REGINA – Saskatchewan’s privacy commissioner recommends a care home and the Saskatoon Health Region apologize to a now-fired aide whose privacy they breached.
Ron Kruzeniski was also charged with looking into the actions of Premier Brad Wall’s office in releasing information to the media about Peter Bowden – but that’s beyond his jurisdiction.
According to Kruzeniski, the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FOIP) does not apply to offices of Cabinet ministers or the Premier’s office because they do not qualify as a government institution. Therefore, the office did not violate privacy protection laws.
Bowden was a care aide at Oliver Lodge in Saskatoon when he brought concerns about understaffing to the legislature in March. Soon after, he was suspended – resulting in allegations he was penalized for going public with his complaints.
READ MORE: Saskatoon whistleblower fired from care home
Kruzeniski recommends privacy laws be changed to include politicians and their staff.
“Our legislators, the Premier, the Leader of the Opposition, all MLAs, should come together and fix this gap,” he told reporters.
The report says, in one instance, public interest in Bowden’s case outweighed privacy concerns because the care aide and Opposition NDP spoke to the media several times, which “placed the issue of his suspension in the public eye.”
Not a witch hunt
Bowden was one of the first health care workers to go on record about conditions in Saskatchewan care homes, saying understaffing at Oliver Lodge often put residents at risk of skin infections because they are left in soiled diapers and bedding for up to 10 hours.
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In an April 2015 e-mail, the government said Bowden had been disciplined for incidents related to patient care and “harassment of other staff and residents.”
“We didn’t follow the correct process that exists … that part was a mistake.” – Premier Brad Wall
On Tuesday, Wall admitted it was a mistake to release some private information to the media, even though the law doesn’t apply to his office.
Wall says the government will apologize to Bowden and pursue stronger privacy legislation “very quickly.”
WATCH BELOW: Premier Brad Wall explains how he’ll move forward with FOIP laws for his office and all Sask. MLAs (Aug. 18)
Wall wants to adopt FOIP laws for his office and all MLAs #skpoli pic.twitter.com/82vYcPn8CJ
— Mike McKinnon (@mikemckinnon) August 18, 2015
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