Privacy commissioner, Sask. government disagree on use of NDP MLA's email in legislative debate
CBC
The province's information and privacy commissioner said the Saskatchewan government should not have shared an email from an Opposition MLA, but the government disagrees.
Last month, privacy commissioner Ronald Kruzeniski released the findings of his investigation into Nathaniel Teed's complaint that the government breached his privacy.
About 10 months before Teed was elected as NDP MLA for Saskatoon Meewasin, he sent an email to the minister's office that is responsible for Saskatchewan's Liquor and Gaming Authority (SLGA.)
Teed suggested the government should phase out public liquor stores.
The email was sent in November 2021, but it was made public last October when Lori Carr, who is the minister responsible for SLGA, read Teed's message during a debate about the privatization of government-run liquor stores.
"I believe that the Saskatchewan government should phase out running any liquor stores. I honestly believe it's time to rip the band-aid off. I see the benefits of having private corporations run these stores..." Carr said, quoting the email.
"These quotes are from [Teed,] the new member from Saskatoon Meewasin and the NDP SLGA critic."
After the minister read the email, Teed told reporters his views had changed since he wrote that and he criticized the government's decision to get out of the retail liquor business.
Teed also requested the privacy commissioner investigate how the government used an email he sent months before he was elected.
After investigating the matter, Kruzeniski determined that Teed's privacy was breached in two areas.
In his report, Kruzeniski found that sharing a private citizen's opinion publicly from an email without their permission constituted a privacy breach, according to the Freedom of Information and Privacy Act.
"I am not satisfied that SLGA and/or Executive Council have demonstrated there is a public interest in the disclosure of the complainant's personal views and opinions as expressed in their email."
Kruzeniski said a second privacy breach occurred when executive council communications shared a copy of Teed's email with the media following question period.
He said a government communications staffer shared a non-redacted copy of Teed's email. The copy included Teed's email address, phone number and home address. The staffer later asked for the copy back but the media member had already made notes on it.