Section
Promises versus results: audits, oversight, and spending that missed the mark.
Accountability|Canada
The newly released Bearspaw inspection identifies selective reporting of a 2015–16 governance review. Its findings do not establish that the former mayor directed or knowingly approved the omissions, or that full capital spending would have prevented the pipe failures.
Accountability|European Union
On 3 November the Dutch cabinet said it is sending a bill to the House of Representatives that replaces Kritische Depositiewaarde (KDW) targets in law with sector emission targets for agriculture, industry and mobility, to be met by 2035. It also adopted the design programme of measures and aims to bring in a computational under-threshold on 1 July 2027 if the package is finalised.
Accountability|United States
On Monday 2 November the Justice Department said it had charged 63 individuals—including four it described as illegal aliens—with illegal voting, fraudulent voter registration and related offences. Most of the named defendants are lawful permanent residents. DOJ also claimed 195 noncitizen voting/registration charges in nine weeks and 239 since the administration began. The release is an accusation list, not a set of convictions.
Accountability|United States
On Election Day 3 November the Justice Department said it was running its largest monitoring effort in department history: roughly 1,000 monitors and observers, for the first time covering every state, coordinated by the Civil Rights Division with U.S. Attorney’s Offices and OPM federal observers. The release lists intended jurisdictions county by county and points voters to DOJ complaint lines—not to a change in who may vote.
Accountability|United States
On Monday 2 November Judge Michael J. Riordan held that Mich. Admin. Code R. 168.48—which required clerks to delete electronic pollbook software and files within seven days of canvass—conflicts with MCL 168.811’s 22-month retention duty and is invalid. He permanently enjoined enforcement and ordered EPBs kept with metadata intact. He rejected a federal-preemption theory under 52 U.S.C. § 20701.
Accountability|United States
Published in the Federal Register on 3 November (effective 4 January 2027), HHS’s Office for Civil Rights amends 45 CFR part 84 so that the statutory exclusion of “gender identity disorders not resulting from physical impairments” expressly encompasses “gender dysphoria not resulting from a physical impairment.” The rule responds to ambiguity created by the 2024 §504 preamble and leaves gender dysphoria caused by a physical impairment outside that exclusion.
Accountability|Canada
On 2 November the Select Special Committee on Electoral Boundaries provided the Independent Advisory Panel’s report to the Assembly (SP 637/2025-2026) and tabled its own concluding report (SP 639). The panel’s mandate under Government Motion 37 was a 91-division map restoring Lac Ste. Anne and Rocky Mountain House–Sundre and proposing further Calgary, Edmonton and Lethbridge-area changes. A two-member minority opinion contests constitutionality; the maps are not law until MLAs enact them.
Accountability|United States
On Sunday 1 November, Judge Sharon Gleason dismissed United States v. State of Alaska (No. 3:26-cv-00376-SLG) for lack of standing. She found the court could not order ballots ranking Daniel J. Sullivan set aside for a law-enforcement inquiry into voters’ intent without breaching the secret ballot, and refused leave to amend. DOJ filed a notice of appeal to the Ninth Circuit hours later. Alaska votes on Tuesday under the existing ballot.
Accountability|Canada
The Prime Minister’s Office says the investment will be staged, alongside private investors. In return, Cohere commits to keep its Canadian incorporation and headquarters, add at least 1,000 Canadian technical jobs by 2030 and spend at least $1.7 billion on computing infrastructure in Canada. The release does not give the size of the stake, the valuation Ottawa is paying, or what happens if targets are missed.
Accountability|United States
On 30 October a Ninth Circuit panel (Thomas, Wardlaw, Johnstone) refused to pause a district-court injunction. The injunction stops DHS from election-related field operations and interviews in nine states when agents know, or should suspect, that the person is a U.S. citizen. A vote to rehear the order en banc failed the same day over a seven-judge dissent. The injunction ends when voting closes on 3 November.
Accountability|United States
In United States v. State of Alaska (No. 3:26-cv-00376-SLG), DOJ filed a motion on 30 October asking the court to order the state to “preserve and segregate all ballots ranking Daniel J. Sullivan”, a first-time candidate running against Sen. Dan Sullivan. Its amended complaint also asks the court to block certification of any result “that may be impacted by voter confusion”. The state, the Peltola campaign and the DSCC, and a group of voter organisations have all moved to dismiss. Judge Sharon Gleason set replies for noon today, Alaska time. Update 1 November: case dismissed for lack of standing; DOJ has appealed.
