This is a table of over 6,500 Canadian and British Columbian news stories informed through Access to Information requests. You can sort and search the table by using any keyword or select one of ten pre-identified categories.
Transparency Spotlight shows the important role access to information plays in research and reporting to keep our institutions transparent and accountable. It catalogues the government decisions, municipal policies, university governance, police surveillance, provincial energy sector projects, national security, and other decisions and actions that were hidden until revealed through access to information requests. These stories empowered all of us to keep people and institutions accountable.
Journalists often make extensive use of transparency laws to go beyond official talking points and dig deeper into issues of public interest. Researchers and organizations also share the results of records requests with media outlets in order to inform a public conversation. The stories highlight the breadth of topics that can be explored through access to information, supplies inspiration for researchers interested in following up on earlier investigative work, and serves as a reminder of why we must act to defend and improve transparency laws through law reform.
FIPA has created this searchable resource based on a scan of access to information news. The original methodology for that scan is available here. Most were identified from Canadian Newsstream and the Canadian Business & Current Affairs (CBCA) databases available through public and university library websites.
FIPA is seeking contributors who can bring their insights to this collective living resource. We hope to collaborate with a successful applicant to maintain, develop and expand what is available. The deadline for applications is September 15th. For more information about this spotlight on transparency visit here. For info on the Transparency News Stories Request for Proposal view this PDF.
Click on one of the tiles below to view stories in a specific category or scroll down to use the search function to locate particular items of interest.
News Stories Table
| Details | wdt_ID | Author | Date of Publication | Media Outlet | Title | Category Name | Story summary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| More details | 1 | Bruce Campion-Smith | 09/04/2010 | Toronto Star | Travellers to foot airport police bill Transport Canada does away with subsidy to patrol terminals at eight major airports | RCMP, CRIME, LAW ENFORCEMENT | Transport Canada has quietly eliminated funding to the country's major airports to hire police officers to patrol the terminals, leaving passengers footing the bill. Transport Canada is ending its "airport policing contribution program," which gave the country's eight busiest airports $15.6 million a year to offset the cost of hiring police officers to patrol the terminals. The Star filed an ATIA request with Transport Canada; the department responded, revealing that funding for police officers in airports was on the chopping block. In a briefing note it argues that ending the security subsidy would allow the department to focus on its core mandate. "Transferring responsibility for funding security at airports will assist Transport Canada to shift toward a more effective regulatory approach, focus on its core mandate and streamline its activities," it said. |
| More details | 2 | Bruce Campion-Smith | 26/10/2018 | Toronto Star | RCAF considered using air marshals: Idea was to deter bad behaviour on VIP flights, documents reveal | RCMP, CRIME, LAW ENFORCEMENT | The air force considered putting air marshals on military VIP flights to deter bad behaviour by passengers in the wake of a troubled trip where drunk travellers posed a safety risk. The suggestion, to "address inappropriate passenger behaviour immediately" was one of five recommendations developed by the Royal Canadian Air Force after a flight resulted in charges against retired NHL star Dave "Tiger" Williams. In the end, the RCAF backed away from that recommendation but implemented other changes to avoid a repeat of the "significant" events on the now infamous Team Canada flight that was carrying athletes, musicians and business people to visit and entertain troops deployed overseas. Some passengers were so drunk that air force personnel feared they would be a safety hazard in the event of an emergency, say documents obtained by the Star via the ATIA |
| More details | 3 | Bruce Campion-Smith | 20/01/2015 | Toronto Star | Top-secret site was secured by padlock: Ottawa firefighters easily cut lock to gain entry to high-security CSEC campus, documents reveal | SECURITY - INTELLIGENCE, TERRORISM, CSIS | An Ottawa fire revealed that one of Ottawa's most secret installations had an "extreme vulnerability" as it was being constructed - a back gate secured by only a simple padlock. Ottawa fire crews responding to the blaze cut open the lock and swung open the gate to gain access to the campus of Communications Security Establishment Canada. In the wake of the fire, which caused only minor damage, officials at the CSE fretted that news of the easy access would leak out. And after the Star requested documents related to the incident, agency staff sought to clamp down on the release of all potential security shortfalls with dire warnings that any disclosures would leave the agency vulnerable to "attack." Yet in an administrative mistake, the agency provided all that information to the Star - highlighting the sensitive details but not deleting them from the documents provided under an ATIA request. |
| More details | 4 | Bruce Campion-Smith | 08/10/2004 | Toronto Star | {**} Ventilation issues on subs raised in '03 | NATIONAL DEFENSE, ARMY, AIR FORCE | More than a year before the deadly fire aboard HMCS Chicoutimi, the captain of a sister ship raised serious concerns about the poor ventilation in the subs. The concerns are revealed in reports by the skipper of HMCS Victoria as it steamed from Halifax to its new base in Victoria in summer, 2003. The captain was saying he was really concerned about the safety and welfare of his people," said Conservative MP Bill Casey, who obtained the documents under ATIA. During the long voyage to Victoria, the hot weather in the Caribbean and lack of air circulation meant "living conditions quickly deteriorated" as temperatures in parts of the submarine soared to 65C, according to a report from the sub. Casey wonders if the poor ventilation played a role in the aftermath of the devastating electrical fire on the Chicoutimi, when its tight confines filled with smoke. Nine crew members suffered smoke inhalation. |
