JOUR 6700.03 Public Records Research

Instructor: David McKie
Office: 1-613-290-7380
Fax: 1-613-288-6523
E-Mail: david_mckie@cbc.ca

COURSE DESCRIPTION AND OBJECTIVES

This course will teach students how to locate, obtain and read public records
with an investigative mindset. Students will learn to probe public records to uncover connections and patterns of information that might be invisible from reviewing one record in isolation. Students will learn how public records fit into a complete research strategy with the aim of telling, investigative, original and breaking stories, or simply adding context to ongoing stories.

The course will cover tools such as Freedom of Information requests, as well as journalists’ legal rights to specific types of information and key depositories of public records such as documents and electronic databases. The course will show students how to think laterally about these records, find journalistically relevant information in records created for other purposes, and connect information in different types of records.

To aid our analysis of how these records can be used, the material will be classified
into general themes such as government, the courts and following the money.
Such classifications will aid in our ability to cross-reference the information
and think strategically about records, which will include, but not be limited
to, the following categories:

GOVERNMENT

Hansard, Canada Gazette (and its provincial cousins); bills; statutes; regulations;
policies;

evaluations and audits; Orders in Council; budgets; estimates; public accounts;
public sector salary

disclosure; disclosure of contracts and travel in various jurisdictions; polls
conducted for departments; formal and informal answers to questions from Members of Parliament; discussion papers; municipal reports; minutes of meetings; Statistics Canada; and news releases.

ARCHIVAL RECORDS

Personal papers; old photographs; newspapers; sound recordings of significant
events; Statistics Canada’s Historical Statistics of Canada; files contained in libraries; books; journals; and 20-and 30-year-old cabinet documents (they routinely become public after 30 years).

LEGAL

Court decisions; informations (charges); exhibits; transcripts; civil filings;
bankruptcy records; search warrants; divorce documents; Judge Advocate General
reports (the military); crime; statistics; records of professional disciplinary
bodies and quasi-­judicial tribunals.

WHAT PEOPLE OWN

Land titles, mortgages, assessments, liens; shares in companies; and assets
such as boats and cars.

FOLLOWING THE MONEY

Public securities filings (SEDAR, EDGAR); financial statements; management information circulars; annual reports; political campaign contributions; contracts and tenders at the federal, provincial, municipal levels; lobbyist registries, and political contributions.

SPECIALIZED RECORDS

Transport Canada’s online database of vehicle recalls; Health Canada’s drug,
medical and consumer product safety data; Workplace safety data; Revenue Canada’s listings of revoked charities; federal and municipal lobbyist registries, environmental records such as the National Pollutant Release Inventory; food recall data; Industry Canada’s trade data, etc.

STORYTELLING

Though this isn’t a storytelling course, per se, narrative is a key driver for
our stories. A tale that is more visual in nature may require searching Facebook
or Photobucket for photographs for important context. As such, any discussion
of records will stress that they go well beyond documents, databases and geographic
files to include photos, video, Twitter feeds, in addition to the more standard
material such as audits, annual reports and affidavits. And, of course, the
stories must have one essential element, people. That is, strong central characters
who can help drive the narrative.

ASSESSMENT

The normal journalistic standards will apply to the assignments. The work must
be submitted on time. Generally, you will be graded on factors such as the precision and clarity of the writing, the thoroughness of the research that we’ve discussed in class, and the creativity needed to take your research and interviews beyond the regular suspects that populate too many stories, namely, spokespeople and oft-quoted officials. Specifically, you will be graded on the criteria established for each assignment. Grammatical mistakes and errors due to a lack of proofreading will all lead to a loss of marks. Factual errors may result in a failing grade. Written stories should be written in accordance with Canadian Press style. Style errors will also result in a lower grade. Stories prepared for other platforms will be told with equal attention to style and quality, such as clarity of pictures in a slide show and the audio in a soundscape.

The assignments will be comprised of two parts: an explanation of the steps
taken to locate the record(s), the reason the methodology was employed and how
the material was employed as a source or major component of the story; and the
story itself. Each part will be marked equally because it is important to reward
the process of finding the story. That means 50 percent for methodology
and 50 percent for the story.

Assignments will be graded for both their journalistic and production values.
Marks for the journalistic values will be based on the strength or newsworthiness of the story idea; originality of research; the depth of your research and the ability to overcome obstacles in gathering research, interviews, photos and other elements critical to the assignment.

Marks for production values will reward style and format outlined in class and on the syllabus including the organization of the material; the clarity and effectiveness of the storytelling; the creative use of other story-telling elements such as sound, video and additional online interactive material.

The stories we produce each week will be posted on the class website and students
will be encouraged to use social media such as Twitter and Facebook to publicize their stories and solicit tips that could lead to more stories or follow-ups. In short, the class will be run like a newsroom.

A BREAKDOWN OF THE MARKING SCHEME

Research Component 50%

Depth of research 10%

Originality 20%

Creative use of material 20%

Total 50%

Storytelling 50%

Appropriate media use10%

Precision and clarity 10%

Originality 30%

Total 50%

*Marks will be deducted for errors of spelling, grammar and CP style.

See detailed rubric at the end of the outline.

Assignments are to be handed in on time, and unless there are unusual circumstances
such as a medical emergency, no extensions will be granted. If an assignment
cannot be completed for a medical reason, you will be required to provide a
doctor’s note.

The assignments — the stories, public records and explanation of research methodology
— will be submitted as emailed attachments. The assignments will be graded
promptly and the marks returned before the next class.

