RCMP Arrest Environment Canada employee

[Argus]

I have hunch that the Govt will not come out of this one ok.

Why?...it may not be theft since he had access to the papers , authorized to boot , and since it did not deprive the owner of the papers (there were copies) then the threshold may not be met. Maybe, just maybe that is why he was not charged.

Generally speaking, all such people have to get a security check, and are supposed to sign non-disclosure forms when they are hired which makes it a breach of trust to disclose information they learn while on the job. That may be the basis for why he was arrested. In reality, a number of departments are lazy about such things, and if he were a low level employee in a non-sensitive position he might never have wound up filling out the appropriate form. Under those circumstances I don't know if he could be charged with breach of trust or not.

And, IIRC, he was not sworn in since he was low level (news last night) it would muddy any case against him.

Temp workers are never sworn in.

That all said, it means that the govt "may" have to pay this guy a princely sum to go away quietly.Thus the wrongful dissmissal suit might be his ticket to freedom 55 .

Uhm,no. Temp workers serve at the pleasure of those who hire them, and can be dumped at any time for any reason without notice or explanation. That is the nature of the business. It is why temp workers are hired in the first place; because they're so easy to bring on and then push out the door. They are never legally employees of the government in the first place, and so are not entitled to sue for wrongful dismissal.

Now if the government can't prove he did (or likely did it as standards are lower in non criminal trials) he will be entitled to sue for damage to his reputation - but whatever he hopes to gain by that will be minimized by the fact it was not the government which publicly identified him. He outed himself to the press at a news conference, where, I might add, he was given the opportunity to deny he sent the faxes and refused to do so. Furthermore, the language he used in denouncing the government's environmental policies were suspiciously similar to those used by whomever faxed those documents to the media and opposition.

[Argus]

To access secret files, Monaghan would have to possess a "secret" security clearance. If he did not have a secret clearance, how did he have access to this sensitive information.

I find it very difficult to believe that he could get a Secret clearance while running an anarchist book store and fronting a band called the Suicide Pilots - which have pictures on their web site of an airplane hitting the peace tower. It might be that he simply came across them because of sloppy work at the office in keeping them secret. Maybe he heard about it while talking to someone in another office, and saw a copy on the guy's desk and snatched it while he was away to photocopy it. I dunno. There are a lot of ways to get at documents in an office if you want to and if the employees are not being particularly careful. And I doubt employees at Environment Canada are ever given much training in measures to secure documents.

[capricorn]

To access secret files, Monaghan would have to possess a "secret" security clearance. If he did not have a secret clearance, how did he have access to this sensitive information.

I find it very difficult to believe that he could get a Secret clearance while running an anarchist book store and fronting a band called the Suicide Pilots - which have pictures on their web site of an airplane hitting the peace tower. It might be that he simply came across them because of sloppy work at the office in keeping them secret. Maybe he heard about it while talking to someone in another office, and saw a copy on the guy's desk and snatched it while he was away to photocopy it. I dunno. There are a lot of ways to get at documents in an office if you want to and if the employees are not being particularly careful. And I doubt employees at Environment Canada are ever given much training in measures to secure documents.

Perhaps the store and the band were started after he got his security clearance.

[normanchateau]

The liberalsandconservatives abandon fiscal conservatism whenever it suits their need. They also follow or abandon whatever ideas or predjudices that come along so long as it fits their need. Not coincidentally they have managed to hold on to power for at least the last fourty years, perhaps that is their need.

And I thought I was cynical...

[guyser]

Generally speaking, all such people have to get a security check, and are supposed to sign non-disclosure forms when they are hired which makes it a breach of trust to disclose information they learn while on the job. That may be the basis for why he was arrested. In reality, a number of departments are lazy about such things, and if he were a low level employee in a non-sensitive position he might never have wound up filling out the appropriate form. Under those circumstances I don't know if he could be charged with breach of trust or not.

Uhm,no. Temp workers serve at the pleasure of those who hire them, and can be dumped at any time for any reason without notice or explanation. That is the nature of the business. It is why temp workers are hired in the first place; because they're so easy to bring on and then push out the door. They are never legally employees of the government in the first place, and so are not entitled to sue for wrongful dismissal.

Now if the government can't prove he did (or likely did it as standards are lower in non criminal trials) he will be entitled to sue for damage to his reputation - but whatever he hopes to gain by that will be minimized by the fact it was not the government which publicly identified him. He outed himself to the press at a news conference, where, I might add, he was given the opportunity to deny he sent the faxes and refused to do so. Furthermore, the language he used in denouncing the government's environmental policies were suspiciously similar to those used by whomever faxed those documents to the media and opposition.

