Three whistleblowers whose private information was leaked from Prince Edward Island’s government to the Liberal Party have refiled a lawsuit naming the province, a former premier and top officials, claiming over $1.8 million in damages.
The lawsuit says that after the three women came forward at a 2011 news conference with allegations of corruption in the province’s business immigration program, personal information designed to harm their claim was fed to the media by top Liberals.
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An earlier statement of claim, which has not been proven in court, was originally filed in the Supreme Court of Prince Edward Island on Feb. 7 by Susan Holmes, Cora Plourd Nicholson and Svetlana Tenetko.
The lawsuit filed Monday – which contains the same claims – names as defendants the province, former premier Robert Ghiz, former innovation minister Allan Campbell, and former deputy minister of economic development Michael Mayne.
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John Kingman Phillips, a Toronto-based lawyer said in an interview that the claim was refiled due to a “technicality” because the province and “government-related defendants” had “demanded notice under provincial legislation.”
A report by the province’s privacy commissioner – completed six years after the women’s initial complaint – found the province had breached the women’s privacy rights, though it couldn’t specifically say how the leak occurred.
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