The Conservatives said in court documents that data entry clerk Tammay Desabrais, 41, had access to the party’s proprietary donor information system before she was arrested by Ottawa Police after a year-long investigation into an auto insurance fraud and drug trafficking called Project Yardwork.
Despite the criminal charges, Desabrais is suing the Conservative Fund Canada in small claims court, claiming she was wrongfully dismissed from the part-time job she had held since 2008. She is seeking $6,850 in damages and $704 in back pay.
The Conservatives’ admission that an accused drug trafficker had access to some of their most confidential information on its contributors comes a week after the release of a report to the federal privacy commissioner that raised concerns about the confidentiality of data held by political parties.
Conservative Party spokesman Fred DeLorey said the party is satisfied none of its information was compromised but would not comment further or say what steps it took to ensure no information was leaked.
In a statement of defence filed earlier this month, party lawyer Arthur Hamilton said Desabrais’s duties included “the receipt and processing of donor financial information, including credit card numbers and related information, as well as accessing and reviewing confidential information contained in the party’s donor database.”
Her position, the party said, “required a high level of discretion, security and confidentiality given the employer’s nature as a political party.”
Desabrais said she had worked for the party since 2008 and was last year promoted to the position of “revenue officer.” She earned $14.36 an hour and worked about 40 hours weekly, she said. The Tories did not give her proper notice when they terminated her job last August, she claims.
The Tories argue that Desabrais “abandoned” her employment by failing to show up for work on July 26th and 27th — the date the Ottawa Police announced her arrest along with six others. The party claims she was being held without bail.
Desabrais, of Gatineau, Que., was charged along with Dave Cleroux with selling small amounts of marijuana. Cleroux was charged with selling vehicles at a metal recycling facility in conspiracy to commit insurance fraud. Desabrais and Cleroux are next due in court June 18.
Three other people charged in the same investigation, all with the surname Cleroux, have pleaded guilty to various charges and been sentenced to probation and non-custodial sentences.
Desabrais was terminated “without cause” on Aug. 2 with a letter from Dan Hilton, the party’s executive director, who made no mention of the arrest and thanked her for her service to the party.
The Tories also said her association with those convicted or accused of participating in a criminal organization involved in trafficking, conspiracy and laundering the proceeds of crime was “fundamentally incongruous” with her employment with the party.
Desabrais’s lawyer said the party’s allegations are mostly erroneous and not substantiated by fact.
“The last time I checked unless you are convicted of a crime you are not generally assumed to be a criminal,” said Ricardo Smalling. He said she intends to persist with her lawsuit.
In a report released recently by Privacy Commissioner Jennifer Stoddart, researchers wrote that as a result of media coverage of the robocalls controversy, Canadians have learned about “the previously opaque internal practices of political parties,” and their use of personal data of voters, including by offshore telemarketing firms, raising “unanswered privacy-related questions.”
The Conservatives’ database of donor and voter information, the Constituent Information Management System (CIMS), is considered the most sophisticated but has recently drawn the attention of Elections Canada investigators. They found that lists of voter phone numbers used to making misleading robocalls in Guelph on election day matched CIMS lists of identified non-Conservative supporters.
The month before the drug arrests, a Conservative website was hacked and 5,600 email addresses of party financial contributors were released online.
The report prepared for Stoddard warned of “trends that are unmistakable and concerning,” since voters’ personal information may be compromised by security breaches committed by political parties.
Original Article
Source: ottawa citizen
Author: GLEN MCGREGOR AND STEPHEN MAHER
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