Assignment one 15%

Assignment two 15%

Assignment three 15%

Assignment four 15%

Assignment five 40%

Total 100%

Assignment one: research based on the previous discussion of government
records. The idea

will be to use these records to write a story about an aspect of government
that is newsworthy. For instance, the inability of departments such as Citizenship
and Immigration Canada and the

Canada Border Services Agency to crack down on marriage fraud because of inadequate

staffing or training.

Assignment two: research based on legal records. For instance, the way
police are handling a certain crime, or an individual who is being sued or facing
bankruptcy.

Assignment three: research based on our discussion about following the
money. As we progress

deeper into the term, the range of records at our disposal will expand significantly.
As such,

there will be an increased emphasis on cross-referencing. For instance, using
an audit, public

accounts, financial statement and an affidavit from a lawsuit could be used
in tandem to demonstrate a

government’s or company’s inaction on a particular file despite public pronouncements
in news

releases to the contrary.

Assignment four: research based our discussion of what people own.
This assignment may

require a trip to the court house to repeat the same searches which formed the
basis of the

previous class. Use property records to help tell a story about a prominent
individual who owns a

lot of property and may also be the subject of a lawsuit or search warrant,
two of many other

records that may also be at the court house. This assignment is a progression
from the previous

exercise in that students will be required to begin cross-referencing records
to provide the story

with depth.

Final assignment: This final assignment will be the broadest in scope,
pulling together

everything the students have learned, and cross-referencing a number of records
belonging to the various categories discussed in class. Students will have to
give some thought fairly early in the term to the way they want to tell the
story and on what platform because the form may influence the content, which
is a reality in newsrooms.

Grading Scale:

A+ 90-­100

A 85-89

A- 80-84

B+ 77-79

B 73-76

B- 70-72

F <70

Students must achieve a B- in all classes. Disputes over academic performance
and assessment

will be dealt with according to the Academic Regulations of the School of Journalism.
Students

may appeal decisions of the Journalism Studies Committee to the Faculty of Graduate
Studies.

For more information, see the King’s calendar and the Dalhousie University Graduate
Calendar.

PROFESSIONALISM

The professionalism you exhibit in your conduct, work habits and assignments
are emphasized because they will matter in your career.

Because we’ll conduct ourselves as professional journalists, you will be expected
to exhibit the

appropriate behavior. That means attending class, showing up on time; being
prepared and

ready to make a meaningful contribution based the readings and work you’ve been
assigned;

paying attention to your instructor and colleagues and ignoring cell phones,
email

correspondence, Facebook, Twitter and text messages while in class; and promptly
responding

to the instructor’s email correspondence. You’ll also be expected to stay on
top of current events, which is

part of your obligation as a journalist. If you must miss class, you will be
expected to

communicate with the instructor via email beforehand. You will also be expected
to exhibit the

conduct of a professional journalist when working on assignments in the field.

You will also be expected to complete the readings, as they, too, will form
the basis for our discussions.

If an in-class exercise or assignment is unclear, it is your responsibility
to seek clarity.

READING MATERIAL

The course textbook will be Digging Deeper: A Canadian Reporter’s Research
Guide Second

Edition. Because of the dynamic nature of news, the textbook will be augmented
with online

tutorials, outlining ways to use Excel, pdf-cracking software, Google’s Fusion
Tables and other programs that visualize data. The additiional, online tutorials
may also include steps to obtaining certain

records, as well as tips from the reporters who write breaking stories based
on public records.

As such, the course outline will be subject to changes.

COMMUNICATION WITH STUDENTS

In addition to regular office hours, communication will also take place through
email

correspondence and phone calls. The protocol will dictate that emailed queries
be answered as promptly as possible because that is how it is done in newsrooms.
As such, it will be important for students to regularly check their email accounts
for communications such as revisions to instructions for assignments or readings,
additions to the syllabus, or notes about a particular news story that I want
everyone to read. The excuse that I forgot to check my email is unprofessional
and will not be accepted!

COURSE DETAILS

The class will meet every week for a total of six hours that will be broken
up into two

sessions on separate days, Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9:05 to 11:55. The first
session will be a three-hour discussion about a current example(s) in the news
of how a record(s) was used to find a story and an examination of the material.
That will be followed by a general discussion of specific

sets of records that will be the focus of our attention for that week. We’ll
take a day-long break to allow for students to complete the readings and homework
assignment,

and then we will meet the following day for a three-hour, hands-on session where
the

focus will be on working individually or in groups to locate records that fit
into the

week’s theme. We will end that session with a discussion of the next week’s
assignment. Because an increasing amount of the information online is in database
format, you will learn how to use Excel: specificially, how to import, clean,
sort and filter the data, and then create a pivot table that allows you to identify
trends. We will begin each class with an Excel lesson. So the more you become
familiar with Excel between classes, the better for your assignments and ability
to mine the Internet for data. So my mantra will be PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE!!
Once we’ve got the hang of Excel, we’ll be learning how to upload tables into
Google’s Fusion Tables for the purpose of visualizing the data.

When discussing everyday examples where journalists have used a public record
to obtain a story, students will be

challenged to find information in the record that could have led to a better
story, either

on its own or combined with information from a different record(s).

Knowledge of Excel and Fusion Tables is essential and will significantly enhance
your ability to analyze online

records such as public-sector salary disclosures, crime data, contaminated sites,
budgets and financial

statements.

There will be four assignments and a final project, plus a professionalism mark.

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY

The School of Journalism vigorously enforces the highest standards of academic
integrity.

Plagiarism is the duplication in whole or in part of work created for another
purpose. This can be work done by another student, published work or even a
student’s own work that has been re-purposed for a class. Plagiarism can be
reflected in actual language, or in the duplication of an idea or a sequence.
Do not cut and paste information from the Internet. If you have any doubts about
what constitutes plagiarism, consult your instructor. All cases of suspected
plagiarism will be dealt with according to the policy.

