FOI

FOI


‘Let’s close this request’: FOI docs show PC political staffer tried to prevent information on toxic GM site from being released

A staff member working for the provincial environment minister appears to be responsible for blocking critical information about the toxic former General Motors property in St. Catharines from being released to the public, including details about a filtration system meant to prevent toxic chemicals from leaking off the site. Documents obtained by The Pointer under […]

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Canada’s food safety agency warns it couldn’t handle multiple emergencies

Canada’s food safety agency doubts it could adequately protect the food supply in the next two years if the country is hit with several concurrent emergencies, such as animal disease outbreaks or food safety recalls. The problem is exacerbated by climate change, with the agency warning the crisis could impact its infrastructure while boosting the […]

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Why northern First Nations still rely on diesel fuel — and what could power the coveted Ring of Fire

The fumes coming through the walls of Neskantaga First Nation’s nursing station warned of a crisis with a familiar smell. Diesel wafted from the flooded basement, a stench so strong it made people sick with headaches and nausea, residents said.  After they detected the scent, the building was shut down and with it the community’s […]

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Inside the Ring of Fire: A tale of two First Nations and a road that could change everything

I. THE WARNING The ancestors knew. First Nation elders understood the south would march north eventually. They knew it would come in waves, sometimes slow, sometimes fast. Those ancestors told their kids, who told theirs, and so on until today. The south has already carved many changes. Decades ago, Webequie First Nation and Neskantaga First […]

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Justice Department can unseal Ghislaine Maxwell sex trafficking case records, judge says

NEW YORK (AP) — A federal judge on Tuesday granted the Justice Department’s request to publicly release grand jury transcripts and other material from Ghislaine Maxwell’s sex trafficking case, citing a new law that requires the government to open its files on Jeffrey Epstein and his longtime confidant, but he cautioned that people shouldn’t expect […]

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City, province knew for weeks that a system to filter harmful toxins was disconnected but left public in the dark, FOI reveals

On October 28, officials at the City of St. Catharines knew the filtration system designed to prevent highly toxic chemicals from leaching into the former GM property on Ontario Street and the surrounding area was no longer functional, but for weeks they have failed to tell the public. A freedom of information request by The […]

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First military procurements managed by Defence Investment Agency revealed

The federal government has disclosed the first eight projects to be managed by the new Defence Investment Agency. The large military procurements include Canada’s next fleet of submarines, Arctic over-the-horizon radar, and a fleet of early warning-and-control surveillance aircraft. The other projects include in-service support and software upgrades for the CC-130J Hercules transport aircraft, and […]

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B.C., Ottawa deflect responsibility for train-wildlife collisions

B.C.’s minister of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship hopes to start working with the federal government toward a strategy to prevent train-wildlife collisions in the new year. “It’s really concerning,” Randene Neill said in an interview with The Narwhal this week. “I wasn’t aware that the numbers are that high.” Neill’s comments follow The Narwhal’s […]

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Maya, 17, got mental health records by FOI, then killed herself. Her mom wants reform

Maya Cassady was just two months away from graduating high school with honours when she obtained her mental health records through a freedom of information request. Just hours after reading the contents, which included doctors’ ponderings about a diagnosis, the 17-year-old took her own life.  It was March 30, 2023. Since Maya’s death, her mother, […]

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Republicans hyped the Epstein files for years. Now Trump is under pressure to deliver

WASHINGTON (AP) — What began as a campaign-trail promise to release the Jeffrey Epstein files has become one of the most fraught tests of President Donald Trump’s second term — opening a rift in his political coalition and raising the stakes for an administration now under intense pressure to produce documents that may fall far […]

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Solutions are slow to come for water crisis plaguing Quebec’s Nunavik region

Most Quebecers have only to twist a tap to get a seemingly endless source of clean water. The reality is completely different in the northern region of Nunavik, where the water supply system faces a host of problems, from bad weather to outdated equipment and labour shortages.  Some would be inclined to blame a lack […]

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Probe says Iowa district ‘reasonably relied’ on consultant to vet superintendent arrested by ICE

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa’s largest school district released a report Friday claiming that it received an abbreviated background check and what was likely a forged transcript when it was hiring its former superintendent, who was charged in a federal indictment with falsely claiming to be a U.S. citizen on a federal form. Des […]

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