otter

B.C. libraries have been targeted by a hacker who demanded a ransom or they would release user data that includes the phone numbers and email addresses of some clients.

The Cariboo Regional District says its library was among those involved, and data was obtained about users who received automated notifications from the library between March 27 and April 19.

The BC Libraries Cooperative says “minimal data” from its email server was obtained.

“Regardless of any limitations on data breached, we regret this breach happening at all,” the co-operative statement says.

Source: https://xkcd.com/2927/

Source: https://poorlydrawnlines.com/comic/simple-pleasures/

In a suit filed in federal court on April 3, RCMP officer and vice-president of the National Police Federation Peter Merrifield and retired Vancouver police detective Paul MacNamara allege the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) “pursued a politically motivated agenda designed to show that it was taking a hard line on foreign interference from China.”

“Rather than examining and verifying actual information, CSIS simply made incomplete, inaccurate, misleading and false assertions about the Plaintiffs, and provided them to the Plaintiffs’ employers, knowing full well the harm that would follow,” the suit claims.

Despite his current challenge, if you take the long view of McNamara’s career, his achievements are nothing short of extraordinary.

“Homicides, ‘Mr. Bigs,’ drug cases, stock market files,” he said of the various file types he handled in his policing career.

McNamara’s reputation got him a job running security at us consulates in Canada, and his post-policing life appeared secure until a routine security clearance came back denied. He claims Canada’s spy agency, CSIS was responsible.

McNamara believes his friendship with former RCMP officer Bill Majcher compelled CSIS to tank his career. While Majcher has been charged with foreign interference related to his work in China, McNamara has never been accused of anything, let alone a plot by Beijing to interfere in Canada. Now he is suing the federal government.

“Twenty-six years of being a protector for Canadians results in a knife in my back from the very agencies that are supposed to protect us,” he said.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ca/post/20510991

Sick notes place an unnecessary burden on doctors and patients, physicians' organizations say

Family doctors frustrated with writing sick notes have created a template letter for patients to give to their employers, explaining that the notes place an unnecessary burden on physicians during an ongoing primary-care crisis.

They are also calling on the province to restrict when and how employers can ask for sick notes.

Many family doctors spend between 20 and 30 per cent of their day doing paperwork, Ali says, and filling out sick notes only adds to that.

Also, having to leave the house to get a note does not allow the sick person to rest, Ali said, and the task is made even more difficult for those who don't have a family doctor and have to wait in walk-in clinics. "A person who feels under the weather — the last thing they want to do is possibly get on a bus, or into their vehicle, or ask someone for a ride to go to their doctors office," said Ali.

As of 2023, employers in Nova Scotia are only allowed to request a sick note if the absence is more than five consecutive work days.

New legislation in Ontario, meanwhile, will force employers to scrap sick notes for the three days of provincially mandated annual sick leave. The Ontario government is moving to ban sick notes for short-term illness, in an effort to cut down on paperwork for family doctors.

In a statement sent to CBC News, B.C.'s Ministry of Labour said employers are able to request "reasonably sufficient proof" of illness, but are encouraged to be thoughtful about when they request sick notes.

It did not respond to questions about whether it is considering legislation to ban or restrict asking for sick notes.

Sick notes place an unnecessary burden on doctors and patients, physicians' organizations say

Family doctors frustrated with writing sick notes have created a template letter for patients to give to their employers, explaining that the notes place an unnecessary burden on physicians during an ongoing primary-care crisis.

They are also calling on the province to restrict when and how employers can ask for sick notes.

Many family doctors spend between 20 and 30 per cent of their day doing paperwork, Ali says, and filling out sick notes only adds to that.

Also, having to leave the house to get a note does not allow the sick person to rest, Ali said, and the task is made even more difficult for those who don't have a family doctor and have to wait in walk-in clinics. "A person who feels under the weather — the last thing they want to do is possibly get on a bus, or into their vehicle, or ask someone for a ride to go to their doctors office," said Ali.

As of 2023, employers in Nova Scotia are only allowed to request a sick note if the absence is more than five consecutive work days.

New legislation in Ontario, meanwhile, will force employers to scrap sick notes for the three days of provincially mandated annual sick leave. The Ontario government is moving to ban sick notes for short-term illness, in an effort to cut down on paperwork for family doctors.

In a statement sent to CBC News, B.C.'s Ministry of Labour said employers are able to request "reasonably sufficient proof" of illness, but are encouraged to be thoughtful about when they request sick notes.

It did not respond to questions about whether it is considering legislation to ban or restrict asking for sick notes.