Academic integrity issues will be dealt with by the Academic Integrity Officer
of the University of King’s College, the Faculty of Graduate Studies and the
Dalhousie Senate, as outlined in the King’s calendar and the Dalhousie University
Graduate Calendar.

As well, the School of Journalism has a statement of ethics and professional
standards that

must be followed. It can be found at: http://ethics.kingsjournalism.com.
Please read this material carefully.

ACCOMMODATION

Statement on Accommodation:

Students may request accommodation as a result of barriers related to disability,
religious

obligation, or any characteristic under the Nova Scotia Human Rights Act. Students
who require academic accommodation for either classroom participation or the
writing of tests, quizzes and exams should make their request to the Office
of Student Accessibility & Accommodation (OSAA) prior to or at the outset
of each academic term. Please see http://studentaccessibility.dal.ca/
for more information and to obtain Form A – Request for Accommodation.

A note taker may be required to assist a classmate. There is an honourarium
of

$75/course/term. If you are interested, please contact OSAA at 494-2836 for
more information.

Please note that your classroom may contain specialized accessible furniture
and equipment. It is important that these items remain in the classroom so that
students who require their usage will be able to participate in the class.

COURSE OUTLINE

Week one:

Introductory class

The use of government records

Strategies for locating records that are not so public

Strategies of locating public records about Canadian institutions in other jurisdictions

There will be special mention of Statistics Canada, given the scope

of the material the agency holds that fits into many of the classes

of records that will be the subject of subsequent classes

An introduction to Excel and pivot tables

Read chapter 4

IRE Journal 2013

Stephen Harper requested list of enemy lobby groups, bureaucrats and reporters, documents show

http://o.canada.com/2013/07/15/stephen-harper-requested-list-of-enemy-lobby-groups-bureaucrats-and-reporters-documents-show/

62 kilos of cocaine found in truck at B.C. border crossing

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/story/2013/07/11/bc-cocaine-border-cbsa.html

Border officials seize over 137 pounds of cocaine at Pacific Highway crossing
http://kgmi.com/local/border-officials-seize-over-137-pounds-of-cocaine-at-pacific-highway-crossing/

Suspected heroin seized at Pearson

http://www.chch.com/suspected-heroin-seized-at-pearson/

Canada Border Services Agency

http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/menu-eng.html

Completed Access to Information Requests (Canada Border Services Agency)

http://www.cbsa.gc.ca/agency-agence/reports-rapports/pia-efvp/atip-aiprp/catipr-daic/2013-eng.html

Intelligence, threat and risk assessment reports from 2010 and 2011_A-2012-11713

Canada Border Services Agency seizure reports for all ports of entry

Access to Information and Privacy Coordinators (Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat)

http://www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/atip-aiprp/apps/coords/index-eng.asp

Railway investigation R13D0054 (Transportation Safety Board of Canada)

http://www.tsb.gc.ca/eng/enquetes-investigations/rail/2013/R13D0054/R13D0054.asp

Corporate publications (Transportation Safety Board of Canada)

http://www.bst-tsb.gc.ca/eng/publications/index.asp#reports

Lac-Megantic train disaster – Harper government ignoring warnings on oil transport (Greenpeace)

http://www.greenpeace.org/canada/en/Blog/lac-megantic-train-disaster-harper-gov-ignori/blog/45865/

Is the oil industry using unsafe rail cars to transport crude? (Greenpeace)

http://www.greenpeace.org/canada/en/Blog/is-the-oil-industry-using-unsafe-rail-cars-to/blog/45237/

Railroad Accident Report (National Transportation Safety Board)

http://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/summary/RAR1201.html

Crude Oil and Petroleum Products (National Energy Board)

http://www.neb-one.gc.ca/clf-nsi/rnrgynfmtn/sttstc/crdlndptrlmprdct/crdlndptrlmprdct-eng.html

Office of the Auditor General of Canada

http://www.oag-bvg.gc.ca/internet/English/admin_e_41.html

2011 December Report of the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development – Chapter 1 – Transportation of Dangerous Goods

http://www.oag-bvg.gc.ca/internet/English/parl_cesd_201112_01_e_36029.html#hd3d

Statistics Canada

http://www.statcan.gc.ca/start-debut-eng.html

Summaries of Completed Access to Information Requests (Transport Canada)

http://www.tc.gc.ca/eng/corporate-services/atip-836.htm

Completed Access to Information Requests
(The National Energy Board)

http://www.neb-one.gc.ca/clf-nsi/rpblctn/cmpltdccssnfrmtnrqst/cmpltdccssnfrmtnrqst-eng.html#s2013

Completed Access to Information Requests

http://open.gc.ca/eng/completed-access-information-requests

DND criticized for handling of hazardous materials: Audit exposes persistent gaps in storage and identification of dangerous chemicals (CBC News)

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/story/2013/07/12/pol-dnd-hazardous-audit.html

CRS Audit and Evaluation Reports

http://www.crs-csex.forces.gc.ca/reports-rapports/index-eng.aspx

Federal Contaminated Sites Inventory

http://www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/fcsi-rscf/home-accueil.aspx?Language=EN&sid=wu825155318360

Federal contaminated sites database extract

Department of National Defence – Reports on Plans and Priorities 2013-2014

http://www.vcds-vcemd.forces.gc.ca/sites/internet-eng.aspx?page=15296

Department of National Defence – Departmental Performance Report 2011-2012

http://www.vcds-vcemd.forces.gc.ca/sites/internet-eng.aspx?page=14501

Families and Households Highlight Tables, 2011 Census (Statistics Canada)

http://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2011/dp-pd/hlt-fst/fam/index-eng.cfm?Lang=E

Week two:

