Category: Events

June 2017 Events (Online, Vancouver, BC-wide)

Events, The broader context

Bookmark this post! It will be updated as more events are announced. You can also get frequent updates via our Twitter. Have a suggestion? Email us.

  • Tuesday, June 6 (10am-12pm): Usability Testing: A Way to Enhance Your PLEI Resources A workshop at the Law Foundation of BC offices in Vancouver. In developing a public legal education and information resource, usability testing is an excellent way to learn about how people might use your resource and to improve its ease of use and effectiveness. There are several usability testing methods, many of which are increasingly affordable even on small projects. This workshop will share the range of methods in the usability testing toolbox and when to apply each method.
  • June 7-14 (various dates): Nidus logo_niduspresents online webinars & an in-person presentation on Personal Planning

Wednesday, June 7 (11:30-12:30pm) Online Webinar: Live Demo of the Personal Planning Registry. Register Online.

Wednesday, June 14 (11:30-12:30pm) Online Webinar: Planning for Health Care & Personal Care. Register Online.

Wednesday, June 14 (1:00-2:30pm) In-Person Presentation: Planning for incapacity and end-of-life. No Registration required. At South Granville Seniors Centre, 1420 West 12th Avenue (between Granville & Hemlock) in Vancouver. Held in lounge on 3rd floor.

Wednesday, June 28 (11:30-12:30pm) Online Webinar: Planning for Financial & Legal Matters. Register Online.

  • June 13-28 (various dates): Courthouse Libraries BC presents various online webinars open to advocates and community workers:

Tuesday, June 13 (12:30pm-2:00pm): Working More Effectively with Clients Who Have Mental Health Issues.
Advocates around BC report they are increasingly providing services to clients with complex and multiple barriers. In this 1.5 hour webinar offered jointly with PovNet, Kristi Yuris and Kris Sutherland will provide practical strategies aimed at increasing each advocate’s capacity to work more effectively with clients with mental health issues. NOTE: This Webinar is now sold out. There is space in our in-person group viewings at the Vancouver (800 Smithe St) and Kamloops (455 Columbia St) library locations. Please email training@courthouselibrary.ca to register for an in-person viewing or to be added to our waitlist for the webinar.

Monday, June 19 (12:30-1:30pm): Civil Resolution Tribunal: BC’s New Online Tribunal (An Update).
The online Civil Resolution Tribunal (CRT) is resolving strata property disputes, and as of June 1, will also begin accepting small claims disputes under $5,000. In this 1 hour webinar hosted jointly with the Civil Resolution Tribunal, Shannon Salter will walk you through the CRT process including some changes specific to small claims disputes and discuss the use of CRT since inception. She’ll also answer your questions about how to help your clients using the CRT.
Register online.

Wednesday, June 21 (12:30-1:30pm): Representing Your Client at a Hearing of the Mental Health Review Board.
In this one hour webinar offered jointly with Community Legal Assistance Society (CLAS), you will hear from Diane Nielsen and another legal advocate of CLAS. This webinar will assist lawyers and advocates in representing people who are involuntarily detained under the Mental Health Act (MHA) at Mental Health Review Board (Review Panel) hearings to review their involuntary detention.
Register online.

Wednesday, June 28 (12:30-1:30pm): Clicklaw Refresher for Libraries & Community Helpers.
This one hour webinar is aimed toward community helpers and public library staff. LawMatters Coordinator Shannon McLeod and Clicklaw Coordinator Audrey Jun will be reviewing how to search Clicklaw for reliable legal information specific to BC as well as how to use Clicklaw Wikibooks and the Clicklaw Helpmap to make better referrals.
Register online.

  • Wednesday, June 21 (starting at 6:30pm): BC Freedom of Information and Privacy Association (FIPA) holds their Annual General Meeting at the YWCA Hotel in Vancouver. The AGM is your chance to hear about their work, elect BC FIPA board members, and talk about some of this year’s most important freedom of information and privacy issues. It will feature a talk by Sinziana Gutiu about the current climate for information and privacy issues in BC and what BC’s new political climate could bring. RSVP to fipa@fipa.bc.ca.

Stay informed:

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Organization of the Month | May 2017

Events, Get help using Clicklaw, The broader context

This month, we feature BC Freedom of Information and Privacy Association (FIPA), a Clicklaw contributor.

FIPA is a non-partisan, non-profit society established to promote and defend freedom of information (FOI) and privacy rights in Canada. They strive to empower citizens by increasing their access to information and their control over their own personal information. FIPA was the major force in getting BC’s Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act passed.

// Upcoming Events

Wednesday, June 21: FIPA AGM – FIPA will have a joint speaker with the Canadian Institute for Information and Privacy Studies. The public is welcome attend but only members can vote. Become a member today, and join FIPA for the AGM! For more information on membership, visit FIPA’s website.

Tuesday, July 11 @ 12:30pm: FOI 101 Online Webinar with Courthouse Libraries BC. Open to anyone interested in learning the basics of filing FOI requests and learning to navigate some common challenges that can arise as requests are processed. Stay tuned for more information! You can also subscribe here to stay updated on all Courthouse Libraries BC webinars.

September: Right to Know Week – FIPA will be hosting their annual FOI 101 workshop as well as the 7th BC Information Summit. More information to come, so be sure to check the FIPA website for the most recent updates. These events will be included on the Clicklaw blog’s monthly events posts.

// Q&A with Vince, FIPA Executive Director

Hi Vince, thanks for answering our questions. Can you explain what FIPA does?

A lot of what we do is helping people navigate a system that is completely alien to them, usually to get them information or documents they need to take care of other problems they may be having. We also do some education, but keeping in mind most people we help are focused on other issues–FOI is a means to an end.

Who does FIPA help?

We work to serve all of BC and even more so this year by providing our FOI 101 workshop through an online webinar with Courthouse Libraries BC, so that we can better reach the entire province. This interactive webinar will provide newcomers to FOI with practical skills to prepare and submit information requests that get results, and to navigate some common challenges that can arise as requests are processed. We are also actively engaged in national issues as well.

What are you working on now? 

We’re always working on exciting privacy and FOI reforms at both the provincial and federal levels, but with a new provincial government apparently ready to take office, we’re gearing up to really push for these reforms that have been largely ignored.

This year, we’ve also been doing work based on our 2015 The Connected Car: Who is in the Driver’s Seat? Report for the federal Privacy Commissioner. We have just appeared at a Senate Transportation committee hearing into autonomous and connected vehicles, and we hope to do an update on the report later this year. This exciting research will examine the current state of privacy protections in the Canadian car industry.

What’s something you’d like to clear up about FIPA?

A lot of people think we hold personal records in our office, or that we are a government body to whom they send their requests–but we don’t, and we aren’t!

What are you most excited about for FIPA?

We have the opportunity to deal with a very fast-changing field, especially working to ensure that new technological advances are also protective of our information and privacy rights.

Conversely, is there anything you are worried about?

I’m worried that we are being sold a bill of goods, trading our rights to information and privacy for convenience and/or claimed protection from danger.

Last question: if you could wave a magic wand and make one wish come true, what would it be, and why?

I’d wish that even a small percentage of the money and time being spent on developing new technologies and products was spent on ensuring that those technologies and products protect our information and privacy rights. It’s not impossible to protect privacy in the new information age, but there is a reluctance to devote the resources to make it happen.

// FIPA expertise brought to Common Questions

Thanks to FIPA, we also have a slew of new Common Questions on FOI, records, and privacy. Check them out by scrolling down on the Clicklaw home page:

Stay informed with FIPA:

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