Nova Scotia’s recently departed privacy commissioner says she hopes the provincial government will give her successor the power and resources they need to ensure citizens can access public records.  The commissioner reviews complaints from citizens who have been denied access to documents and other records by government departments and agencies. But Tricia Ralph, whose job […]

Nova Scotia’s freedom of information commissioner is calling on the governing party to withdraw legislation that she says weakens the public’s right to access government records and documents. Tricia Ralph, who ends her term of office this week, says measures in an omnibus bill tabled by the Progressive Conservatives threaten the rights of citizens to […]

Alberta’s information and privacy commissioner says she has big concerns – including fuzzy definitions and insufficient guardrails – in two bills now being debated in the house. The bills aim to amend existing access to information and privacy rules and are touted by Premier Danielle Smith’s government as being the strictest privacy regulations in Canada. […]

Information commissioner Caroline Maynard says she will relentlessly stress the importance of transparency by default if she’s allowed to continue in her job. The Liberal government recently nominated Maynard, an ombudsman for users of the Access to Information Act, to serve another seven-year term.  For a $5 fee, people can use the access act to […]

MEXICO CITY (AP) — The U.N. human rights office in Mexico said Wednesday journalists in Mexico need more protection, after gunmen killed a man whose Facebook news page covered the violent western Mexico state of Michoacan. Journalist Mauricio Solís of the news page Minuto por Minuto was shot to death late Tuesday just moments after […]

You can fight city hall, but city hall is saying it may fight back if it deems that fight to be frivolous. With that in mind, Deep River council gave the green light last week for the development of a policy dealing with “frivolous, vexatious and unreasonable” requests made of the municipality. Development of that […]

MEXICO CITY (AP) — The U.N. human rights office in Mexico said Wednesday journalists in Mexico need more protection, after gunmen killed a man whose Facebook news page covered the violent western Mexico state of Michoacan. Then less than 24 hours later an entertainment reporter in the western city of Colima was killed inside a […]

The Liberal government has outlined a variety of steps intended to make the much-criticized Access to Information system work better, including new guidance on disclosure of historical records. But the new plan makes it clear any changes to the federal access law will have to wait until after the next formal review, set to begin […]

HALIFAX — A Canadian centre that promotes democracy around the world is calling for an overhaul of Nova Scotia’s freedom of information law to reduce exemptions and give the appeal process more teeth. The Centre for Law and Democracy is among the early submitters to an internal review committee created by the Progressive Conservative government, about two […]

Freedom-of-information or access-to-information laws are not something that the average person thinks about every day, but they are a part of laws in every province and territory in the country and are designed to give people the right to obtain records from public institutions. Having access to the information they need to make informed decisions […]

Media Release A small step towards open and transparent government Vancouver, February 5, 2019 – The B.C. Freedom of Information and Privacy Association is pleased with the recommendations made by the province’s top watchdogs to bring the Legislative Assembly of B.C. under the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FIPPA). Signed by Information […]

How the government’s action regarding the long-overdue FIPPA reform reflects our collective attitudes towards political issues By Carlo Javier We have an interesting relationship with our rights – especially those dealing with our freedom to access information and privacy. On one hand, conversations around such issues have certainly become more welcome in the general Canadian […]