Thank you. I really have no idea how it works in govt offices. So temps are temps no matter where you go. Didnt know that.

I thought the RCMP put his name out on a press release, but I could be wrong.

I did watch his press conference.....talk about being scared sh***less ! Hi voice was quivering and he hoovered that water to try and calm down. Bet he didnt count on this

[Wilber]

That's strange because we have not heard of any police presence, questioning or investigation before they all of a sudden showed up with handcuffs. Or has everyone been muzzled?

That's it, I haven't heard anything so I am free to assume anything I want. The luxury of having no resposibility for a situation. I guess we all do it to some degree.

My guess is it won't matter much from a political stand point but could very much from a legal point of view. The true Harper haters would be screaming just as loud if they had just fired the guy, claiming he hadn't been given due process.

[scribblet]

He would have been vetted by the temp. agency and signed a confidential agreement with them, all parties/gov'ts do that, thats how it works. His criminal background check unless he had a record, would have passed, so nothing untoward would have shown up. Can't refuse to hire someone because he plays in a rock band or whatever.

I just luv the spin that the liberals are doing on this....

[Argus]

He would have been vetted by the temp. agency and signed a confidential agreement with them, all parties/gov'ts do that, thats how it works. His criminal background check unless he had a record, would have passed, so nothing untoward would have shown up. Can't refuse to hire someone because he plays in a rock band or whatever.

Yes. You can. We're not talking about a low level, routine clearance that simply involves a criminal background check. A secret clearance is considerably more complex. The RCMP actually DO look into your past, interview your acquaintances, your previous employers, etc. The paperwork you have to complete to get a Secret clearance is as thick as the phone book of a small city. And it can be denied for any reason without explanation.

Where would he even get a Secret clearance? Temp agencies don't do that sort of thing routinely. It can take up to a year to get a Secret clearance, and the Mounties aren't about to launch such an investigation for no reason. He would have had to have been working in a sensitive position prior to his being hired at Environment.

My guess is he had no clearance, and that the documents he photocopied were not supposed to be accessed by him. Remember that his job was to read newspapers and then write synopses of the contents. There was absolutely no reason why he should have been given a copy of the upcoming environment policy, or even informed about it. He probably heard people talking about it, took a copy off someone's desk during lunch or stole one from a photocopy room where a clerk was making copies or something similar, and then hurried out to Staples to make his grand statement.

When I think of my own office, it would be absurdly easy for one of the temps to grab a document from someone's cubicle, or even from a manager's office, while they - sometimes while the whole group - are at a meeting, photocopy it and return it.

[Wilber]

I have hunch that the Govt will not come out of this one ok.

Not my quote.

This guy's motive is getting his 15 minutes of fame, period. He's proclaims to be an anarchist for cripes sake. He doesn't believe in government. Why the hell would he care about any of their policies? His backers are either a brick short of a load or just using him for their own purposes.

The government is between a rock and a hard place on this one. Send in the cops, they are over reacting. If they just fire him, he is not getting a fair hearing. If they just ignore it, they are giving a green light to anyone who wants to leak government documents.

Those who would be government should bear that in mind. Dion's support indicates that he at least, does.

Giving it over to an independent agency (the police) was the right thing to do even if it does seem a little like overkill.

[Michael Bluth]

This guy's motive is getting his 15 minutes of fame, period. He's proclaims to be an anarchist for cripes sake. He doesn't believe in government. Why the hell would he care about any of their policies? His backers are either a brick short of a load or just using him for their own purposes.

The government is between a rock and a hard place on this one. Send in the cops, they are over reacting. If they just fire him, he is not getting a fair hearing. If they just ignore it, they are giving a green light to anyone who wants to leak government documents.

Those who would be government should bear that in mind. Dion's support indicates that he at least, does.

Giving it over to an independent agency (the police) was the right thing to do even if it does seem a little like overkill.

Giving it to the RCMP was definitely the right way to go.

[geoffrey]

Talk about the lifestyles of the Rich and Anarchistic!

Yup, an anarchist that believes the government isn't doing enough on GHG. Hmmm...

[noahbody]

Good for Dion to support the government on this. Layton equating this to whistle-blowing is about as rational as when he blamed Martin for murdering the homeless.

[August1991]

This "poll" result seems appropriate:

Is it acceptable for a bureaucrat or employee to leak sensitive internal documents?

Always (3%) 308 votes

Only if it's in the public interest (31%) 3155 votes

Never (66%) 6784 votes

Total votes: 10247