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SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
The superintendent of the public school district says "the right steps were taken" to remedy an incident after a local businessman complained that the school board improperly collected and used private information.

Yellowknife Education District No. 1 was not justified in using the man's tax information "for the purpose of soliciting tax dollars," according to a report by Elaine Keenan Bengts, information and privacy commissioner for the NWT.

The business owner filed a complaint in February 2010 alleging that Yk1 superintendent Metro Huculak had contacted him in January of that year to ask "that he allocate some of his school taxes to Yk1 in return for their continued business," Keenan Bengts stated in the report.

The business owner, referred to in the document as the complainant, had regularly provided services to Yk1, though he had allocated 100 per cent of his school tax levy to the Catholic school district. About two weeks after that phone call, the complainant received another phone call from a Yk1 employee asking whether he had changed his tax designation. She indicated that she had been instructed to take the public school district's business elsewhere if he refused to do so.

The complainant said the school board should not have had access to this tax information and, even worse, he said, he felt the information was used against him.

Huculak told the privacy commissioner that he did not ask the complainant to alter his tax contribution but rather explained that Yk1 had a duty to support businesses that supported the public school district. He also admitted the second phone call was "completely inappropriate" and had not been authorized. Huculak said the employee had been disciplined and asked to provide an apology to the complainant. He told Yellowknifer that he, as superintendent, took responsibility for the incident.

In its submissions, Yk1 said the city provides the school board with the tax roll for supporters of the district and that the board uses that information to prepare its budget in advance of the school year. Yk1 contended that it receives 20 per cent of its budget through taxation and that this money is instrumental in providing programs and services to students and parents.

Keenan Bengts found that although the Education Act and Local Authorities Elections Act authorizes Yk1 to collect tax support information, the information is meant to be used solely for the purpose of voting and elections.

"So even if Yk1 collected the information legitimately by reason of the legislation mentioned, the school district's use of this information in this fashion was improper and contrary to the act," she wrote.

Keenan Bengts, who published her report in June 2010, also wrote that the complainant had not received any business from Yk1 since January, seemingly indicating that "the public body continues to use the information which it received for purposes other than what was intended ... in this case to blacklist the complainant's company."

The report found that city hall had not improperly shared residents' tax information because the city is not covered under the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act. Though the city submitted that it had not disclosed names, Keenan Bengts noted that land owners could easily be identified from the legal description of the property and the tax designation.

"The city operates very openly; it's a very transparent operation," said Mayor Gord Van Tighem.

He said the tax roll is a public document - theoretically, anyone could access information contained within.

Keenan Bengts made seven recommendations, including advising that Yk1 and Yellowknife Catholic Schools immediately stop collecting taxpayer information, except as needed for administering elections. She also recommended that steps should be taken to include municipalities under the privacy act; that the complainant should be provided with a full apology and once again be reinstated as a service provider for Yk1; that advanced privacy act training should be provided for Huculak and all Yk1 staff; and that the Yk1 trustees "undertake a thorough review of the tactics used by its office staff" in similar situations.

Huculak said Wednesday that Yk1 continues to do business with the complainant and has not since collected tax information from the city. He would not say, however, whether he and the board of trustees had apologized as directed. Huculak acknowledged that "there was an error made from this whole office" and said that people and businesses are entitled to support whomever they choose.

Claudia Parker, superintendent of Yellowknife Catholic Schools, said in the past her board would send thank you notes to their supporters but they no longer do so "because we're not allowed to have the tax list" for that purpose.

Contacted on Thursday, Allan Shortt, chairperson of the Yk1 board of trustees, said he would have to review the details of the document before providing comment. He did not respond before press time.

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