The Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner (OIPC) has opened a file looking into Kamloops Mayor Reid Hamer-Jackson’s handling of personnel records of senior city staff members.

A spokesperson for the OIPC says they cannot comment for legal reasons – but City Councillor and Deputy Mayor for June, Mike O’Reilly, tells RadioNL the incident prompted the recent creation of a policy for mayor and council around the handling of employee records. Hamer-Jackson was the only person who voted against that policy.

Hamer-Jackson reportedly found performance reviews and personnel files of several senior city staff in his office. He told Castanet when he found the documents he “brought it up…and all of a sudden it was like it was unsafe.”

The mayor also said that the files in his office were left behind by former mayors.

Speaking on NL Newsday Thursday, O’Reilly says the mayor’s account leaves out a lot of details.

“The [City’s] Privacy Officer [Stephanie Nichols] was advised of the individuals stated intent to use the personnel records for unlawful purposes contrary to Section 32 of the FOI Act,” O’Reilly said. “And because of repeated refusals to return the records the Privacy Officer was forced to seek assistance from the OIPC and from council.”

“Not only were the personnel records stored improperly without the adequate safeguards, they were also removed from the city premises without authorization and contrary to the FOI Act.”

O’Reilly says council and lawyers for the City were preparing to go to the Attorney General to seek an injunction asking for the return of the documents when the files were brought back, shortly before a deadline for them to be brought back expired.