Vaughan
December 04, 2008 12:02 AM
Privacy boss orders some sections open after investigation
Caroline Grech
City hall has been ordered to release parts of a highly controversial report on its e-mail system after five complaints to Ontario Information and Privacy Commissioner Ann Cavoukian, the Vaughan Citizen has learned.
A ruling on the matter was made public Nov. 28. The provincial agency ordered the city to release segments of the report that do not identify personal things about employees.
“I have reviewed the records. In most cases, the comments contained in the records relate to the organization of the branch and reflect on the quality of work produced by the branch in general.
“In my view, although this may reflect, in a general sense, on the performance of individuals within the department, this does not constitute the personal information of individuals within the department, this does not constitute the personal information of any particular individual employed in the branch,” Jennifer James, adjudicator with the privacy commission wrote in her decision.
The Deloitte Touche report has been closely guarded by the city since it was completed in June 2007.
City officials have to date refused to release the report, citing it involved personnel matters.
The city argued that the issues in the report don’t involve public funds or public health and safety issues, therefore are not in the public interest.
The forensic audit conducted by Toronto firm Deloitte Touche was to examine if Mayor Linda Jackson’s e-mails were hacked into and what has been done since then.
The investigation was done after a number of e-mails were hacked from Ms Jackson’s city e-mail account and delivered anonymously to her competitor doorstep, former mayor Michael Di Biase, in the middle of the hotly contested 2006 municipal election.
“With respect to the focus of the audit, there is no dispute that the audit sought answers to the question as to how and if the mayor’s e-mails were accessed from the city’s servers,” Ms James wrote further.
There were certain areas Ms James agreed were personal information and should not be released.
They include information identifying three individuals not employed by the city, indicated as having exchanged e-mails with Ms Jackson, including the subject headings of those e-mails, the details of an employee’s vacation, information relating to the e-mail habits of an employee, the identity of an employee’s legal representative and the audit team’s comments about some employees.
The Deloitte Touche report is also central in former city fleet-co-ordinator Paul Donofrio’s wrongful dismissal case against the city, which is still outstanding.
The mayor’s e-mails were the subject of an investigation by the Waterloo police force, after York Regional Police determined it should be done by an outside police force.
After the investigation the Waterloo police determined it was not a police matter.
The mayor was not satisfied with that result and wanted to see an audit done, after which Deloitte Touche were hired.
The city must provide the report to the applicants by Jan. 7 at the latest, according to the order.