Legal records

Using Excel to construct timelines

An introduction to court records (affidavits, search warrants, bankruptcy records,
etc), and crime data

When to look online and when to visit the court house

Finding out about people through what they own and do

Learning how to crack a pdf

Assignment one due before Thursday’s class on August 2

Read chapters 5, 7, and 12 (pages 263 to 279)

Search Summaries of Completed ATI Requests

http://data.gc.ca/eng/search/ati

The Canadian Revenue Agency Charities Database

http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/ebci/haip/srch/basicsearchresult-eng.action?s=+&k=&p=1&b=true

The scope of CANLII’s databases

http://canlii.org/en/databases.html

Supreme Court of Canada

http://www.scc-csc.gc.ca/home-accueil/index-eng.asp

Judgements of the Supreme Court of Canada

http://csc.lexum.org/en/index.html

Dennis Oland named as prime suspect in father’s slaying: Search warrants suggest financial motive in tycoon Richard Oland’s death
(CBC News)

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/story/2013/05/17/nb-oland-publication-ban-search-names.html

Oland Production Orders

Conservative Party initially sought to reimburse Mike Duffy: documents (CTV News)

http://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/conservative-party-initially-sought-to-reimburse-mike-duffy-documents-1.1354103#ixzz2Y8N3Vpx4

Information to obtain a production order and sealing orderw (in DocumentCloud)

https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/737368-ito-production-amp-sealing-order.html

Feds issue emergency rail directives as MPs nix train safety study
(The Canadian Press)

http://www.theprovince.com/news/Commons+transport+committee+meets+wake+LacMegantic+rail/8695353/story.html

Keith Stewart Twitter account ( Greenpeace Canada climate and energy campaigner)

https://twitter.com/climatekeith

Government Memos Stated “No Major Safety Concerns” in Transporting Crude by Rail
(DesmogCanada)

http://www.desmog.ca/2013/07/23/government-memos-stated-no-major-safety-concerns-transporting-crude-rail

https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/739694-david-mckie-july-23-2013-atip-tc-oilbyrail-memos.html

Canada’s most wanted: cooks (Thespec.com)

http://www.thespec.com/news-story/3906046-canada-s-most-wanted-cooks/

JULY-AUGUST LEXBASE 2013

The ATI documents upon which the is story was based

The cracked PDF converted to Excel

Top ten work permits by province for 2011_table for pivot table exercise

Welcome to ACOA’s Project Information Database (for pivot table exercise)

http://www.acoa-apeca.gc.ca/eng/Accountability/ProjectInformation/Pages/Home.aspx

Political Contributions Regime Annual Report January 1, 2012 to December 31, 2012

http://electionsnovascotia.ca/sites/default/files/DisDoc%20WEB%20July%2022%203PM.pdf

Political Contributions Regime Annual Report January 1, 2011 to December 31, 2011

http://electionsnovascotia.ca/sites/default/files/Political%20Contributions%20Regime%202011.pdf

Cometdocs

http://www.cometdocs.com/

Fifty-two ugly leads: The first sentence is prime real estate, so
don`t waste it (By Don Gibb, pages 7-8 of Media magazine)

http://caj.ca//wp-content/uploads/2010/mediamag/Fall%202012/MEDIA%20MAGAZINE%20FALL%202012_FINAL.pdf

What’s bugging our writing coach, Don Gibb? (pages 7-8
of Media magazine)

http://caj.ca/wp-content/uploads/2010/mediamag/Spring%202011/Media%20Magazine%20Spring%202011.pdf

CAJ
column on reporting tips (Don gibb’s last column
for Media magazine)

Assignment #1

A 1,000-word article based on public records search using at least two records. The story is to be uploaded to our WordPress blog. Please respect the word
limit.

A 500-word explanation of your methodolgy, including how you cross-referenced
key information in the records, and the URLs for the records such as pdfs, tables,
databases, video or podcasts. This explanation is to be emailed to me in a Word document. It doesn’t have to be elaborate. Just walk me through the steps you took to research your story. Please respect the word limit.

Please upload the PDF(s) to DocumentCloud and annotate it, allowing me easily see the sections that you used. If you want to submit some data in Excel, please feel free to include it as an attachment with the explainer Word document.

The entire assignment is to be emailed and uploaded before the class on Thursday, August 1.

Please consult the section of the syllabus that reviews the criteria for assignments.
If you still have questions, feel free to contact me.

Week three:

Refreshers on pivot tables and pdf-cracking

Continuation of using Excel to construct time lines

Land title searches

Records from quasi-legal bodies such as tribunals and boards that deal with
issues such as human rights, workplace transgressions and professional misconduct

Assignment two due before the following Thursday’s class.

Welcome to ACOA’s Project Information Database (for pivot table exercise)

http://www.acoa-apeca.gc.ca/eng/Accountability/ProjectInformation/Pages/Home.aspx

New evidence in Richard Oland murder, documents reveal (CBC News)

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/story/2013/07/26/nb-oland-murder-evidence.html

A notice of application (in DocumentCloud)

https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/741525-notice-of-motion-oland-case-3166568.html#document/p12/a112250

Conservative Party initially sought to reimburse Mike Duffy: documents (CTV News)

http://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/conservative-party-initially-sought-to-reimburse-mike-duffy-documents-1.1354103#ixzz2Y8N3Vpx4

Information to obtain a production order and sealing orderw (in DocumentCloud)

https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/737368-ito-production-amp-sealing-order.html

Mike Duffy chronology in Excel

Cleveland Plain Dealer lays off 50, a third of its newsroom staff

http://thechronicleherald.ca/business/1145351-cleveland-plain-dealer-lays-off-50-a-third-of-its-newsroom-staff#.Ufo-hJtMMsc.email

