The annual Special Report to Parliament by the Interim Information Commissioner of Canada, Suzanne Legault, was filed in April 2010 and is now available online [PDF]. As the title of the report says, it is a “2008-2009 Report Card” on the “Systemic Issues Affecting Access to Information in Canada.”

The report assesses the delays encountered by members of the public seeking information under Canada’s access to information system from various federal departments. The Interim Commissioner awarded grades ranging from “A” for the Department of Justice and for Citizenship and Immigration Canada to “off the chart” (as in terrible) for Foreign . . . [more]

For those who think “tiff” is a file format for quantitative gel scans, I hardly need to point out that we are in the midst of National Biotechnology Week here in Canada (it runs from the 17th to 24th). For the rest of you, here is some notable news that is devoid of red carpets and couture:

In the lead-up to National Biotechnology Week, Saskatchewan hosted the Agricultural Biotechnology International Conference. ABIC provided an opportunity for Canada to showcase its strengths in agricultural biotechnology, for me to showcase my strengths in agricultural puns, and for Premier Brad Wall to . . . [more]

The first Blog, the first Blawg, Slaw firsts

I’ve just come from the dentist. Yes, I know: too much information. But it got me thinking about pain, which in turn led me to thinking about scales — not the lizard kind, but the kind butchers used to put their thumbs on, or so I was told. Let me explain.

We’re beings that like to measure and compare: it’s the start of science and the heart of commerce, after all. So we tend to devise scales to rank events and experiences — lots and lots of scales. There are even scientific instruments to measure and compare pain tolerance, known . . . [more]

It’s no secret, and no puzzle, that lawyers’ attention generally follows the money. Indeed, with the possible exception of criminal law as romanticized on TV, the public’s view of law itself is shaped by this legal currying of currency and its sources.

But that same public’s actual encounters with the law often happen in areas that have a tiny bar or no bar at all. One of these is with respect to municipal by-laws. In a city of any size, there will be thousands of these laws regulating much of the activity and paraphernalia of everyday life: where and when . . . [more]

We’ve talked a whole lot on Slaw over the years about translation, as befits a law blog in a country rich with immigration and with two official languages:

[related-posts]

And while the computer translation services such as Google Translate are miracles, they don’t always get it right — and sometimes get it comically wrong. A couple of the tough nuts in translation are idiom and professional jargon. A new online service, Linguee, may help here. Linguee, as it says, uses “the web as a dictionary,” allowing you to search for a word or a phrase and find its . . . [more]

A look at the cultural touchstones that shape the lives of students entering university this fall.

All right everyone, back to work! Holiday time is over. Now it’s down to looking out the window — you do have a window, don’t you? — with longing at whatever is moving freely where’er it listeth.

Or you can flit in a nanosecond (in a Flash, actually) to parts unplanned, thanks to MIT grad student, Joe McMichael‘s Globe Genie. For example, what you see below is a stretch of highway near San Pedro de Visma way in the upper left hand corner of Spain, and I got there thanks to Google Street View and Joe’s randomizer. (I’ve . . . [more]

One letter away from the good life in America. Attaboy, Google.

There is a lot written about what people post about themselves on social media, and whether or not that is a good thing. New location based services such as foursquare ramp up that controversy. Letting others know where you are might have social advantages, and has the potential for interesting and useful services based on where you are at the moment.

But looming in the background are the dangers of that personal transparency. Letting apps or friends know where you are is one thing – but how much of that detail do you really want the world to know?  . . . [more]

I’ve just returned from a couple of weeks in Halifax. But for Earl – which was downright scary – the sunshine and surf were A+. If I didn’t know that Nova Scotia has a six week window of post-fog/pre-cold pleasant weather in a year I’d suggest we start calling the place “Halifornia.” I love it there, but not for the weather.

As usual for us, Seanna and the kids flew and I drove back solo with Buffalo the cat. With tear-inducing traffic in Montreal it took 19 hours, which left lots of time for podcasts. Here’s a list of some . . . [more]

Our British cousins are having more fun than we are with Google today. They’ve been given a dynamic doodle to play around with: a logo made up of coloured dots that scatter and then reform as you stir around with your cursor.

I have no idea why this should be so. Doubtless September 7 will turn out to be the anniversary of “….”, important to Brits. Regardless, however, head on across the pond and bounce a few balls around for the fun of it. . . . [more]