesy of Jeffrey Vermeire.Jeffrey Vermeire, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter For more than a year, Jeffrey Vermeire has waited for Immigration, […]

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Survey respondents identify shortcomings in review of Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act

The GNWT says its public survey on its Access to Information and Protection of Privacy (ATIPP) Act will shape new program policies, but the total number of survey respondents is a little over 100, and an even smaller sub-section of them have actually used the service. The ATIPP Act is, in part, intended to allow […]

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Connected vehicle data ‘can have intelligence value’ to adversaries: federal document

Data from an advanced electric vehicle that falls into the wrong hands could be used to track people or carry out surveillance, an internal government document warns. The Public Safety Canada memo, prepared to address concerns about Chinese vehicles, urges Canadians to be mindful of the security and privacy risks of the digital devices they […]

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South Bruce continues practice of not recording council meetings despite regional trend

TEESWATER – A series of motions tied to transparency and accountability stirred debate at the May 12 South Bruce council meeting, with councillors weighing how much access the public should have to municipal decision-making and how far the municipality should go to provide it. Council considered four motions brought forward in a report by Deputy […]

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Mudge islanders disappointed land use bylaw review to commence after Gabriola OCP review is complete

In early 2024, Mudge Islanders were suddenly inundated with bylaw complaints – 56 to be exact – to the Islands Trust.  This understandably took islanders by surprise. Mudge is boat-access only and has a year-round population of about 150, with that number growing to about 300 when recreational owners return to their properties.  “We’re a […]

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Hydro-Québec fought to hide parts of 1960s records from Newfoundland government

Hydro-Québec fought to hide decades-old correspondence about a proposed aluminum smelter, saying its details could derail ongoing energy negotiations with Newfoundland and Labrador. The provincially owned utility made these arguments with Quebec’s access to information commission in 2024, as it waged and lost a battle with a university professor to keep the records from the […]

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Access to information: N.L. failed to make public over 1,000 responses in a single year

Newfoundland and Labrador is often touted as a leader in Canada when it comes to freedom of information legislation, but new information disclosed, appropriately enough, in response to an access to information request, paints the province in a different light.  After the government responds to an access request, it’s supposed to post its response publicly […]

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Dozens of Alberta school divisions banned books to comply with provincial order

Dozens of Alberta school divisions have pulled more than 170 books from library shelves this year to comply with a provincial order, including poetry collections, award-winning graphic novels, a sex education comic book and the film and graphic novel adaptations of George Orwell’s 1984. Education and Childcare Minister Demetrios Nicolaides directed schools to remove library […]

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