Accountability|United States
The Justice Department said on 29 October that federal grand juries and prosecutors in North Carolina’s three districts have charged 18 more noncitizens: nine in the Eastern District, five in the Middle and four in the Western. DOJ says all but one are lawful permanent residents; one is in the country illegally. Most face a false claim of citizenship to vote (up to five years) and voting by an alien (up to one year). DOJ’s release alleges some voted for decades. All are presumed innocent.
Accountability|Canada
At its 22 October meeting the House of Commons Standing Committee on Public Accounts negatived a Conservative motion to report that recovering the $34 million paid to ineligible projects by Sustainable Development Technology Canada is in the public interest. The five Liberal members voted no; three Conservatives and the Bloc member voted yes. The government told MPs last month it would not seek repayment.
Accountability|United States
New Mexico’s Attorney General announced on 21 October that a state court ordered Facebook to pay $25 billion in civil penalties. The order follows a jury verdict that Facebook violated the state Unfair Practices Act 43,899,725 times through its representations about user privacy, third-party data access, and its handling of misinformation and hate speech. We have not yet obtained the court order itself.
Accountability|United States
On 29 September the Third Circuit affirmed that ROSS Intelligence infringed Thomson Reuters’ copyright by using 2,243 Westlaw headnotes to train a non-generative AI legal search engine meant to compete with Westlaw. Three of the four fair-use factors weighed against ROSS, including harm to a developing market for licensing headnotes as AI training data. The court stressed that ROSS’s tool could not generate new text, leaving the generative-AI question open.
Accountability|Canada
On 22 October the Supreme Court of Canada granted the Attorney General of Canada leave to appeal 2026 FCA 6, the Federal Court of Appeal ruling that upheld findings that the 2022 invocation of the Emergencies Act was unreasonable and that its protest ban and account-freeze order breached the Charter. The Court also granted cross-appeals by the Canadian Civil Liberties Association and the Canadian Constitution Foundation. No hearing date is set.
Accountability|United States
Ruling 10–7 on 23 October in Sosnava Rodriguez v. Vergara, the en banc Fifth Circuit reversed three Texas district courts that had ordered bond hearings for long-time residents held under 8 U.S.C. § 1225(b)(2)(A). The majority held that due process does not require individual hearings on dangerousness or flight risk, however long removal proceedings last. Seven judges dissented. The ruling binds federal courts in Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi.
Accountability|United States
The Justice Department announced on 19 October that 28 lawful permanent residents in California have been charged in “Operation Protect the Vote.” Eleven were arrested. Charges include false statements in naturalization applications and fraudulent voter registration (felonies, up to five years) and, in the Eastern District, misdemeanour voting by an alien. DOJ says every defendant appears on the list of more than 20,000 likely noncitizen registrants it gave California. The same day, it asked a court for a temporary restraining order (TRO).
Accountability|United States
In United States v. City of New York, No. 25-cv-04084 (E.D.N.Y.), Judge Ramón E. Reyes Jr. granted the city’s motion to dismiss on 15 October 2026, and judgment was entered on 16 October. He held that the United States lacks standing and that its preemption and intergovernmental-immunity claims fail. He also found the anticommandeering doctrine bars the relief sought. His footnote says every prior federal challenge to such provisions has been rejected.
Accountability|United States
In Columbus City School Dist. v. State, 2026-Ohio-4047 (decided 15 October 2026), a unanimous Tenth District panel affirmed that EdChoice and EdChoice Expansion violate the Ohio Constitution’s “thorough and efficient system of common schools” clause. The court stayed its judgment pending an anticipated appeal, so vouchers keep flowing for now.
Accountability|United States
In NetChoice v. Attorney General of Georgia (No. 25-12436, filed 15 October 2026), a three-judge panel held that NetChoice failed its facial First Amendment burden under Moody, and failed on vagueness and § 230 preemption. The panel vacated the Northern District of Georgia’s preliminary injunction against SB 351 and remanded. The law’s age checks, parental consent under 16, and minor-ad targeting limits can be enforced while the case continues.
Accountability|United States
In United States v. California, No. 2:26-cv-12025 (C.D. Cal., filed 15 October 2026), the Justice Department asks a federal court to stop California from tabulating federal vote-by-mail ballots from people on a federal list of more than 20,000 likely noncitizens until citizenship is verified. The complaint cites 18 U.S.C. § 611 and California’s practice of mailing ballots to every registered voter. Update 28 October: Judge Carter denied DOJ’s TRO application (Dkt. 149). Update 29 October: special master appointed and 13 November evidentiary hearing set (Dkt. 159); Santa Clara County refused a parallel 902-name demand. Update 30 October: Ninth Circuit panel denied DOJ’s emergency motion for an injunction pending appeal, 2–1.
