Government Files

Canadian government documents released through Access to Information (ATI) and Freedom of Information (FOI) requests. Each file is summarized in plain language for context and clarity, with the full source document linked so you can read it yourself. This section exists to support transparency, accountability, and public understanding of how government decisions get made in Canada.


B.C. Cancelled Its Softwood Lumber Tariff Ad Campaign Before a Single Ad Ran
FOI records show B.C. developed a U.S. digital advertising campaign on softwood lumber duties through late October 2025, then cancelled it on November 3 without any budget figure appearing in the release.

B.C. Cancelled Its Softwood Lumber Tariff Ad Campaign Before a Single Ad Ran

FOI records show B.C.'s U.S. softwood lumber ad campaign went from concept package to cancelled in five days, with no budget figure anywhere in the release.


Steve Cogbill

Steve Cogbill

Wuhan Evacuation Flights Cost Canada $4.2 Million, Global Affairs Records Show
A COVID-19 sample tube held against a Canadian flag. Global Affairs Canada records put the cost of evacuating Canadians from China in early 2020 at $4,307,558, though the release does not say how many people were flown home.

Wuhan Evacuation Flights Cost Canada $4.2 Million, Global Affairs Records Show

ATI records put Canada's 2020 evacuation from China at $4,307,558 — five charter invoices, a US State Department bill, and $63,133 in consular travel left out of the department's own total.


Steve Cogbill

Steve Cogbill

Kent Institution Issued 35 Modified Routine Notices in Six Months, Records Show
Correctional Service of Canada signage at a federal facility. Records from Kent Institution in Agassiz, B.C. show 35 modified routine notices issued between December 2025 and May 2026, though only four of them use the word lockdown.

Kent Institution Issued 35 Modified Routine Notices in Six Months, Records Show

ATI records show B.C.'s Kent Institution issued 35 modified routine notices in six months, restricting some units to as little as 10 minutes out of their cells a day. Only four used the word lockdown.


Steve Cogbill

Steve Cogbill

Transport Canada Logged 15 Years of UFO Reports. The Records Show No Investigations.
A disc-shaped object over a hilltop park at dusk. Transport Canada records document more than 40 UFO and UAP sightings reported between September 2008 and February 2024, though the release contains no investigation of any of them.

Transport Canada Logged 15 Years of UFO Reports. The Records Show No Investigations.

Transport Canada records document more than 40 UFO sightings reported between 2008 and 2024 by pilots, RCMP officers and the public — and not one investigation.


Steve Cogbill

Steve Cogbill

Military Police Powers to Detain Soldiers in Mental Health Crisis Change by Province
Canadian Armed Forces members standing in formation. Records show a military police policy in force since August 2025 setting out when a member in mental health crisis can be detained without consent, though the medical certificate route it relies on exists in only seven of Canada's thirteen provinces and territories.

Military Police Powers to Detain Soldiers in Mental Health Crisis Change by Province

Defence records show a military police policy, in force since August 2025, setting out when Canadian Armed Forces members in mental health crisis can be detained without consent — and how that authority shifts at provincial borders.


Steve Cogbill

Steve Cogbill

CRA Spent Roughly $1 Million on Cryptocurrency-Tracing Software in Its Year-End Buying Rush
CRA records released under access-to-information show the agency booked roughly $1 million in Chainalysis cryptocurrency-tracing software between March 22 and March 31, 2026 — though the ledger never states what any individual purchase was for.

CRA Spent Roughly $1 Million on Cryptocurrency-Tracing Software in Its Year-End Buying Rush

Access-to-information records show the CRA booked roughly $1 million in cryptocurrency-tracing software from Chainalysis in the final days of the fiscal year, part of a March-end spending file where more than half of all purchases landed on March 31.


Steve Cogbill

Steve Cogbill

One Staffing Firm Captured $29.7M of the National Research Council's IT Contracting
Contracted IT staff filled programmer, tester and system administrator roles at the National Research Council. ATI records show the agency committed $82.16 million across 74 IT staffing contracts since 2021, though the release does not state how many individual contractors each agreement supplied.

One Staffing Firm Captured $29.7M of the National Research Council's IT Contracting

ATI records show the National Research Council committed $82.16 million to IT staffing across 74 contracts since 2021, with TEKsystems Canada taking 36 per cent and ten awards clustering just under $3.75 million.


Steve Cogbill

Steve Cogbill

Federal Officials Were Developing a Partial Basic Income Proposal in 2020, Records Show
Employment and Social Development Canada estimated a six-month basic income modelled on Ontario's cancelled pilot would cost $47.5 billion gross, reaching 9.6 million recipients.

Federal Officials Were Developing a Partial Basic Income Proposal in 2020, Records Show

ATI records reveal Employment and Social Development Canada was developing a preliminary partial basic income proposal in 2020, even as ministers were briefed to emphasise cost and provincial hurdles.


Steve Cogbill

Steve Cogbill

Ottawa Told Canadians It Couldn't Ban Russian NHL Players — Records Show Why
A Russia–Latvia Olympic hockey game. ATI records show Canadians sent more than three dozen letters demanding a ban on Russian and Belarusian athletes, but the sport minister's reply admitted the NHL sits beyond Sport Canada's mandate.

Ottawa Told Canadians It Couldn't Ban Russian NHL Players — Records Show Why

ATI records show three dozen letters demanded Canada ban Russian and Belarusian athletes — and the sport minister's reply admitted the NHL was beyond Ottawa's reach.


Steve Cogbill

Steve Cogbill

Mulroney State Funeral Cost $1.2 Million — Not Counting $283,731 in Staff Overtime
RCMP pallbearers carry the flag-draped casket of former prime minister Brian Mulroney following his state funeral at the Basilique Notre-Dame de Montréal, March 2024. The ceremony at the basilica cost $176,453.07.

Mulroney State Funeral Cost $1.2 Million — Not Counting $283,731 in Staff Overtime

Access to Information records itemise the March 2024 Mulroney state funeral at $1,213,407.60 — with a further $283,731 in staff overtime kept off the total, and the family covering the casket.


Steve Cogbill

Steve Cogbill