Government

Government


Spy watchdog raps RCMP over application of protocol to avoid complicity in torture

A federal spy watchdog says a senior RCMP official wrongly considered the importance of a strategic relationship with a foreign organization when deciding whether sharing information posed a risk of torture.  The aim of the Avoiding Complicity in Mistreatment by Foreign Entities Act is to prevent the brutalization of someone in overseas custody due to […]

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Saskatchewan ignoring requests from privacy commissioner to release documents: report

Saskatchewan’s privacy commissioner says provincial ministries and agencies ignored dozens of his requests over the last year to release public information. A report from Ron Kruzeniski, released Thursday, said there were 84 times from April 2023 to March 2024 when those bodies partially or fully brushed off his recommendations to have documents made public.  The […]

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Biden’s Title IX law expanding protections for LGBTQ+ students is dealt another setback

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — The Biden administration’s effort to expand protections for LGBTQ+ students hit another roadblock Monday, when a federal judge in Kentucky temporarily blocked the new Title IX rule in six additional states. U.S. District Judge Danny C. Reeves referred to the regulation as “arbitrary in the truest sense of the word” in […]

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Myanmar’s embattled military government cracks down on free flow of news by blocking VPNs

BANGKOK (AP) — Myanmar’s military government has launched a major effort to block free communication on the Internet, shutting off access to virtual private networks, or VPNs, which can be used to circumvent blockages of banned websites and services. The attempt to restrict access to information began at the end of May, according to mobile […]

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NDP says it’s considering options about support for much-criticized Senate porn bill

Federal New Democrats won’t say how they intend to vote on a bill that aims to keep minors from accessing sexually explicit material online, while the Conservatives say they’re prepared to work on amending the controversial legislation. The legislation would require websites like Pornhub to verify the age of their users, but privacy experts warn […]

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Tories appeal to Jewish community ahead of byelection, allege ‘betrayal’ by Trudeau

The federal Conservatives are asking the Jewish community in a Toronto riding to send Prime Minister Justin Trudeau a message about his “betrayal” by voting for the Tory candidate in an upcoming byelection.  Voters in Toronto—St. Paul’s will pick a new representative on June 24 to replace longtime Liberal cabinet minister Carolyn Bennett, who retired […]

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Alberta’s energy ‘war room,’ known for Bigfoot movie feud, getting brought in-house

Alberta’s energy “war room” – the oft-ridiculed agency famous for its feud with a children’s Bigfoot cartoon – is being retooled and brought in-house directly under Premier Danielle Smith’s office. “The Canadian Energy Centre is an important advocate for Canada and Alberta’s long-term position as a safe, clean and responsible energy supplier,” the province’s Energy […]

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Government action could shut down shipbreaking in Union Bay, lawyer says

A lawyer working with Concerned Citizens of Baynes Sound (CCOBS) — a group of Union Bay residents who came together to oppose a shipbreaking operation run by a company called Deep Water Recovery — says the government could easily shut down the ship dismantling activities if they wanted to. The site at 5084 Island Hwy. […]

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More than 70,000 kids in Ontario seeking publicly funded autism supports

More than 70,000 children are seeking support through the Ontario Autism Program, but fewer than 15,000 of them are getting funding for core therapies, the province’s Financial Accountability Office said in a report Wednesday. The Progressive Conservative government has more than doubled the budget for the Ontario Autism Program, now at $720 million, but that […]

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Cybersecurity standards emerging in Canada as ransomware business booms

The ransomware business is booming in Canada. Recent victims have included large corporations such as retailer London Drugs, as well as the City of Hamilton, Ont., and the government of Newfoundland and Labrador. But the criminals who sometimes brag of their attacks on the so-called dark web don’t seem fussy about their victims, based on […]

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Hackers may have accessed 22 B.C. government inboxes, data on 19 employees: Farnworth

Twenty-two British Columbia government email inboxes with sensitive personal information on 19 employees may have been accessed during a cyber attack on the province’s networks, the minister of public safety said on Monday. Mike Farnworth said there’s no indication the general public’s information was compromised and investigators have not identified any misuse of the information […]

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Ombudsman finds no foul in Springwater council’s closed meeting

The Ombudsman of Ontario has concluded Springwater Township council did nothing wrong when it held a closed-session meeting on May 3, 2023. According to the report, which will be presented to council on Wednesday during its meeting, provincial ombudsman Paul Dubé received complaints alleging that council’s discussion of a rainbow crosswalk project, the hiring process […]

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