CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — The Carter Center said it was unable to verify the results of Venezuela’s presidential election, blaming authorities for a “complete lack of transparency” in declaring Nicolas Maduro the winner without providing any individual polling tallies. The statement Tuesday night by the Atlanta-based group is perhaps the harshest rebuke yet of Venezuela’s […]

An internal report from the federal public service released Monday says Black and racialized Privy Council Office employees experience racism and discrimination in the workplace. “Black and racialized employees — through dozens of examples of racial stereotyping, microaggressions, and verbal violence — described a workplace culture where such behaviour is regularly practised and normalized, including […]

The head of the federal public service says he is personally committed to “continuous action” to address racism and discrimination in the workplace, following the public release of an internal report that details employees’ troubling experiences on the job.  Privy Council clerk John Hannaford says the department has put a number of initiatives in place, […]

Delayed air passengers, disgruntled phone customers and even hungry people craving a slice of pizza increasingly find their pleas to private companies being answered by artificial intelligence. Soon Canadians who need to reach out to the federal government could also find themselves talking to an employee who’s been helped by non-human assistants.  Ottawa is working […]

Elections Canada is suggesting possible changes to protect the political nomination process from foreign meddling, including barring non-citizens from helping choose candidates, requiring parties to publish contest rules and explicitly outlawing practices such as voting more than once. The federal elections agency outlines the proposed moves in a discussion guide intended to help chief electoral […]

The board of directors for CBC and Radio-Canada has approved bonuses for some staff for work they did in the most recent fiscal year, despite members of Parliament saying it would be inappropriate to do so after hundreds of jobs were eliminated.  The decision was posted on the public broadcaster’s website last month following a […]

TOKYO (AP) — Japan’s defense ministry announced disciplinary action on Friday against more than 200 senior officials and service members over mishandling of classified materials and other misconduct, an embarrassment that could undermine Tokyo’s efforts to work more closely with United States and other partners in the face of China’s growing threat. The Ministry and […]

Manitobans are increasingly worried about the cost of living and crime, and are becoming less confident in the justice system and public service, a poll commissioned by the provincial government suggests. The Benchmark Survey, conducted by polling firm Leger, is normally conducted every few months and provides the government insight into the top concerns and […]

Ontario is the only province where inmates are regularly locked down due to staff shortages, according to expert evidence in a pair of class-action lawsuits. Former inmates of provincial correctional facilities and immigration detainees who were held there are suing the Ontario and federal governments, alleging that inmates are commonly held in their cells for […]

Some police services in Canada are using facial recognition technology to help solve crimes, while other police forces say human rights and privacy concerns are holding them back from employing the powerful digital tools. It’s this uneven application of the technology — and the loose rules governing its use — that has legal and AI […]

LONDON (AP) — The European Union is escalating its scrutiny of the artificial intelligence industry, including taking a fresh look into Microsoft’s multibillion-dollar partnership with OpenAI, a top EU official said Friday.  The European Commission, the bloc’s executive arm, started reviewing the deal last year to see whether it broke EU merger rules but dropped […]

The call starts as a run-of-the-mill internal corporate presentation.  With a cheerful preamble, Liam Iliffe, a  B.C.-based political staffer turned industry executive, introduces  himself to his colleagues at TC Energy,  a major North American energy company that builds and operates crude  oil and natural gas pipelines and other energy infrastructure. He  summarizes his background working […]