Mark Carney calls alleged privacy breach in Alberta deeply concerning

An Edmonton city councillor says he and his team are helping a woman facing intimate partner violence relocate with her children after her address was leaked in an alleged privacy breach by a separatist group.

The councillor says he is also hearing from others whose safety and lives have been affected after the group, called The Centurion Project, publicly distributed a list naming nearly three million electors in Alberta and their addresses. Elections Alberta is probing the matter.

"(I feel) deep, deep concern, and anger," said Aaron Paquette, who represents the Dene ward in Edmonton's northeast, in a Sunday phone interview.

"There are so many other people whose stories match this (woman's) and people need to know that they're not alone, and other people who are not experiencing this need to know how devastating it is."

He said his office has advised the woman to contact police. She had to figure out how to break her lease agreement and find a new accommodation over the weekend, the councillor said.

"Can you imagine the stress that this woman is going through," he asked.

"As a parent I feel extremely emotional about this."

Prime Minister Mark Carney called the alleged privacy breach deeply concerning in a weekend statement.

"I expect Elections Alberta and the RCMP to work thoroughly and expeditiously to assess the causes and to pursue appropriate actions against those responsible," he said.

"We must be constantly vigilant to protect the rights of Canadians and the integrity of our democratic processes."

Last week, Elections Alberta announced it is investigating the Centurion Project after it published the list through an app.

The app was taken down Thursday after Elections Alberta got a judge to grant an injunction ordering the group shut it down.

The Centurion Project has since said it will comply with Elections Alberta's investigation, which, among other things, is looking into how the group got a hold of the list.

Lawyers for Elections Alberta told the injunction hearing that investigators determined the database matched a voter list legally provided to the Republican Party of Alberta, a pro-independence party, last summer. 

They said it was still unclear whether the party passed on the list to The Centurion Project or if the list had been obtained through other means.

Such voter lists are only distributed by Elections Alberta to elected officials, political parties and party officials. Provincial law dictates that it can only be used to solicit donations, recruit party members and communicate with electors.

Paquette said this massive privacy breach, like others, has serious consequences.

"Any bad action is a bad action no matter how many times someone else has engaged in it."

Picture Courtesy: THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh