FOI

FOI


Gaps in province’s literacy education probed

MANITOBA — Education’s response to a scathing report that concludes the way Ontario schools teach students how to read — a popular approach in local classrooms — is failing children with learning disabilities is being met with skepticism. Internal documents shed light on government officials’ limited analysis of Ontario Human Rights Commission’s Right to Read […]

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Trudeau government mum on Japan’s invitation to rejoin global timber treaty

OTTAWA — The federal Liberal government has yet to respond to a months-old invitation from Tokyo to have Canada rejoin a global environmental organization that regulates the timber trade. A July 2022 briefing note obtained through an access-to-information request shows that Japan has asked Ottawa to be part of the International Tropical Timber Organization. The group […]

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Wildly swinging oil prices will continue, and provinces like N.L. can gain

ST. JOHN’S, N.L. — As the COVID-19 pandemic sent oil prices plummeting to historic lows, emails obtained by The Canadian Press show Newfoundland and Labrador was quietly bracing for two of its offshore oilfields to be abandoned by their owners. And as the province watches those same companies this year report staggering profits, experts say fossil fuel-producing […]

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Manitoba government’s cost of mailing out cheques continues to rise

WINNIPEG — The Manitoba government has been mailing out cheques to people in recent years to help with issues ranging from property taxes to inflation to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. And the cost of printing those cheques and putting them in the mail — not including the cost of the benefits themselves — […]

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Watchdog report blasts RCMP failures investigating missing Saskatchewan woman

SASKATOON — Amanda Michayluk’s final moments were spent walking alone in the cold and snow through a Saskatchewan field as her family anxiously waited for an RCMP search and rescue team that would never arrive. A scathing report from the Civilian Review and Complaints Commission for the RCMP says officers responding to calls for help […]

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Saskatchewan underestimated need for rapid tests during fourth wave, emails indicate

SASKATOON — Saskatchewan underestimated how many rapid antigen tests were needed during the height of the fourth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, while also touting the tests as a key part of its plan to halt transmission of the virus, internal emails indicate. Documents obtained under freedom of information laws show the province emailing Health Canada in […]

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Feds caught off guard by Saskatchewan ‘unforeseen’ request for COVID 19 help

SASKATOON — Public Safety Canada and the Canadian Armed Forces were caught off guard by a request for help from Saskatchewan during the height of the fourth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. Documents obtained under freedom of information laws show employees in the federal departments were surprised when Saskatchewan Health Minister Paul Merriman sent a letter in October 2021 […]

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Brampton election sign chaos continues: FOI docs reveal council members trying to ban them outside used 1,083 illegally placed signs

The same Brampton Council members who passed a motion that bans outdoor election signs are responsible for 1,083 election sign violations during the recent municipal campaign — about a third had Mayor Patrick Brown’s name on them. When the motion was brought forward on November 23 by Rowena Santos, who had pushed to ban election […]

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Nova Scotia opposition wants more accountability on ‘frightening’ ER problems

HALIFAX — Nova Scotia’s opposition parties pushed Monday for more public accountability from the government over the province’s struggling hospital emergency departments. NDP Leader Claudia Chender called for Health Minister Michelle Thompson and provincial health authority CEO Karen Oldfield to appear before the legislature’s health committee on Thursday — a request that was later turned […]

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‘Unexpected storm’: Emails detail Regina police response to James Smith rampage

A report of a suspect vehicle in Saskatchewan’s capital hours after a stabbing rampage on a First Nation some 300 kilometres away suddenly pulled city officers into the investigation and kept residents on edge for days. The sighting “swiftly brought us into the unexpected storm,” Regina police Chief Evan Bray would later say in an […]

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N.S. government says no legal action over social media post on woman’s hospital death

HALIFAX — Nova Scotia’s Justice Department said Tuesday it won’t pursue legal action against a politician who posted information about a woman who died in hospital after a seven-hour wait for a doctor. The department sent an email Friday to Elizabeth Smith-McCrossin, the Independent member for Cumberland North, advising her to take down a letter […]

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‘Gag by-law to selfishly protect incumbents’: Rowena Santos’s Brampton outdoor election sign ban challenged by Canadian Constitutional Foundation

“In selfishly protecting their incumbent positions with this by-law by banning outdoor election signs outdoors on private property, Brampton politicians have trampled on the rights of residents to express their political opinions in the most crucial time — during an election.” That was the stinging statement by Christine Van Geyn, the Canadian Constitution Foundation’s litigation director, who […]

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