Accountability|Canada
Introduced 6 October 2026, the Strengthening Canada’s Defence Sector Act turns the Defence Investment Agency into the Canadian Corporation for Defence Investment. It could lend, guarantee and buy shares, and draw up to $1 billion at a time from the Consolidated Revenue Fund. A rewritten Defence Production Act requires competition for contracts but lets the minister waive it on 13 listed grounds. The bill does not add the new corporation to the Access to Information Act’s list of covered institutions.
Accountability|United States
A DHS Inspector General audit (OIG-26-38, 29 September 2026) found ICE rated 104,049 overstay leads as potential security or safety concerns, deemed 21,885 viable, investigated 496 and made eight arrests from those investigations. A 2021 enforcement-priorities memo narrowed the work, and bad address data got in the way. ICE separately arrested thousands of overstays through other operations.
Accountability|Canada
With all 20,704 polling stations reported overnight, Élections Québec’s preliminary results give the Parti Québécois 59 seats on 28.0% of the vote, five short of a majority. The Liberals take 40, the Conservatives 19, and Québec solidaire 9. The governing CAQ wins none despite 13.3% of the vote. Turnout was 66.9%. The PQ’s 35,000-a-year immigration pledge is now a governing party’s promise, not yet a provincial plan. Update, 7 October: after the official addition of the votes, seat totals are unchanged; Vachon’s margin is now 10 votes.
Accountability|Canada
In R v Carbert, 2026 ABCA 314 (1 October 2026), the Court of Appeal of Alberta dismissed Chris Carbert’s and Anthony Olienick’s conviction appeals. It ruled the RCMP’s warrantless emergency wiretap of Carbert was never justified, agreed the Coutts property warrant was invalid, and called the combined breaches “not minor.” It still admitted the firearms, citing the public interest in the prosecutions.
Accountability|United States
On 30 September 2026 Judge Haywood S. Gilliam Jr. vacated the USCIS, CBP, and State Department policies that collected the $100,000 H-1B payment and barred those agencies from enforcing them until they finish notice-and-comment rulemaking and a regulatory-flexibility analysis. The order does not strike Presidential Proclamation 10973 itself. A Massachusetts court had already vacated the same policies; a D.C. court went the other way.
Accountability|United States
On 2 October 2026 Judge Kathleen Cardone (W.D. Tex.) granted a preliminary injunction in Friends of the Ruidosa Church v. Mullin, No. EP-26-CV-1099-KC. Effective immediately, defendants may not build border barrier or do ground-disturbing work in the Big Bend Sector until they comply with all applicable laws. The order stays the effect of the named Big Bend IIRIRA waivers. A memorandum opinion is still to come — this is not a final merits ruling.
Accountability|United States
On 1 October 2026 the Supreme Court granted the petition in Rhoney v. Barbosa da Cunha, No. 26-104 — whether noncitizens apprehended inside the United States may be held without a bond hearing under the administration’s mandatory-detention reading of the Immigration and Nationality Act. Certiorari is not a merits win for either side.
Accountability|United States
In Diemert v. City of Seattle (No. 25-1188, filed 28 Sep 2026) a Ninth Circuit panel reversed summary judgment on Joshua Diemert’s Title VII and Washington Law Against Discrimination hostile-work-environment claims, remanding for trial. It affirmed dismissal of constructive-discharge, disparate-treatment, retaliation, and Equal Protection claims. Race-conscious training is not per se unlawful — the holding is that a jury may hear whether workplace incidents created a racially hostile environment.
Accountability|Canada, United States
Presidential Proclamations 11061, 11062 and 11063 exclude specified Canadian alcoholic beverages, dairy products and motor-vehicle products from importation into the United States effective 29 September 2026 at 12:01 a.m. ET — escalating from the prior 50% Section 338 duties. CBP is rejecting covered entries in ACE. Distinct from steel tariffs that Stelco cited when idling Hamilton cold-rolled lines.
Accountability|United States
On 29 September 2026 the Supreme Court granted the government’s emergency stay in DHS v. D.V.D. (No. 26A406), pausing a Massachusetts district-court judgment that had blocked third-country removal guidance, treated the application as a cert petition, granted review (No. 26-426), and set December 2026 argument. Justices Sotomayor, Kagan, and Jackson would have denied the stay.
