Highway of Tears Emails 'Likely' Deleted by B.C. Employee: Privacy Commissioner

B.C. Privacy Commissioner Elizabeth Denham said that it was “more likely than not” that emails regarding a Highway of Tears inquiry were deleted from provincial records. Considering the possibility for offences, the matter has since been handed over to the RCMP for investigation.

On Thursday, October, 22nd, the commissioner released her investigative report pertaining to a “serious” allegation that came forward back in May, which suggested that a government employee deleted records that were responsive to an access of information request about Highway 16, the Highway of Tears.

Tim Duncan, a former executive assistant in the Office of Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure, alleged that ministerial assistant George Gretes destroyed the aforementioned records after Duncan would not do so himself.

Described as one of the most “resource-intensive and technical” investigations that Denham’s office has ever been confronted with, the commissioner requested monthly email backups, seized and inspected computers, and reviewed mailbox metadata and message tracking logs.

After several interviews under oath, as well as a review of available forensic evidence, it became apparent that email records were in fact deleted by Gretes.

“I found Mr. Duncan to be a credible witness and that, on a balance of probabilities, his account of the events of Nov. 19, 2014 was truthful. In contrast, I did not find Mr. Gretes to be a reliable witness. He admitted to giving false testimony under oath, and aspects of his testimony was contradicted by other evidence,” said Denham.

The commissioner’s office also looked into the practices of the advanced education ministry, as well as the Office of the Premier, where Denham said she identified “major” deficiencies.

“In the course of this investigation, we uncovered negligent searches for records, a failure to keep adequate email records, a failure to document searches, and the willful destruction of records responsive to an access request. Taken together, these practices threaten the integrity of access to information in British Columbia,” said Denham.

Pertaining to the ministry’s case, the commissioner found that the ministry contravened a section of the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FIPPA), due to a negligent search for records by the chief of staff in light of an information access request.

In the case of the access request to the Office of the Premier, specifically in regards to the emails sent by the deputy chief of staff for certain dates in November, 2014, Denham found that the office also breached FIPPA, as there was a lack of documentation of the search for requested recorders.

In light of her findings, Denham made 11 recommendations in her investigative report, some of which include:

• Technological changes to stop employees from permanently deleting emails;

• Legislative changes including a duty to document key decisions of government, and oversight of information management and destruction of records with sanctions for non-compliance; and

• Re-processing of two of the three access requests examined in this report.

The provincial government responded to the report, stating that they are "already addressing" the matter.

"We intend to address outstanding recommendations as swiftly as possible. For example, the Office of the Premier has confirmed they will strengthen their process of documenting and tracking freedom of information requests. The office will also assign responsibility for freedom of information co-ordination to the deputy minister’s office. A number of other recommendations that require both policy and operational considerations will require more time for review," said Minister of Technology, Innovation and Citizens' Services, Amrik Virk.

“Our government remains committed to being as open and transparent as possible. Over the last five years government has responded to over 43,000 freedom of information requests. Government also has almost 1 million boxes of securely stored records in its possession and an additional 40,000 boxes are added per year.”

The full report, which is titled Access Denied: Record Retention and Disposal Practices of the Government of British Columbia, can be view in its entirety here.