LIIDLII KUE/FORT SIMPSON
Online backlash has escalated to harassing phone calls and death threats for the Fort Simpson family who owns Senga Cable TV Services, after the company posted a list of customers who have not paid their bill.

The list was posted to the Fort Simpson Bulletin Board Facebook page as well as the Fort Simpson Town Cryer page and Senga Services' business page in an effort to get overdue customers to settle up, said company spokesperson Jennifer Simons. The company was owed about $13,000 in total from 33 customers.

Aside from community members, the list included names of councillors and politicians.

Simons, the daughter of business owner Ivan Simons, said the backlash the family business has received has been disproportionate.

The quickly gained national media attention.

Since then, Senga Services' Facebook page has been spammed with dozens of negative reviews and comments from Canadians who read the news story - most of whom do not live in Fort Simpson or the Northwest Territories. The page was eventually shut down on Dec. 3.

Simons said her family, which has owned Senga Services for 25 years, has also been the target of angry phone calls from across Canada, including personal attacks and threats.

"This has gone from another source of collecting payments to this absolutely national outcry and backlash - and people who are chiming in don't even know the story," she said.

That story includes years of chasing after payments. Simons said some of the people on the list have debts dating back four or more years.

"I'm trying to do the best I can for people. (But) people dodge me in the store, don't take my calls - we send out monthly statements, they get letters," she said.

"I've even stopped to talk to people on the street. I get e-mails from them, saying, 'Yes we will give you $50, I'm having a hard time,' and I say, 'That's fine. If you're having a hard time, keep the communication open with me and I'll work with you. Five dollars, $10 - something just to show you are committed and you're going to work with us.'"

Aside from giving that leeway to community members, the cable company offers free services to Fort Simpson's longterm care centre.

Since posting the list to Facebook, the company has had around 50 per cent of the 33 listed accounts settled.

"We have a small business to run, and this national (coverage) is making us out to be this massive corporation. It's a mom and pop organization. And every time somebody doesn't pay, it affects us, because we still have to pay our providers," Simons said.

While much of the vitriol Senga Services has been facing comes from outside Fort Simpson, community members have also taken the Simons family to task for their actions. Some, on the other hand, have supported the action.

Local business owner Troy Bellefontaine, who owns and operates Beauty Mark Salon, said he wants to see community members take a step back and let the issue go.

"If the people on the list didn't like it, they're going to deal with it in whatever way they want. Sharing this story only fuels the fire - it needs to be put out. We don't need this kind of thing going around the town," he said.

"I don't really want to take sides, I just want people to stop hating on each other. We're a small community and people should really be working together to get along."

Bellefontaine said he was surprised to see how many people took the side of the customers who hadn't paid their bills.

"I've been in the position where I've had to do collections ... and you do get to a point where you don't know what your options are," he said.

"If my business was owed $13,000 ... we're not making millions of dollars. If I was in that situation, that could kill us."

Much of the backlash facing Senga Services stems from the question of whether or not Simons was within her legal rights to post the names of customers and amounts owing.

In posting the list, Simons said she was relying on Section 7(3)(b) of the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA), which states "an organization may disclose personal information without the knowledge or consent of the individual only if the disclosure is ... for the purpose of collecting a debt owed by the individual to the organization."

Tobi Cohen, senior communications advisor for the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada, stated in an e-mail the section Simons referred to "does not give organizations carte blanche to disclose any information it wishes, to any parties it wishes, in the pursuit of monies owed."

Cohen referred to Section 5(3) of the act, which states organizations can collect, use or disclose personal information only for purposes a reasonable person would consider to be appropriate in the circumstances.

"Organizations must be cautious about the scope and content of any disclosure," she stated. "The post ... appeared to be a privacy breach."

Simons confirmed Senga Services took down the list at the request of the office.

"To us and to anyone else we've spoken to, a last and first name do not constitute privacy. (You find that) in the phone book, on Facebook, in the newspaper," she said.

"As for the number amount owed, that is not their money. It is our money. Why is that a breach of privacy?"

She also cited the example of the Village of Fort Simpson posting notifications of tax arrears, which this year included a lengthy list of names and amounts, as a similar situation.

"What is different between them doing that and us doing it to collect arrears accounts?"

Cohen stated the office has not received any complaints about the post, adding the request to take down the post came as part of the office's process to resolve matters as quickly as possible.

"In this case, we saw a potential harm and a potential remedy, and so we reached out to the company to resolve it quickly," she said.

Customers who had their names listed did not respond to calls for comment.

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