By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday, March 29, 2014
Wynne distances herself from McGuinty in wake of new allegations
Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne struggled to distance herself Thursday from her predecessor Dalton McGuinty, amid explosive police allegations that his chief of staff may have committed a breach of trust in the ongoing gas plants scandal.
Provincial police allege in unsealed court documents that they believe David Livingston gave an outside tech expert — the boyfriend of a senior staffer — access to 24 computers in the premier’s office.
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According to the documents, Livingston sought high-level access to the computers to “wipe clean the hard drives” after McGuinty resigned amid controversy over the costly cancellation of two gas plants.
It’s alleged that during the transition period to Wynne’s administration, Livingston arranged for his executive assistant
Wendy Wai to have special access to desktops in the premier’s office, even though she had little knowledge of computers.
Police believe Peter Faist, who wasn’t a government employee, was the person who actually accessed the 24 computers using Wai’s administrative privileges, including Miller’s, Livingston’s and other staffers.
Faist, who police believe is the partner of former deputy chief of staff Laura Miller, was never officially hired by the government and did not undergo the required security screening, the documents say.
According to two staffers in the premier’s office, Faist accessed their computers a few days before Wynne was sworn in, saying he was getting them ready for the next government, police say.
The staffers said they couldn’t log into their computers after Faist left and called IT staff, who said it was clear that system files had been deleted, police allege. (Source: Toronto Star)