Former privacy commissioner report tells B.C. to stop triple deleting emails

VICTORIA – A former privacy commissioner says British Columbia’s government must drop its policy of deleting potentially sensitive emails in an effort to improve its freedom-of-information practices.

But David Loukidelis says the government doesn’t have to save every email among the hundreds of millions it receives annually — a exercise he compares to hoarding.

His report makes 27 recommendations, including ensuring public servants — not political staff in government offices — are designated to process freedom-of-information requests.

Loukidelis was appointed by the government last fall after B.C.’s Information and Privacy Commissioner delivered a stinging report that concluded the government mismanaged potentially sensitive information.

That report was launched after a whistleblower claimed that his former supervisor in the Transportation Ministry deleted documents requesting information about the Highway of Tears investigation into murdered and missing women the northern B.C. route.

Premier Christy Clark ordered her cabinet ministers and political staff to stop triple deleting their emails after the privacy report was released in October.