| More details | 5 | Bruce Campion-Smith | 11/01/2005 | Toronto Star | {*} Army brass stonewalling sniper probe, Marin says; Document access being blocked, watchdog claims Canadian soldiers shunned after tour of Afghanistan | NATIONAL DEFENSE, ARMY, AIR FORCE | Gen. Ray Henault, the chief of defence staff, asked Andre Marin to investigate complaints that snipers, who served with U.S. forces for part of their time in Afghanistan, were treated poorly by the forces and their comrades once they returned to Canada. DND said the army was committed to helping Marin's probe and said 10 more transcripts would be on their way to the ombudsman's office next week.... Military documents obtained by the Toronto Star under the ATIA suggest there were problems in the sniper unit, including an allegation the sniper squad was involved in the desecration of dead bodies. Pictures were found showing a body with a "F--- Terrorism" sign on his chest, a cigarette in the mouth and a missing index finger. A military investigation confirmed the indignities but there was insufficient evidence to charge anyone. At no time were the snipers given stress counselling when they returned to camp. |
| More details | 6 | Bruce Campion-Smith | 31/01/2005 | Toronto Star | Won't let Canadians be taken for granted; NDP in no hurry for vote, but ready; Wants key issues addressed in budget | NATIONAL DEFENSE, ARMY, AIR FORCE | The NDP is hoping to use two key issues - combating climate change and stopping Canada's involvement in the U.S.-led missile defence program - to raise the profile of its 19-member caucus.... Documents suggest Canada was close to announcing a deal on missile defence last spring, before the election. "Significant progress has been made in a short period of time Canada-U.S. BMD (ballistic missile defence) agreement within reach," states one paper prepared by the foreign affairs department. Another document, released under the ATIA, declares the "security of Canada and the U.S. are indivisible. "It is therefore in our mutual interest to expand co-operation ... for the aerospace defence of North America to include missile defence." |
| More details | 7 | Bruce Campion-Smith | 18/07/2005 | Toronto Star | {**} Nerve gas tests revealed; Document outlines Canadian tests 75 soldiers, scientists exposed to sarin, VX gas, papers show no follow- up on health effects of 40-year-old project | NATIONAL DEFENSE, ARMY, AIR FORCE | Scientists and soldiers crawled through terrain contaminated with deadly VX nerve agents and exposed themselves to the dangerous chemicals to understand how they worked, documents show. Military officials say the tests, done in the 1950s and '60s and involving up to 75 people, would never be allowed today. But it was a different story 40 years ago, as scientists worked to understand these deadly nerve agents amidst fears that the Cold War would turn Europe into a chemical battleground. News that humans had been subjected to nerve agent testing sparked an outcry in 1988, led by the NDP, but the government clamped down on the release of information. Officials have said that virtually no one's health was affected by the tests, but they admit that they're not doing any follow-up today. |
| More details | 8 | Bruce Campion-Smith | 30/12/2005 | Toronto Star | {*} Opium Old enemy, new threats; Afghanistan's big business finances warlords, terror Canadian troops find poppy trade flourishing | NATIONAL DEFENSE, ARMY, AIR FORCE | Canadian troops headed to Afghanistan won't tackle what some military commanders have called the biggest security threat facing the country - the flourishing drug trade. Afghanistan's opium business is the livelihood for millions of residents, a mainstay of its economy and even the financing for the insurgency that has put Canadian soldiers in the crosshairs, according to Ottawa's own intelligence assessments. "Narcotics profits (are) integral to militant attacks," warned a report from the federal integrated threat assessment centre. "The Afghan narcotics industry is thriving," read the heavily censored report, obtained under ATIA by the Toronto Star's Michelle Shephard. "We do not see the military role as involved in the eradication of drugs. That is very much a police function," the defense minister said. |
| More details | 9 | Bruce Campion-Smith | 08/03/2006 | Toronto Star | Canada's troops to stay, says PM; Harper expects national support Drugs help fund terrorist attacks | NATIONAL DEFENSE, ARMY, AIR FORCE | A top-secret Canadian threat assessment warns that Afghanistan's lucrative narcotics trade is helping fund terrorist attacks in the country. Analysts with the federal Integrated Threat Assessment Centre prepared a classified evaluation spelling out the links between such terrorist activity and the Asian country's vast poppy fields that yield opium, the main ingredient of heroin. A heavily edited version of the report was obtained by The Canadian Press under the ATIA. "The Afghan narcotics industry is thriving," the report says. "In 2004, 10 per cent of Afghanistan's population, 2.3 million people, were involved in poppy cultivation." The Afghan drug trade was worth $2.8 billion (U.S.) in 2004, more than doubling in value since 2002, it notes. |
| More details | 10 | Bruce Campion-Smith | 03/07/2006 | Toronto Star | {*} Military took its own shots of slain soldiers | NATIONAL DEFENSE, ARMY, AIR FORCE | A defence department edict barring the reporters and photographers from witnessing the return of soldiers' bodies at an air force base didn't stop military photographers from snapping their own photos - of the media and the coffins. Close-up pictures of reporters at work, television satellite trucks lining the road and the hearses being unloaded from a military aircraft were among the images obtained by the Star via an ATIA request. In a controversial decision criticized by even some of the victims' families, the Conservatives barred the media from the base in Trenton to cover the repatriation of four soldiers killed in Afghanistan. In previous repatriation ceremonies, the media had been allowed onto the airport tarmac but had kept well away from grieving relatives. |