Access-to-Information

The justice system is facing unprecedented challenges. Like almost every other sector of society, the new realities of province-wide “social distancing” have raised fundamental questions about whether — and perhaps even how — courts and tribunals can continue to function in the age of the pandemic.  

The police forces in Sudbury, Windsor, Peterborough, Longueuil, Quebec City, the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary, and the Ontario Provincial Police share the distinction of winning the 2019 Code of Silence Award for Outstanding Achievement in Government Secrecy in the category of law enforcement agencies. 

The Town of Erin, Ontario, is the 2019 recipient of the Code of Silence Award for Outstanding Achievement in Government Secrecy in the category of municipal government. The award is given annually by the Canadian Association of Journalists, Centre for Free Expression at Ryerson University, News Media Canada and Canadian Journalists for Free Expression, to call public attention to governments and government departments and agencies that put extra effort into denying public access to information to which the public has a right under access to information legislation.

by Max Binks-Collier, Writer and Graduate Student, Ryerson University’s School of Journalism

The Canadian Association of Journalists, the Centre for Free Expression, News Media Canada and the Canadian Journalists for Free Expression are inviting nominations for the 2019 Code of Silence awards for outstanding achievement in government secrecy. The awards are given annually in the fall in each of four categories -- federal, provincial, municipal and police services. If you have met resistance in getting information from a public body, please send us your nomination for a deserving award recipient along with the reasons why it should be chosen. 

The ministers overseeing Health, Justice and Innovation departments must do a better job of living up to the prime minister's promises of transparency. By Ken Rubin June 17, 2019 - There comes a time, as the 2019 election looms, that the Trudeau government's handling of access to information requests of public importance needs to be more specifically exposed.