A special prosecutor has approved charges against a former Ministry of Transportation staffer in connection to the “triple delete” Highway of Tears email scandal.
George Gretes is charged with two counts of willfully making false statements under the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act.
The charges are a result of the Privacy Commissioner’s October 2015 report that blasted the provincial government for poor record retention and the practice of “triple deleting records.”
The report verified accusations a whistleblower, identified as Mr Duncan, levelled at the ministry. Duncan alleged that emails regarding the Highway of Tears had intentionally been deleted to prevent them from going public.
“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 Privacy Commissioner Elizabeth Denham in her report.
At the request of the RCMP, a Special Prosecutor was appointed by the Assistant Deputy Attorney General for the Criminal Justice Branch on November 24th.