Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s government passed legislation Thursday that makes the records of the premier, cabinet ministers and their staff secret, after refusing to hold public hearings and speeding through a late-night sitting. Ford has admitted that part of the rationale for the clampdown is to kill a request from Global News to obtain his […]

The Alberta government introduced legislation Thursday to ensure children won’t be able to access sexually graphic images in books at public libraries. Municipal Affairs Minister Dan Williams stressed at a news conference that the government isn’t banning books. He held up a page of a graphic novel with a sexually explicit example of the images […]

Ontario’s provincial members of parliament are heading back to Queen’s Park today, as the legislature sits for the first time since December. The governing Progressive Conservatives recessed the legislature on Dec. 11 for an unusually long winter break, which the opposition has called undemocratic. The spring session should be a busy one, with the budget […]

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — A Brazilian law that seeks to shield minors from addictive, violent and pornographic online content took effect this week, with experts calling it a milestone in the protection of children and adolescents. The issue gained traction in August, after influencer Felipe Bressanim, known as Felca, published a video denouncing the […]

President Donald Trump signed an executive order Thursday pressuring states not to regulate artificial intelligence. Trump and some Republicans argue that the limited regulations already enacted by states, and others that might follow, will dampen innovation and growth for the technology. Critics from both political parties — as well as civil liberties and consumer rights […]

A former Liberal cabinet minister says the government was close to introducing legislation around the internal use of artificial intelligence (AI) but ran out of time before governments changed after the Progressive Conservatives won the fall general election. “ I’m very sad that my efforts towards legislation did not get fulfilled before the government changed, but […]

The dangers children face online constitute a national emergency, a coalition of child advocates and medical organizations said Thursday as they called for the federal government to take action. “Unlike every other industry that affects children, from cars to pharmaceuticals to toys to food safety, the tech industry has been allowed to self-regulate with tragic […]

The Alberta government has chosen not to renew a regulation banning the practice of “carding” by police officers, but the province says the practice is still prohibited under other laws. The provincial regulation enforcing the ban was due for renewal this past summer, but a government letter to the Alberta Association of Police Governance and […]

Paul John Murdoch was declared the new Grand Chief of the Cree Nation July 17, after receiving 51.5% of the 4,447 votes cast across Eeyou Istchee in Grand Council elections. It was a decisive victory over incumbent Norman A. Wapachee (39%) and John Kitchen (9%).  With none of the four candidates for Deputy Grand Chief […]

As the Ontario legislature considers a bill that would give municipal councils the power to remove misbehaving and unethical members, some critics say the proposed legislation has serious flaws that must be addressed to ensure accountability. The Progressive Conservative government’s bill seeks to standardize municipal codes of conduct and give councils the power to vote […]

An advocate for government transparency hopes a review of New Brunswick’s right-to-information law makes it easier for the public to access documents and records. The Liberal government has asked for public submissions on its election promise to modernize legislation governing the public’s right to obtain information from provincial departments and agencies. The Centre for Law […]

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill announced Thursday she is investigating whether pharmaceutical giant CVS improperly used customers’ personal information to send out text messages lobbying against a proposed state law. Murrill also said she plans to issue a cease-and-desist letter to the company to stop the messages. As lawmakers debated […]