New year, new changes to the Board and Staff 2017 is well under way, and is shaping up to be another great year for FIPA. After our Special General Meeting that was held on November 16, 2016, we have a couple of changes to our board and staff. In January, our Program Director, Joyce Yan, joined […]

What do the province’s leaders think of Freedom of Information and privacy issues in BC? With the BC Election only a few months away, we are preparing to send the party leaders a series of questions on Freedom of Information and privacy issues in British Columbia – just as we did in 2013. We sent […]

FIPA weighs in on Privacy Act, PIPEDA reforms FIPA has been active regarding federal privacy law, appearing twice before the Commons ATI, Ethics and Privacy (ETHI) committee over the past few months. The Committee was looking into proposal for reform of the 1980s vintage Privacy Act, and asked FIPA to appear to provide input into […]

BC Throne Speech has none of needed reforms for FOI and privacy The Speech from the Throne kicked off the last legislative session before the May 9 provincial election, but the ruling BC Liberals took a pass on even mentioning FOI and privacy. The week before, Premier Christy Clark raised the issue of mandatory breach […]

Many thanks to our pro bono lawyers We would like to express our deepest gratitude to our pro bono lawyers, Sean Hern of Farris Vaughn and Alison Latimer of Underhill, Boies Parkers, Gage & Latimer, who have represented FIPA in our Election Act challenge over the past four years. Without their dedication and hard work, […]

The Final Verdict to our Election Act Challenge: An Unusual Victory  Our 4 year battle has finally come to an end. Late last month, the Supreme Court of Canada dismissed our appeal but ultimately sided with FIPA by making it clear that election advertising, in its “grammatical and ordinary sense,” does not apply to those […]

Download the full November 2016 Bulletin, or use the links below to read individual articles online. In this issue: Supreme Court of Canada hears FIPA’s Election Act challenge FIPA events update FIPA’s inaugural 25th Anniversary Leadership Award Recipient Privacy Act and C-51 consultations Revised bylaws and SGM Find more issues of the Bulletin here.

Mark your calendars—the Special General Meeting is only one week away! Here, we will be voting in new directors to the board, and amending our current bylaws and constitution in compliance with the new BC Societies Act. At the SGM, members of the BC Freedom of Information and Privacy Association will be asked to vote […]

Earlier this month FIPA took part in a civil society consultation on national security and possible changes to Bill C-51. The Ottawa meeting was at the invitation of Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale and Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould and had about two dozen participants. The meeting lasted a couple of hours, and FIPA highlighted concerns […]

BC FIPA celebrated its 25th anniversary in style on November 3, 2016 at the Bill Reid Gallery. Our guests, board members and staff enjoyed a fantastic evening of great food, local wines and beer, and live music while taking in the beautiful Northwest coast art pieces. Vincent Gogolek, FIPA’s executive director, kicked off the evening […]

For those that missed it, BC FIPA celebrated this year’s Right to Know Week by hosting not one but two great and informative events! We hosted our 6th BC Information Summit on September 22. This year’s theme was From Trickle to Tide: Preparing for Wave of Transparency, and featured great keynote addresses by both the […]

FIPA’s Charter challenge to protect freedom of expression during elections in British Columbia made its final stop in the Supreme Court of Canada with a hearing on the morning of October 11. After a three year battle, the high court heard from FIPA, the BC and Canadian Civil Liberties Associations, and the Attorneys-General for Ontario, […]