Accountability|United States
On 28 September 2026 Judge Tiffany R. Johnson granted the NCAA’s motion for summary judgment in Gaines v. NCAA (1:24-cv-01109), holding there is no evidence the NCAA received or could have received federal funds through its concussion-research partnership with the Department of Defense. Clerk’s judgment for the NCAA; case closed. The court did not decide whether the former transgender-athlete policy was sex discrimination. Appeal window open.
Accountability|United States
On 21 October 2026 the Supreme Court denied the Solicitor General’s emergency application (No. 26A416) to stay D.D.C. orders that bar the Bureau of Prisons from enforcing its February 2026 policy ending surgeries, general new hormone interventions and social accommodations for gender dysphoria. Justices Thomas and Alito would have granted the stay. The order gives no reasons and does not decide the merits; the lower-court block stays in place while the appeal continues.
Accountability|Canada
Élections Québec set polling day for 5 October 2026. In the final Radio-Canada leaders’ debate (23 September), parties restated permanent-immigration thresholds from 35,000 (PQ) to 70,000 (Québec solidaire), with CAQ and Conservatives around 45,000 — while Liberals kept a capacity-range hedge.
Accountability|Canada
Order in Council PC 2026-0925 (1 October 2026) amends Schedule 1 of the Building Canada Act to list the West Coast Oil Pipeline — branded Pacific Link by Ottawa and Alberta — as a project of national interest. That starts a single federal review and conditions track toward 1 September 2027. It is not a CER certificate and not construction.
Accountability|Canada
Ottawa’s Safe Access By-law took effect 1 August 2026 with 50-metre protest-free zones around designated schools, daycares, places of worship, and care facilities. In September the city posted its designated-facility list; Centretown BUZZ documented three bad addresses the city later corrected.
Accountability|Canada
On 22 September 2026, BMO, CIBC, National Bank, RBC, Scotiabank and TD jointly announced they are exploring Canadian-dollar tokenized-deposit solutions for interbank transfers. It is a bank-led exploration with no launch date — distinct from the Bank of Canada’s scaled-down retail CBDC research.
Accountability|Canada
Bill C-39, the Building Canada Strong Act, is still at second reading. On 5 October 2026, the House’s first day back, the Projected Order of Business puts it first under Government Orders: resuming debate on the previous question moved by Ryan Turnbull on 25 September, with a legislative-committee referral pending. Labour Code s.107 guardrails and Indigenous consultation clocks are the live citizen fights. Update, 8 October: at midnight on 7 October the House carried the previous question on division; the second-reading recorded division is deferred to 8 October after Question Period, and its 11-member legislative committee has been named. Update, 9 October: on 8 October the House passed second reading 296–26 (Division 178) and referred C-39 to the Legislative Committee on Bill C-39, chaired by James Maloney. Conservatives and Liberals voted yes; the Bloc, the NDP and Elizabeth May voted no. The bill is not yet law.
Accountability|Canada
On 22 September 2026 Premier Wab Kinew pledged that Manitoba’s new phys-ed and health curriculum pilot will not strip parents’ ability to choose alternative delivery for potentially sensitive lessons — while the province still plans province-wide mandate for September 2028.
Accountability|United States
On 17 September 2026 a Ninth Circuit panel in S.D. v. Reese vacated a class-wide preliminary injunction that would have required Oregon to start housing assessments with a presumption of placing male inmates who identify as women into the state’s only women’s prison — and ordered the class decertified.
Accountability|European Union
On 3 September 2026 Denmark’s Folketing adopted Lovforslag L5, the new gødskningslov on sustainable management of nutrients and greenhouse gases in farming and forestry. It takes effect 1 January 2027 after tractor protests against tougher nitrogen controls.
Accountability|European Union
On 19 June 2026 Lady Ross held in [2026] CSOH 59 that Scottish Prison Service guidance allowing some biological men into the women’s estate misstated the law: statute requires sex-segregated prisons by biological sex, and applying the guidance sat outside ministers’ powers.
Accountability|European Union
In mid-September 2026 Meta served an appeal against Ofcom’s Category 1 designation of Instagram and WhatsApp under the UK Online Safety Act — joining a wave of platform challenges Ofcom told Lords peers it faces in a “highly litigious environment.”
Accountability|United States
A Southern District of California order dated 14 September 2026 approved a $175,000 settlement in S.E. v. Grey, vacated the May 2025 preliminary injunction, and dismissed the case with prejudice — after Encinitas Union School District had already rewritten notice-and-opt-out rules in the shadow of Mahmoud v. Taylor.
Accountability|European Union
On 5 December 2025 the European Commission issued the first Digital Services Act non-compliance fine: €120 million on X for blue-check, ad-repository, and researcher-access breaches. Meta and TikTok face preliminary findings — not yet final fines.