Treasury Board left with ‘perfunctory’ role in creating federal budgets, report finds

http://o.canada.com/2013/07/31/treasury-board-left-with-perfunctory-role-in-creating-federal-budgets-report-finds/

Political Contributions Regime Annual Report January 1, 2012 to December 31, 2012

http://electionsnovascotia.ca/sites/default/files/DisDoc%20WEB%20July%2022%203PM.pdf

Cometdocs

http://www.cometdocs.com/

Pages from NS 2012 political donations_NDP (Excel file converted using Cometdocs)

Community Planning & Economic Development (Halifax Regional Municipality)

http://www.halifax.ca/boardscom/SCcped/index.html

Board of Police Commissioners (Halifax Regional Municipality)

http://www.halifax.ca/boardscom/bpc/index.php

Police board minutes for 2013 and 2012

Halifax Board of Police Commissioners minutes 2002-2010

Halifax Board of Police Commissioners minutes 2002-2012

 College to hear allegations against Pugwash family doctor

(Herald News)

http://thechronicleherald.ca/novascotia/1143334-college-to-hear-allegations-against-pugwash-family-doctor

Common Patient Questions About the Complaints and Investigations Process (College of Physicians and Surgeons of Nova Scotia)

http://www.cpsns.ns.ca/Public/CommonpatientQuestionsaboutthecomplaintsand.aspx

Discipline Committee Schedule
(The College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario)

http://www.cpso.on.ca/whatsnew/committeeschedule/default.aspx?id=1448

All Doctors Search (The College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario)

http://www.cpso.on.ca/publicregister/default.aspx?id=2048

N.S. workplace deaths reach 16 (Herald News)

http://thechronicleherald.ca/novascotia/1145392-ns-workplace-deaths-reach-16

Worker injured at NSCC campus in Halifax (Herald News)

http://thechronicleherald.ca/metro/1145464-worker-injured-at-nscc-campus-in-halifax

Nova Scotia proposes new workplace safety rules
(Herald News)

http://thechronicleherald.ca/novascotia/1144969-nova-scotia-proposes-new-workplace-safety-rules#.UfeYcN5PtF8

Links to Workers’ Compensation Boards/Commissions

http://www.awcbc.org/en/linkstoworkerscompensationboardscommissions.asp

Injuryfrequencyandclaimsvolumebyindustry2011_2011_CometDocs

Bruce Carson sent apologetic text message shortly before RCMP announced
charge (APTN National News)

http://aptn.ca/pages/news/2012/07/27/bruce-carson-sent-apologetic-text-message-shortly-before-rcmp-announced-charge/

Bruce Carson not alone in bankruptcy

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/inside-politics-blog/2011/03/bruce-carson-not-alone-in-bankruptcy.html

Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy Canada

http://strategis.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/bsf-osb.nsf/eng/home

Bruce
Carson, ex-advisor to PM, faced money woes before joining PMO

Published
summary – Bruce Carson July 2nd 1981.pdf

Law Society of Upper Canada ( list of disbarred lawyers )

http://www.lsuc.on.ca/with.aspx?id=2147486087

Bruce
Carson_Statement of Affairs (liabilities) AR-M355N_20110329_120626.pdf

Bruce
Carson affidavit in insolvency case.pdf

Application
form for OSB bankruptcy searches

Bruce
Carson’s 1983 information document

Bruce
Carson 1990 information document

Bruce
Carson’s 1990 conviction

Land-title
and property assessment offices

Bruce
Carson property search for house on 417 Dundonald St.

Bruce Carson
property search for hour on 500 Laurier St.

Nova Scotia Property Online

http://www.gov.ns.ca/snsmr/property/default.asp?mn=282.46.1064

Nova Scotia Onlien Lien Check

http://www.gov.ns.ca/snsmr/property/default.asp?mn=282.46.82.358

Read chapter 9.

Assignment #2

This is a story will be based on the kind of legal records we’ve discussed during the past two weeks. You are to use at least one document from a court or quasi-legal body such as human rights tribunal, professional disciplinary body, bankrupcty hearing, or others discussed in class and in our textbook. The legal document, can be combined with a second public record for the purpose of finding a story, or an idea that can lead to one. You will also be required to conduct at least one interview. So it will be important to locate your records early enough to give yourself enough time for the interview(s) — and the writing!! You may be forced to settle for emailed correspondence instead of an interview. Push for a one-on-one, even if it’s only a few minutes on the phone. While I will accept emailed responses for the assignment, they are poor substitutes for interviews. Hence, you’ll have to make it clear in your story that the person refused to respond to your questions, chosing instead to respond via email. The submission requirements are the same as the first assignment, with one important difference. The story length will be 600 words: no more, no less. Stories that exceed the word length will be penalized half a grade. The story must be uploaded to our WordPress site before class on August 8.

Week four:

Following the money

An examination of records that help track money individuals, companies and institutions
earn. The records include financial statements for publicly traded companies.

Discussion of the final assignment

Assignment three due before next Thursday’s class.

