Government files to censor details in Shoan case

The federal government has filed a notice of motion in Federal Court to keep certain details under wraps in the judicial review CRTC Commissioner Raj Shoan is seeking of a process that found he committed workplace harassment. A notice filed by the Attorney General of Canada on Monday said a representative would appear in a Toronto courtroom next Tuesday to argue that certain evidence in this case not be made public. That evidence includes an unredacted version of a report from a third-party investigator that found Shoan had harassed Amanda Cliff, the CRTC's executive director of communications. The notice also asked that the version of that report attached to an affidavit from Shoan, which includes some redactions, be removed from the public record, and that several lines in an affidavit from Shoan be made unavailable for public viewing. The government said the grounds for these measures are to protect the personal information of people who were interviewed in the investigation, who participated on the understanding their identities would not be revealed. It said this would protect the integrity of future harassment investigations, and added that keeping witnesses' identities confidential is in line with Treasury Board policy. The government had previously written to the Federal Court registry office, asking that several materials be kept confidential until a judicial decision was made on whether certain details should be made public. Judge Jocelyne Gagné denied the request on the grounds that a motion requesting confidentiality had to be brought to court itself before a decision could be rendered. The government has offered to provide Shoan with an unredacted version of the investigator's report on the condition he keeps it confidential. Shoan on Thursday filed an objection to the government's requests. He disputed the argument that the Treasury Board's harassment policy guarantees anonymity for witnesses, and said he is due a fully open process, given the seriousness of the allegations that have been levelled against him. "I need, and deserve, the opportunity to refute the claims against me and undo the damage that has been done by publicly demonstrating the flaws in the process and with the evidence that was used to condemn me," Shoan said in the filing. Shoan added that his own reputation is more at risk than any other individual by having full details revealed of an investigation that found he harassed someone in the workplace. — With reporting by Derek Abma at dabma@thewirereport.ca and editing by Anja Karadeglija at akarad@thewirereport.ca

Government files to censor details in Shoan case

News | July 3, 2015

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Government files to censor details in Shoan case

News | July 3, 2015

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