Judge grants Toews right to check who looked at divorce records

WINNIPEG — A judge gave the green light Wednesday for Public Safety Minister Vic Toews to find out who has been going through his 2007 divorce file.

Justice Rick Saull granted the Conservative MP’S request to let him know the names of people who have viewed his publicly available court file at the Winnipeg Law Courts Building.

Details in the file were recently published on Twitter.

The Vikileaks30 account sprang up on Twitter after Toews suggested in the House of Commons that opponents of the Harper government’s Internet surveillance bill — Bill C- 30 — were siding with child pornographers.

Saull said in court he had no issue with Toews and his legal team getting access to the requisitions filled out by those who’ve asked to see the divorce file as they are not private documents.

The court registrar had denied Toews’ lawyers access to the names out of concern the file requisitions fell under privacy legislation.

“As such they should be produced to the applicant who clearly in this case has a vital interest in knowing who accessed his personal affairs,” Saull said.

“To my mind, when one considers public policy, it seems to me at its core unfair that someone should have their personal matters revealed at the whim of any passerby and not be able to know who it was who had access regardless of the motives of that person,” Saull said.

Saull also said there needs to be some level of accountability for those who tamper or “make mischief” with court files.