Read chapter 6

Lululemon faces third U.S. class-action suit over pants recall

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/lululemon-faces-third-us-class-action-suit-over-pants-recall/article13034889/#dashboard/follows/

Search for a Federal Corporation (Industry Canada)

https://www.ic.gc.ca/app/scr/cc/CorporationsCanada/fdrlCrpSrch.html

Financial glossary (Reuters)

http://glossary.reuters.com/index.php?title=Main_Page

SEDAR

http://www.sedar.com/

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission

http://www.sec.gov/

lululemon

http://shop.lululemon.com/home.jsp

lulelemon’s first quarter results in DocumentCloud

lulelemon’s first quarter numbers in Excel

lulelemon’s news release announcing its first quarter results annotated in DocumentCloud

Backlash: The Undeclared War Against American Women [Paperback] (Susan Faludi)

http://www.amazon.ca/Backlash-Undeclared-Against-American-Women/dp/0307345424

CNW: A PR Newswire Company

http://www.newswire.ca/en/index

lululemon

http://shop.lululemon.com/home.jsp

A candid railway executive’s next problem: the litigators

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/industry-news/the-law-page/a-candid-executives-next-problem-the-litigators/article13173158/

Lac-Mégantic rail disaster company MM&A files for bankruptcy
(CBC News)

http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/

The Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Railway

http://www.mmarail.com/index.php

Nova Scotia Food Establishment Inspection Reports

Online Search

http://www.gov.ns.ca/agri/foodsafety/reports/Request.aspx

Newfoundland &Labrador Inspection Reports

http://www.servicenl.gov.nl.ca/inspections/index.html

Canadian Food Inspection Agency Prosecution Bulletins

http://www.inspection.gc.ca/about-the-cfia/newsroom/prosecution-bulletins/eng/1298575869119/1299852705293

Prosecution and Conviction Statistics (Ontario Ministry of Labour)

http://www.labour.gov.on.ca/english/es/pubs/enforcement/convictions.php

Alberta Occupational Health and Safety Workplace Incident Fatalities

http://www.humanservices.alberta.ca/working-in-alberta/781.html#Incidents

OHS Canada: Canada’s Occupational Health and Safety Magazine

http://www.ohscanada.com/

Transport Canada’s Corporate Offenders

http://www.tc.gc.ca/eng/civilaviation/standards/standards-enforcement-publications-corporate-menu-680.htm

Environment Canada’s Offenders Registry

http://www.ec.gc.ca/alef-ewe/default.asp?lang=En&n=1F014378-1

Canadian Food Inspection Agency Prosecution Bulletins

http://www.inspection.gc.ca/about-the-cfia/newsroom/prosecution-bulletins/eng/1298575869119/1299852705293

Consumer Product Recalls (Health Canada)

http://cpsr-rspc.hc-sc.gc.ca/PR-RP/home-accueil-eng.jsp

Just 31 donors switch to Wildrose from Tories

http://www2.canada.com/edmontonjournal/news/story.html?id=a4ddf170-bd63-4ff0-b7d9-9ae55199e92c&p=2

Alberta 

http://www.electionsalberta.ab.ca/efpublic/index.cfm?MID=O1

Elections BC

http://contributions.electionsbc.gov.bc.ca/pcs/Options.aspx

Brewers poured $100,000 into Ontario Liberal leadership race

http://newsle.com/article/0/69223713/

Elections Ontario

http://www.elections.on.ca/en-CA/Tools/FinancialStatementsandContributions/RealTimeDisclosure.htm

Assignment #3

This assignment involves telling a story about a publicly traded company, using one of the financial forms that we’ve discussed in class, or that are contained in the Digging Deeper. Choose the most recent financial statement, read it, and select a number or trend you deem to be the most newsworthy. In order to get a better sense of how the company is doing, you may choose to analyze fiancial forms covering three-to-five quarters or years. In addition to uploading and annotating the financial statement in DocumentCloud, you will be required to plug important numbers or tables into Excel in order the calculate key percent increases.

You will be required to conduct two interviews: one with an analyst who can help put your numbers into context (so make this call early; don’t leave it to the last minute); and one with the company or industry representative. The interview with the analyst, must be in person, over the phone, or Skype. You can settle for an emailed exchange with the company or industry representative if you are incapable of obtaining an interview, though I will want to see the list of questions that you sent to the individual as part of your methodology.

As usual, you’ll be required to submit a 600-word story to our WordPress site, complete with an embedded annotated financial form in DocumentCloud, not just the link. As well, think about embedding other content such as charts showing how the company is doing, snippets of interviews, pictures, etc. Email the 500-word metholodgy document and Excel workbook.

The story, methodology and Excel workbook are to be submitted before next Thursday’s class.

Week five:

Backgrounding people

Visualizing data using Google Fusion Table

Assignment four due before next Thursday’s class.

Read chapter 10

The Payday Playbook: How High Cost Lenders Fight to Stay Legal (ProPublica)

https://www.propublica.org/article/how-high-cost-lenders-fight-to-stay-legal

The BlackBerry comeback that wasn’t (The Globe and Mail)

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/the-blackberry-comeback-that-wasnt/article13719761/#dashboard/follows/

Halifax’s Open Data Catalogue

https://www.halifaxopendata.ca/

Political Contributions Regime Annual Report January 1, 2012 to December 31, 2012

http://electionsnovascotia.ca/sites/default/files/DisDoc%20WEB%20July%2022%203PM.pdf

Political Contributions Regime Annual Report January 1, 2011 to December 31, 2011

http://electionsnovascotia.ca/sites/default/files/Political%20Contributions%20Regime%202011.pdf

Political Contributions to NS NDP 2011

Political Contriutions in Halifax

https://www.google.com/fusiontables/data?docid=1qrYNoGt-FPWp0Ru618FGLOGQ0yQZSZfMen1R99Q#map:id=3

alldonations_2011

PoliticalContributionsinHalifax

Evaluating Information Sources (The University of British Columbia)

http://wiki.ubc.ca/Library:Evaluating_Information_Sources

Martin Luther King, Jr.

