Recognizing the central role of accountability and transparency at City Hall, Ontario’s Municipal Act grants municipalities powers to ensure good governance.  Councils have the responsibility to ensure the operations of the municipality, run by senior management, are conducted openly and subject to public scrutiny. According to the City’s website, St. Catharines is committed to organizational […]

Milton Public Library (MPL) has announced expanding its reciprocal borrowing program to include Guelph Public Library. This new partnership allows library cardholders from both systems to borrow materials at any participating location without paying the non-resident fee. “This initiative underscores our commitment to enhancing resource accessibility and supporting our community’s educational and recreational needs, especially […]

“Where’s the beef?” an iconic little old lady demanded to know in a 1984 commercial. According to local farmers, the questions many of us need to consider 40 years later are “Where did the beef come from? How did the beef get here? What’s in the beef?” and “Will the beef still be available tomorrow?” […]

The information and privacy commissioner for the Yukon says the current approach to access to information isn’t working.   In the Yukon ombudsman’s 2023 annual report, tabled in the territorial legislature on Oct. 21, Jason Pedlar said the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (ATIPPA) needs to be amended to give the commissioner the […]

Legislation around property rights, gun ownership, tourism and parental involvement in education should spark the interest of rural Albertans, the UCP’s government house leader speculated in announcing plans for this week’s reconvened session of the legislature. But pleasing people who live beyond the province’s cities is not driving his party’s fall agenda, Joseph Schow said […]

TBILISI, Georgia (AP) — Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán gave a boost Tuesday to Georgia’s ruling party, saying its victory in a parliamentary election in the South Caucasus nation was free and democratic despite a massive opposition protest that denounced the vote as rigged and illegitimate. Orbán, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s closest partner in the […]

BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Thousands of protesters gathered outside the headquarters of Hungary’s public media corporation on Saturday to demonstrate against what they say is an entrenched propaganda network operated by the nationalist government at taxpayer expense. The protest was organized by Hungary’s most prominent opposition figure, Péter Magyar, and his upstart TISZA party, which […]

Since Aug. 26, Kate Harris has been the new permanent CEO/head librarian at the North Hastings Public Library, a role she had been doing in an interim capacity since April. She has over six years of experience, a Masters in Library Services and a lot of experience across her positions at public libraries and in […]

WASHINGTON (AP) — A gear crack that led to a fatal crash of a V-22 Osprey last year may have been started by weak spots in a metal used to manufacture that part, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press. The November crash killed eight Air Force Special Operations Command service members. It was […]

How Canada’s major federal political parties compare on issues related to privacy and access to information The table below uses publicly available information contained within the platforms of Canada’s four major political parties: the Liberal Party, the Conservative Party, the New Democratic Party, and the Green Party. FIPA is a non-partisan organization and this chart […]

The BC government’s new Government Information Act takes some useful steps to preserving information, but it has a big hole and also takes a major step backward. http://www.leg.bc.ca/40th4th/1st_read/gov05-1.htm#section18 The biggest problem is that it contains no duty to document. Recently several freedom of information requests come back with not a single piece of information attached. […]