political process

political process


Oliver’s AI policy reaches fruition

The issue of Artificial Intelligence (AI) has, at long last, a policy addressing it within the Town of Oliver’s working spaces. The new policy was brought for consideration and approval at the April 27 Regular Council meeting, and follows multiple conversations on how best to govern AI use within Town Hall, and on other Town […]

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New video surveillance policy updates receive OK from Oliver Council

Updates to Oliver’s video surveillance policy ensuring better chain of responsibility and adherence to protection of privacy have been approved by Council. At the April 27 Regular Council meeting, updates to the Town’s Video Surveillance Cameras Policy was discussed and approved. A significant aspect of the updates includes a clearer explanation of the chain of […]

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Nominations open Friday for reshaped 2026 C-K election

Many Chatham-Kent residents have been clamouring for change following a number of decisions made by Council during the 2022-26 term. The process of change begins on Friday when the nomination period for the 2026 Municipal Election opens. And there are already some major changes heading into the October 26 election. There will be three fewer […]

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Ford urged to apologize for personal insults hurled in the legislature

Ontario’s opposition parties called on Premier Doug Ford to apologize for a personal insult he hurled — and repeated — at a Liberal member of provincial parliament Thursday during a debate about a law that restricts public access to his records. Most of the day’s question period was focused on amendments in the budget bill […]

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Federal privacy law changes would expand sharing of personal data across government

The Liberal government proposes making it easier for federal agencies to share and reuse the personal data of Canadians through a major overhaul of the Privacy Act. The act governs how federal agencies collect, use and disclose personal information, and gives people the right to see and correct data about them the government holds. The […]

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Alberta introduces bill to reduce child access to sex images in public libraries

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 […]

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Opposition fears Doug Ford’s omnibus budget bill will be fast-tracked through to law

What do conservation authorities, a downtown Toronto parking lot and freedom-of-information requests have in common? On the face of it, nothing — but provincial legislative changes are coming to all three, and they are jammed into an omnibus budget bill tabled Thursday by Ontario Finance Minister Peter Bethlenfalvy. The province’s plan for doling out taxpayer […]

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Ontario to make premier, cabinet ministers’ records secret as it tightens FOI laws

Ontario is set to make Premier Doug Ford and cabinet members’ records secret as it “modernizes” freedom-of-information laws, a change the province’s privacy watchdog warns will eviscerate public accountability. Public and Business Service Delivery and Procurement Minister Stephen Crawford, however, said his government is still “one of the most transparent governments in the history of […]

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Liberals accept Conservative budget amendments on ‘regulatory sandboxes’

The federal Liberals accepted a Conservative proposal Monday to put guardrails around proposed new cabinet powers as they debated the government’s omnibus budget bill. The finance committee tackled 606 clauses in the budget implementation legislation over five-and-a-half hours Monday as MPs faced a tight timeline to review the fast-tracked Bill C-15. That legislation proposes to […]

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Senate committee recommends removing immigration measures from border bill

Senators on the social affairs committee want to see immigration-related sections in the government’s border bill, C-12, removed or significantly modified by the Senate national security committee. The national security committee is responsible for tabling amendments, while the social affairs committee has conducted an in-depth study of the bill’s immigration measures. That study, obtained by […]

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Councillors reject minimums for public meetings

THUNDER BAY – Most city councillors don’t want to be forced to hold public meetings with their constituents. In a 5-8 vote, Coun. Greg Johnsen’s motion to require each councillor to host a minimum of one ward or town hall meeting per year failed to gain the support of his colleagues, particularly at-large councillors. The […]

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Adding Alberta health-care numbers to licences increases fraud risk: privacy watchdog

Alberta’s privacy watchdog is raising concerns about the government’s plan to add health-care numbers to driver’s licences and other forms of identification. Information and privacy commissioner Diane McLeod said it would increase the risk of fraud as the numbers could be obtained outside of health-care settings. “Personal health numbers of Canadians are a sought-after commodity […]

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