Library of Parliament’s mission

The Library of Parliament (“the Library”) contributes to Canadian parliamentary democracy by creating, managing and delivering authoritative, reliable and relevant information and knowledge for and about Parliament.

Administration of HillNotes

The HillNotes blog is administered by the Research Publications Program of the Education and Research service.

Objective of HillNotes

The primary objective of HillNotes is to provide research analysis and a collection of authoritative documents on current events of significant interest to Parliament and emerging issues that will be significant to Parliament in the future, rather than actively initiating discussions and debate about public policy.

HillNotes acts as a complement to its Research Publications Program. Though it chiefly targets parliamentarians and Parliament Hill employees, it is also available to the public.

Disclaimer of liability

The Library, its employees and the Parliamentary Librarian are not responsible for any loss or damage that may be attributable to the use of or the reliance on the content found on hillnotes.ca.

The content on this website is provided for general information purposes only and does not constitute legal or other professional advice or an opinion of any kind, political or otherwise. Users should verify the information and seek the advice of a lawyer or another professional before relying or acting on the information provided on this website.

The Library provides cartographic representations (maps) for the purposes of visualizing information. The cartographic representations are not intended to serve as legal or cadastral representations of geographic areas.

Links

Links in blog posts to websites not under the control of the Library are provided solely for convenience purposes. The Library is not responsible for the accuracy, reliability, or currency of the information provided by external sources. The Library does not offer any guarantee in that regard and is not responsible for the information found through these links, nor does the Library endorse the websites and their content unless otherwise specified.

For copyright-related reasons, certain links redirect to resources only available on the Parliament Hill network and are not accessible to the public.

Frequency of posts

Post frequency varies widely, according to the parliamentary calendar. During certain periods, posts may be more frequent. The Library is not committed to publishing a predetermined number of posts on its blog.

Comments and responses

The Library encourages comments and feedback on the HillNotes blog. Moderators review all comments submitted on the blog. Only approved comments will appear online. The Library asks that all comments be relevant, accurate, and made in good faith. Blog posts are closed to comments 30 days after they are published.

The Library only answers individual comments and questions when it deems it necessary. Questions of a specific nature and requests originating from parliamentarians or employees of Parliament are transferred to the Library’s client request management system for follow-up.

The views expressed in comments posted by users do not represent those of HillNotes or the Library. The Library does not discriminate against any views. However, administrators of the blog reserve the right to edit, report, refuse, or remove comments that:

• are contrary to the principles of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms;
• express racist, hateful, sexist, homophobic, slanderous, insulting, or life-threatening messages;
• contain serious, unproven, unsupported, or inaccurate accusations against individuals or organizations;
• are abusive, aggressive, coarse, explicit, vulgar, violent, obscene, or pornographic;
• encourage or suggest illegal activity or violate copyright;
• are posted anonymously or by robot accounts;
• attempt to defame or defraud any individual, group, or agency;
• contain announcements from labour or political organizations;
• are commercial in nature, including advertisements;
• are written in a language other than English, French, or an Indigenous language of Canada;
• are repetitive posts copied and pasted by multiple users;
• are unintelligible or irrelevant;
• contain hyperlinks to content that violates the above-mentioned restrictions.

Availability

While the Senate and the House of Commons are sitting, website administrators update and monitor the HillNotes blog during business hours – 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. (ET), Monday to Friday. Other times, the blog is updated and monitored during business hours, Monday to Thursday only. Comments submitted outside of those hours are read and published as soon as possible the next working day.

Official languages

All content on the HillNotes blog is available in both English and French. The Library complies with the Official Languages Act and is committed to publishing blog posts of equal quality in both official languages simultaneously.

Some links on HillNotes may direct users towards Library publications or products, which are available in both official languages. However, users should be aware that other links may direct them to websites of organizations or other entities that are not subject to Canada’s Official Languages Act and that these sources may only be available in one of the official languages.

Responses to comments and questions requiring follow-up are written in the language of the original comment.

Copyright

All content, including information, images, text, audio, and video recordings, published on the blog is subject to Canada’s Copyright Act and related regulations, as well as international agreements. Permission to reproduce the HillNotes blog’s content, in whole or in part, or to otherwise use the content must be obtained from the Library prior to use.

The blog also includes material that is subject to copyrights held by third parties. Users should therefore be aware that they may need to seek permission from the third party to reproduce or otherwise use such material.

Trademark notice

The Parliament of Canada emblem – the official symbol of the Parliament of Canada – and the Library logo may not be reproduced, whether for commercial or non-commercial purposes.

Accessibility

The Library is working towards Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 Level AA compliance. The HillNotes blog is compatible with assistive technologies and works best on modern browsers.

Additionally, the Library uses a variety of digital tools that meet the accessibility needs of users.

Users encountering difficulty accessing the information on the blog should complete the Accessibility Inquiries and Feedback form or email LopAccessibleBdP@parl.gc.ca.

Please consult the accessibility section on the Library’s public website for more information on this topic.

Privacy

The Library respects users’ personal information and right to privacy. Information that is shared on the blog, such as content provided in comments, is strictly used for the purpose for which it was provided and is kept in accordance with established information management practices. Information provided may also be used for security or other internal purposes.

As a best practice, users are advised not to share personal information, such as home addresses and telephone numbers, photographs containing images of identifiable individuals, or any other information that may be generally considered as personal information in their comments or with other users.

Digital markers (“cookies”)

The HillNotes blog, like many other websites, uses small files called cookies to help customize users’ experiences and saves users’ IP addresses while using cookies. A cookie is a small file temporarily placed on the hard drive of the user’s computer. Cookies do not store any personal data and are used to collect anonymous data and statistics on the use of the website by visitors. Cookies also help with the improvement and customization of the content found on hillnotes.ca.

Users may adjust their browser settings to disable or reject cookies. Users should be advised that disabling or rejecting cookies may, however, affect their ability to interact with the blog or access certain parts of the website. Unless users have adjusted their browser settings to refuse cookies, the website will issue cookies when users direct their browser to hillnotes.ca.

Contact us

For any request for general or technical information, or question about the terms of use or the blog’s administration, please contact the Library.