Accountability|Canada
IRCC closed federally managed asylum hotels on 1 October 2025 after ~$1.2 billion in temporary accommodation costs. IHAP transfers and Interim Federal Health Program spending remain the live ledger — with IFHP costs up $306.1 million year-over-year in FY2024–25.
Accountability|Canada
The Bank of Canada’s Digital Canadian Dollar page states years of research, no compelling case to proceed now, and a scale-down of retail CBDC work. Any decision to issue would be Parliament’s. Lab papers are not a pilot in your banking app.
Accountability|Canada
Federal Court 2024 FC 42 held the Emergencies Act invocation unreasonable and found Emergency Economic Measures Order freezes and financial-information demands breached Charter section 8. The Federal Court of Appeal in 2026 FCA 6 upheld core holdings. Documented history — not a standing de-banking policy.
Accountability|Canada, World
Edmonton’s district planning documents and council’s freedom-of-movement clarification contain no inter-district travel ban. Oxfordshire’s camera-enforced traffic filters are real car-routing policy on specific roads — not residence lockdown. Demand bylaw PDFs, not viral maps.
Accountability|Canada
Distinct from B.C. school access zones: Calgary’s Safe and Inclusive Access Bylaw faces Alberta Court of Appeal leave (July 2026) after a narrowing lower-court ruling. Vaughan, Ontario’s ~100-metre protest buffer drew a CCLA Charter challenge. Where can you protest City Hall-adjacent spaces?
Accountability|United States
On 2 March 2026 the Supreme Court vacated a Ninth Circuit stay as to parents in Mirabelli v. Bonta — Free Exercise and Due Process parental-rights theories. Emphasize: interim emergency relief, not a final nationwide ban on all student-privacy policies.
Accountability|United States
California’s SAFETY Act (AB 1955) still forbids districts from requiring parental disclosure of a pupil’s SOGI without pupil consent. After Mirabelli, the Ninth Circuit (18 Jun 2026) entered a limited injunction covering named parent plaintiffs only — not a statewide strike-down.
Accountability|United States
Short balance piece: Foote v. Ludlow (First Circuit 18 Feb 2025) affirmed dismissal of parents’ Due Process claim over school social transition without notice. SCOTUS denied cert 20 Apr 2026 — leaving a circuit contrast with Mirabelli’s interim parental win.
Accountability|Canada
Landowners near Rigaud say Ottawa’s high-speed dream means broken farms, shaky ridership math, and expropriation risk — and they’re telling officials to get off their property.
Accountability|United States
California’s new immigration-worker privacy law was written after a viral fraud hunter showed up. FIRE warned it chills speech. Shirley’s lawyers say that’s the point.
Accountability|United States
New Hampshire officials called pink “XX” bands “hateful.” The First Circuit called punishing them viewpoint discrimination — and sent the case back.
Accountability|European Union
From the exclave to Madrid and Valencia, tens of thousands demanded migrant returns and answers from Sánchez — as police filings hint Morocco may have steered the July rush.
Accountability|Canada
Accreditation fights, subsidy asymmetry, platform rules, and libel pressure shape who gets heard — then a verified directory of independent Canadian outlets and reporters with working links.
Accountability|Canada
Benita Pedersen faces days of AHRC hearings over a 2023 flyer opposing a rainbow crosswalk. JCCF is defending; Rebel News is pushing a Scrap Section 3 campaign with a Hwy 2 billboard and a UCP convention petition.
Accountability|Canada
A sourced accountability ledger — deficit math, Bill C-5 fast-tracks, housing delivery gaps, Brookfield ethics optics, and immigration integrity — measured against what supporters say he fixed.
Accountability|United States
Three Wisconsin producers backed by WILL challenged mandatory checkoff spending on emissions and sustainability. USDA directed boards to stop; the lawsuit is paused while the order is implemented.
Accountability|Canada
A Calgary chambers hearing pushed Rebel News’s mandamus application toward an expedited schedule before the 19 October referendum — a process fight over third-party money reports, not a ruling on the ballot questions. Update (3 Oct): Elections Alberta’s 29 September compliance agreement with Forever Canadian is a reporting split, not a fine.
Accountability|Canada, United States
Record pump prices in Canada and the U.S. are real. The viral “park the trucks” shutdown for October 1 remains social-media rumour — the same claim Snopes and OOIDA torched south of the border.
Accountability|Canada, United States, European Union, World
Auditor-general and GAO-style findings across jurisdictions keep finding the same pattern — dollars obligated, metrics vague, citizen results unclear.
