March 17, 2003
In his March 6 City Hall Bureau report in the Toronto Star, Jack Lakey writes of last month’s disappearance of files dealing with the Union Station fiasco from the locked office of Rita Reynolds, the City of Toronto’s Director of Corporate Access and Privacy. Her responsibilities include processing requests made under the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act. I am not sure if I ever met Rita Reynolds in person, if so, it would have been a good few years ago. But, I have always found her to be fair and open, and I have sent dozens, if not scores, of Local 79 members to her office whenever input obtained via the FOI had the potential to be helpful to their grievances, WCB claims, disability appeals, or whatever. I have suggested that people call her office as recently as the beginning of this month, telling them that she is a straight shooter who will not jerk them around.
There are two "undercurrents" here. Firstly, according to Lakey, the only other people with legitimate access to her office are the security staff. (What about her bosses? Just a thought- JG). This means that on the face of it there could be a "mole" within security, who is prepared to engage in illegal activities on behalf of persons who wish to eliminate evidence of possible corruption, or it could mean that there are persons on the outside with sufficient expertise to penetrate Metro Hall’s security discreetly without leaving any obvious tracks.
The second undercurrent is that there seems to be a continuation of illegal activity pertaining to at least the Union Station affair, and quite possibly to the larger computer and other issues currently under investigation by Madam Justice Bellamy’s judicial inquiry. It may be that Metro Hall’s sophisticated computer-controlled security system records every "swipe" of an access card made anywhere in the building. But in any event, one may legitimately wonder if there any "wild cards" out there, with information obtained by "swiping" borrowed access cards through a machine designed to record their information in the same way that credit card information is obtained by "double-swiping" legitimate cards.
Interestingly, according to Lakey, Rita Reynolds "has come under intense criticism from (Chief Administrative Officer Shirley) Hoy and (Corporate Services Commissioner Joan) Anderton, among others, for failing to be a "team player", and for not withholding information that would embarrass the city and its top bureaucrats."
It’s not that long ago that Mayor Mel Lastman tried to "off" the incorruptible City Auditor Jeffrey Griffiths by the expediency of using his own faults as evidence of the need for greater control, and advocating the creation of a new position that would go to anyone but Griffiths. Mel’s plan failed, and he found himself having to recommend Griffiths for the new position.
It is clear to me that in her own way, Rita Reynolds is as vital to the integrity of the City as Jeffrey Griffiths. Her personal qualities of fairness and firmness in the exercise of her duties comprise an asset to the maintenance of public confidence in our municipal level of government. I think it is important to show support for her, and I urge you all to contact your local councillor, and the Mayor’s office, to tell them of the importance of allowing the Director of Corporate Access and Privacy to perform her functions untrammeled by threats, coercion, or any other such negatives from senior city bureaucrats. Also, you can e-mail your support to her directly at RReynold@toronto.ca (No, there’s no ‘s’ in there).
It is disturbing that a break-in, and the theft of confidential documents pertaining to possible municipal corruption, has occurred some time after the commencement of a judicial inquiry into just such issues. The sooner the police become involved the better, and if the inquiry has to be delayed again, then so be it.
Jeff Goodall worked for the Metro Treasury and City Finance Departments for 25 years, and served as a member of the CUPE Local 79 Executive Board for 14 of those years.