http://www.martinlutherking.org/

Aspartamekills.com

http://www.aspartamekills.com/

Climate Change Reconsidered (Nongovernmental International Panel on Climate Change)

http://nipccreport.org/

GeekTools

http://www.geektools.com/

Bruce
Carson, ex-advisor to PM, faced money woes before joining PMO

Accurint (LexisNexis)

http://www.accurint.com/

The TitleSearchers.ca ( is a website of title searches / registry
agents across Canada )

http://www.titlesearchers.ca/

Alberta Land Titles

http://www.servicealberta.ca/LandTitles.cfm

British Columbia Land Titles

https://www.bconline.gov.bc.ca/

Manitoba Property Registry

http://www.gov.mb.ca/tpr/land_titles/lto_offices/offices.html

New Brunswick Land Titles and Assessments

http://www.snb.ca/e/4000/4106e.asp

NewFoundland and Labrador Deeds

http://www.gs.gov.nl.ca/registries/deeds.html

Northwest Territories Land Titles

http://www.justice.gov.nt.ca/LandTitles/index.shtml

Nova Scotia’s Property Online

http://www.gov.ns.ca/snsmr/property/default.asp?mn=282.46.1064

Nunavut

http://www.justice.gov.nu.ca/i18n/french/legreg/lt_index.shtm

Ontario Land Registration Information

http://www.ontario.ca/en/information_bundle/land_registration/STEL01_130081.html

Prince Edward Island Registry of Deeds

http://www.gov.pe.ca/finance/index.php3?number=1007538&lang=E

Quebec Land Titles

https://www.registrefoncier.gouv.qc.ca/Sirf/Script/14_06_01-02/pf_14_06_01_reglr.asp

Saskatchewan Land Registry

http://www.isc.ca/LandTitles/Pages/default.aspx

Yukon Land Titles

http://www.justice.gov.yk.ca/prog/cs/index.html

Political Contributions Regime Annual Report January 1, 2011 to December 31, 2011

http://electionsnovascotia.ca/sites/default/files/Political%20Contributions%20Regime%202011.pdf

Elections Nova Scotia 2011 political donations greater than $500

https://www.google.com/fusiontables/data?docid=1CDf03V48eRSeTMbWtDzh5oFQ0im14fhLX01In1k#map:id=3

https://www.google.com/fusiontables/data?docid=1KHxAAKpLnj_dDk47KhG54LgHlUaYZsqrZtCN0_8#map:id=3

Wayback Machine

http://archive.org/web/web.php

A trust betrayed: Peter Kelly and the estate of Mary Thibeault 
(The Coast)

http://www.thecoast.ca/halifax/a-trust-betrayed/Content?oid=2958898

Property Online (Nova Scotia)

http://www.gov.ns.ca/snsmr/property/default.asp?mn=282.46.1064

Register of Lobbyists (Nova Scotia)

http://www.gov.ns.ca/snsmr/lobbyist/

Public Sector Compensation Disclosure 2013 (Nova Scotia)

http://www.novascotia.ca/finance/en/home/publications/PSCD/pscd2013.aspx

Public Sector Salary Disclosure 2012 (Ontario)

http://www.fin.gov.on.ca/en/publications/salarydisclosure/2012/

Bruce
Carson, ex-advisor to PM, faced money woes before joining PMO

The courts of Nova Scotia

http://decisions.courts.ns.ca/site/nsc/en/nav.do

Assignment #4

This will be a backgrounding assignment, using the strategies that we’ve learned during the first five weeks. The idea is to write a profile of an individual, preferrably someone alive and preferrably a public figure who has left a significant trail, or web droppings. What the person does for a living will determine the kinds of records you dig up. So think hard about your subject and get started early. A search on a provincial politician will be different from that of a senior executive of a private company, or a publicly traded company, or a school teacher, doctor or lawyer.

What’s required?: Information from at least four records and two interviews, though not necessarily with the subject of your investigation, though you’ll be required to show evidence that you attempted to contact the person. As has been the case in past assignments, you may have to be content with what the subject has said publicly at a news conference, appearance before a Parliamentary or legislative committee or in an annual report or affidavit. Think multi-media. You’ll also be required to find the most recent picture of your subject from a public source to post and properly source on in your online story. This story will need at least two multi-media components in additon to the photograph, which should be easy to get. You’ll also be required to construct a timeline in Excel, using the one on our syllabus as a template, which could also be used as a graphic using one or the tools that you’ve learned, or Excel.

The profile is to be 600 words with similar reporting requirements to previous assignments. You are to upload to the story to our WordPress blog before the next class and email the methdology and timeline in Excel. Anything after 9:00 will be considered a day late and docked half a grade.

Week six:

How to identify and download publicly accessible databases

Access-to-information and freedom-of-information requests

How to file them. How to use the laws for obtaining records informally.

Negotiating for the formal and informal release of information Final Assignment
due the following Thursday

Open Government (federal)

http://data.gc.ca/eng/

Halifax’s Open Data Catalogue

https://www.halifaxopendata.ca/

Edmonton

http://data.edmonton.ca/

Ottawa

http://www.ottawa.ca/online_services/opendata/info/index_en.html

Toronto

http://www1.toronto.ca/wps/portal/contentonly?vgnextoid=1a66e03bb8d1e310VgnVCM10000071d60f89RCRD

Vancouver

http://data.vancouver.ca/

BC

http://www.openinfo.gov.bc.ca/ibc/index.page?

http://www.data.gov.bc.ca/

Ontario

http://www.ontario.ca/government/open-data-ontario

Ultralight pilot dies in crash
(The Chronicle Herald)
http://thechronicleherald.ca/novascotia/1148417-ultralight-pilot-dies-in-crash#.UhIDVpyzido.email

Number of reported bird strikes at Windsor airport soars (The Windsor Star)

http://blogs.windsorstar.com/2013/05/13/number-of-reported-bird-strikes-at-windsor-airport-soars/

