The Town of Caledon has officially launched a Lobbyist Registry, a tool designed to help make local government more transparent and accountable. The Lobbyist Registry is available online and provides residents with easy access to information about who is lobbying with Council, Committee of Adjustment members, Property Standards Committee members, and statutorily appointed staff.  It […]

​KIRKLAND LAKE — When Dan Kurz began teaching at Kirkland Lake District Composite School (KLDCS) in 2006, he didn’t imagine a robotics lab taking over the school library.  But 20 years into his teaching career, that vision has not only taken shape, it’s led his students to a national gold medal. Grade 12 student Liam […]

A newly launched federal review of the Access to Information system is being greeted with deep skepticism by transparency advocates. The Treasury Board Secretariat announced the government review, which takes place every five years, in a news release late Friday. The release says officials will seek input from a broad range of Canadians, Indigenous groups, […]

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Lawmakers in some states are moving to delete their home addresses from online directories and Wisconsin legislators are seeking added security for a session this week after one Minnesota legislator was killed and another wounded in their suburban Minneapolis homes last weekend in what Gov. Tim Walz described as a targeted […]

Economic hardship, anger and untenably long waitlists have taken root in Alberta because of UCP mismanagement of the disability file, an opposition critic charged recently. Marie Renaud added that issues harming Albertans with disabilities extend beyond a lack of accessibility legislation. But the government needs to act on that too, she said. “Our focus got […]

A controversial decision last year to substantially increase the number of cougars that can be hunted in Alberta was not based on science, according to government documents obtained by The Narwhal. Instead, expanded cougar hunting was “based on direction from [the] minister last year and input from stakeholders,” according to an internal email between senior […]

Canada’s fentanyl czar says the fight against the deadly opioid would get a boost from proposed new tools for law enforcement in the Liberal government’s recently tabled border bill. Kevin Brosseau, the federal point person on fentanyl, welcomes provisions in the Strong Borders Act to increase inspection powers, give police easier access to information, crack […]

Rallies for endangered species. Protests led by First Nations. A filibuster from the NDP. More than 4,000 amendments tabled by the Liberals. Two committee hearings with Indigenous leaders, legal experts, labour representatives, and more. Despite all of it, Bill 5 passed. On June 5, as Ontarians across the province struggled to breathe through smoke-filled air […]

Transparency advocates say a coming federal review of the Access to Information Act should be overseen by an independent panel — not the government — to avoid the pitfalls of the last such exercise. In a letter sent Monday to Prime Minister Mark Carney and Treasury Board President Shafqat Ali, civil society groups, academics and […]

Quebec’s language watchdog contacted the Montreal transit agency at least six times in the wake of a complaint about using the word “go” on city buses to cheer on a local soccer team.  The watchdog — the Office québécois de la langue française — asked for multiple updates on the agency’s efforts to remove the […]

The revelation that since 2022 an additional 1,180 property owners in St. Catharines are unable to pay their tax bill has prompted at least one member of City Council to take action. Less than two weeks after The Pointer reported a sharp rise in the number of properties in municipal tax arrears, information that had […]

In a decision that appears to contradict itself, the municipal watchdog hired by Council members to hold them accountable has determined that even though Mayor Mat Siscoe violated rules set out in the Code of Conduct that governs the behaviour of local elected officials, his conduct somehow did not rise to a punishable contravention of […]