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Ontario’s privacy watchdog says McGuinty’s office sought to ‘permanently delete’ gas plant records

Ontario’s privacy watchdog says McGuinty’s office sought to ‘permanently delete’ gas plant records

An investigation into claims that Ontario’s Liberal government provided starkly few records related to two gas plants controversially cancelled before the 2011 election suggests that someone in the premier’s office sought help to “permanently delete” emails and records.

Ontario's Information and Privacy Commissioner Dr. Ann Cavoukian release a report on her office’s investigation on Wednesday, which was launched by a complaint filed by NDP MPP Peter Tabuns.

Tabuns alleged the chief of staff for former energy minister Chris Bentley improperly deleted emails regarding the cancellation of the Mississauga and Oakville gas plants. What the investigation found was potentially more scandalous.

[ Related: Kathleen Wynne apologizes for gas plant debacle 11 times ]

The IPC report finds that staff in former premier Dalton McGuinty's office sought help from the Secretary of Cabinet in order to "permanently delete" emails and other electronic documents.

The ruling reads:

Over the course of the investigation, the Commissioner learned that in early 2013, staff in the former Premier’s office had approached the Secretary of Cabinet about how to permanently delete emails and other electronic documents. As a result, the scope of the investigation was expanded.

At the root of the problems uncovered over the course of our wide-reaching investigation was the practice of indiscriminate deletion of all emails sent and received by the former Chief of Staff to the Minister of Energy.

Permanently deleting anything from a computer is really hard to do, exponentially more so on government systems, what with their checks and balances. Cavoukian says she can't say for certain that there was any inappropriate deletion of emails by McGuinty's staff in order to avoid transparency and accountability, but said staff practices were abysmal.

Here are the acts and practices that were violated and/or undermined:

  • The Archives and Recordkeeping Act (ARA)

  • The records retention schedule established by the Archives of Ontario

  • The Freedom of Information and Protection of Personal Privacy Act (FIPPA).

Opposition parties have claimed that the Liberal government sought to obfuscate the actual cost of cancelling construction of gas plants in Mississauga and Oakville. The reported cost of the cancellations has ballooned to $585 million.

[ More Brew: Gawker: Rob Ford crack tape ‘gone’; Ford: I will survive ]

The two plants were cancelled ahead of the 2011 election. Premier Kathleen Wynne, who was crowned after McGuinty stepped down earlier this year, says the cancellations were politically motivated, in order to buoy Liberal support in areas where they unpopular plants had been intended to land.

Wynne said she didn’t know about the decision at the time, but as apologizes as premier. McGuinty claimed full responsibility for the decision at a public inquiry, but did not apologize.

Privacy commissioner Cavoukian has made the following recommendations:

  • Offices of the premier and ministers must designate a senior official to be accountable for record retention.

  • Amend privacy laws to clarify the responsibility of retaining documents and records.

  • Review the Archives of Ontario policies to ensure they are well-defined.

There will no doubt be political fallout from the ruling that the premier's office violated The Archives and Recordkeeping Act. More on this story as it develops.