CADORS (Transport Canada)

http://wwwapps.tc.gc.ca/Saf-Sec-Sur/2/CADORS-SCREAQ/q.aspx?lang=eng

National Transportation Safety Board (U.S.)

http://www.ntsb.gov/aviationquery/index.aspx

Transport Canada Vehicle Recalls Database
(Transport Canada)

http://data.gc.ca/data/en/dataset/1ec92326-47ef-4110-b7ca-959fab03f96d

Search for Complaints (the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration ) 

http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/complaints/

Federal government departments

http://canada.gc.ca/depts/major/depind-eng.html

Fisheries and Oceans Canada (Pro-active disclosure)

http://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/disclosure-divulgation-eng.htm

Memo: Shipbuilding costs could face ‘major’ increase
(The Chronicle Herald)

http://thechronicleherald.ca/novascotia/1148727-memo-shipbuilding-costs-could-face-major-increase#.UhSUH3o4VoE.email

Pamela Wallin volunteered to repay expense as envoy in New York
(The Toronto Star)

http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2013/08/20/pamela_wallin_volunteered_to_repay_expense_as_envoy_in_new_york.html

Harper government says environmental groups doing “significant” policy research
http://o.canada.com/2013/08/15/harper-government-says-environmental-groups-doing-significant-policy-research/

Highway moose detector down almost half the time, documents say: Detection systems down for extended periods since 2011 (CBC News, Newfoundland & Labrador)

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/story/2013/08/14/nl-wildlife-detection-highway-.html

Sources of Federal Government and Employee Information 2013

http://www.infosource.gc.ca/emp/emp05-eng.asp#chapters

Search Summaries of Completed ATI Requests

http://data.gc.ca/eng/search/ati?

Access to Information Request Form

http://www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/tbsf-fsct/350-57-eng.asp

Access to Information and Privacy Coordinators

http://www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/atip-aiprp/apps/coords/index-eng.asp

ATI summaries

A-2012-00089

A-2012-00041

A-2011-01744

A-2011-01407

A-2011-01255

Assignment #5

This assignment will be wide-ranging, incorporting the research methods and
records we’ve used during the course. The requirements are simple: You can choose any topic, using any combination of at least five public records and three multi-media elements such as timelines, videos, photographs. The story will be a thousand words to be submitted by nine o’clock next Thursday morning. My goal is to have them marked and returned by the long weekend. I will also be compiling the final grades and returning them at the same time.

Grading Rubric

Methodology of weekly assignment

	Fail	Adequate B-, B	Good B+, A-	Excellent A, A+
Depth of research — 10 per cent	Research relies on secondary sources, press releases or official spokespeople. Research relies on sources that are unreliable or cannot be verified. Key characters or issues have been ignored or omitted.	Research includes several primary sources, but not all of the research is relevant. Research relies on similar types of records and sources and some of the research is redundant. There are gaps in the research that relate to minor issues of fact.	Research includes several primary sources. Most, but not all, research is relevant. All research is credible and there are no major gaps.	Research includes multiple primary sources, all of which are relevant to the subject matter and are verified and credible. Research includes several types of records, as well as interviews and statistics. There are no gaps in research.
Originality of research — 20 per cent	Research material has been reported prominently by other media.	Research includes only sources covered in class and in readings. Specific material is unique to the assignment.	Research shows evidence of lateral thinking in seeking material. Sources are unique to the assignment.	Research shows evidence of lateral thinking in searching for material. Research includes material from sources not covered in class or readings. Sources are unique to the assignment, and have not been used prominently in other media.
Creativity of material — 20 percent	Research is uniform and repetitive. Information is used in isolation.	Research from different sources is contrasted and compared to create insight.	Research from different goals is contrasted and compared to offer insight. The research goal was ambitious. The student used good strategies to overcome obstacles, but was unable to acheive all research goals.	Research includes leads generated by earlier research. Material from sources is contrasted and compared to offer fresh insight. The research goal was ambitious and the student may have overcome significant obstacles to obtain material.

Storytelling rubric for weekly assignment

	Fail	Adequate B-, B	Good B+, A-	Excellent A, A+
Originality — 30 per cent	The story is unfocused with no clear news hook for topic value. The story is predictable, relies on journalism previously produced by other outlets, and is poorly structured.	Story idea lacks focus, but is grounded in a reasonable topic area. The story lacks one major element. Story and structure outcome are predictable.	Story idea is clear, but not compelling. All key issues and characters are included in an appropriate way.	Story idea has tight focus with a strong news hook and obvious narrative potential. All key elements are present, and the story structure is shaped to the subject matter. The story offers fresh insight for readers.
Precision and clarity — 10 per cent	The assignment is poorly executed, with multiple errors of fact, style and grammar. The story includes numerous production errors that impair the ability to read or view the assignment.	Concepts and issues are still clear, but the reader or viewer may need to review the story more than once to fully understand the content. Several elements appear to be at the first-draft stage, and some web functions may not exactly work as planned.	The story is well-told, but small elements of execution are rough. For example, segue points may be awkward, lighting might be inconsistent, photos or fonts may vary on slideshow captions. All concepts and issues are clear.	The assignment reflects perfection in execution. For example: Text is clear, concise, well-structured with a tightly-crafted lede, strong verbs and varying sentence structure. Photos are well-framed and illustrate key concepts, issues, characters or events. Slideshows flow smoothly, with a clear narrative arc, and have excellent headlines, captions and narration. Audio clips are clear and useful. Storytelling technique is expert and of professional quality.
Appropriate media use — 10 per cent	The story is told in a medium that is ill-suited to the subject matter.	The story is told in a medium appropriate to the story idea, but it may not be the best medium available.	The story is told in the medium best suited to the story idea, but the medium is not exploited to its full potential.	The story is told in a medium best suited to the story idea.