The Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner has accepted the privacy complaint lodged by Coun. Marni Fedeyko last December and will now investigate the matter.
Jonathan Denis of Guardian Law Group, Fedeyko's representative, called it a positive sign that the complaint was not dismissed for lacking jurisdiction, or for being frivolous or without sufficient grounds.
"Obviously, Ms. Fedeyko's complaints don't fall within that category. As her counsel, I suggest they are meritorious and that the privacy commissioner is taking this seriously. We want to find out what information was improperly distributed about her and, specifically, what the town is hiding."
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The privacy commissioner will appoint an officer to review the entire disclosure and determine whether any of it has been improperly withheld, Denis said.
“It can take many months, even a couple of years [to complete], but in this particular case, both my client and I feel the town has improperly redacted information that is producible. We're happy the privacy commissioner’s office is taking it seriously and has accepted the complaint.”
“They get to see the entire thing, and then they get to make an independent decision,” Denis said.
Last fall, a series of encrypted and anonymous emails were circulated to several individuals and at least one community organization, leaking information—allegedly with bias—from in-camera sessions on four separate investigations involving Coun. Fedeyko.
Fedeyko filed the complaint in December.
In a written statement, Cochrane CAO Mike Derricott said the town takes these concerns very seriously.
"The Town of Cochrane conducted internal investigations into the alleged breaches of confidentiality. The findings did not substantiate any breaches originating from within Town of Cochrane organization. Councillor Fedeyko has previously been advised of all findings."
