Notley says document shredding at legislature may have been justified

CALGARY – Alberta Premier Rachel Notley says the public shouldn’t rush to judge allegations that documents have been illegally shredded since the Progressive Conservatives were defeated earlier this month.

The privacy commissioner and Alberta’s public interest commissioner are both investigating.

Opposition parties were demanding action after bags and bags of shredded documents were seen being hauled away from the legislature after the PCs lost their 44-year hold on power in the May 5 election.

Notley, who ordered that the shredding stop and requested an investigation, said Thursday it’s too soon to draw any conclusions.

She said in many cases the shredding of confidential documents is acceptable and in some cases it is illegal not to destroy material.

She is waiting for a final report from the privacy commissioner, she said.

“It’s important to understand that there are a lot of circumstances in which shredding is entirely appropriate and, in fact, failing to shred, in and of itself, can breach the legislation.

“Shredding those documents is the right thing to do, assuming the original document remains online, in the computer or somewhere,” she said.

“We need to understand that the existence of a bag of shredded documents does not mean that’s the end of the document as we know it.”

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