City turns up heat on staff over leaked documents
After leak, staff working on Olympic file will also be scrutinized, manager says
As parallel investigations proceed into the source of a leaked municipal report on potential Olympic costs, Calgary’s city manager says administration staff working on the bid have been asked to sign non-disclosure agreements.
After Mayor Naheed Nenshi announced Monday that council members will be investigated as the city tries to get to the bottom of a leak of confidential documents detailing Olympics-related financial risks, Jeff Fielding confirmed that city staff will also be scrutinized.
The leaked documents — a redacted version of which will be made public next week — raise the possibility the city could be on the hook for costs associated with replacing the Victoria Park transit garage if that site is selected for an Olympic athletes’ village.
While a probe of councillors will be undertaken by the city’s integrity commissioner, Fielding said members of administration fall outside the jurisdiction of the Integrity and Ethics Office, and that a distinct investigation will be required for municipal staff.
“I will direct corporate security to undertake an investigation of administration of the leaked document in question,” Fielding told Postmedia.
Some 152 staff members from across city departments have signed non-disclosure agreements related to the Olympic file since December 2017, the city said Tuesday. Some additional staff may have signed similar agreements prior to that date but those numbers were not immediately available.
Such agreements would restrict what staff members could discuss publicly about the bid.
Fielding said non-disclosure agreements aren’t unusual for city staff.
“These are used in cases where, for example, legal, financial and/ or commercially sensitive information is being exchanged,” city solicitor Glenda Cole said in a statement to Postmedia, “and the release of that information would significantly negatively impact the city and/or those it is dealing with or expose the city to financial or legal risk.”
City staff who worked on the Green Line project were similarly asked to sign non-disclosure agreements, Cole said.
The identity of the person who leaked the documents, or whether they are a member of city council or city staff is not yet publicly known.
Around 28 city staff members were present when the leaked report was discussed in a closed session of council on Sept. 10, according to the meeting minutes.
D’Arcy Lanovaz, president of Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 38, responsible for the city ’s inside workers, said it’s not unheard of for municipal employees to sign such agreements when the proprietary information of third parties is involved.
But Lanovaz added that the union would be concerned if the breach of a gag order were used as rationale to terminate an employee, or if such an agreement prevented them from speaking out about wrongdoing or malfeasance.
“Sometimes, it’s just a matter of getting somebody to sign a piece of paper that frightens them enough. It has that chilling effect, is the best way to describe it,” he said.
“They ’d have to rely on the city ’s whistleblower process and, I’ll be honest with you, not very many of my members have a lot of faith in the whistleblower program.”
Council learned earlier this week that an investigation will be conducted into the source of the leak.
One of council’s bid skeptics, Coun. Peter Demong, said while he wanted Calgarians to see what was contained in the confidential documents, he understood why the mayor called for an investigation.
“If you just say, ‘well, we’re not going to worry about this, we’re just going to let this slide’ — what does that say to the next person (thinking) about leaking something ?” said Demong.