B.C. Liberal staffer quits, faces charges in Ontario
Charges against Laura Miller and another former Dalton McGuinty staffer relate to erased computer records, cancelled power plants
B.C. Liberal Party executive director Laura Miller has resigned and returned to Ontario to face criminal charges stemming from deletion of government email records belonging to the Ontario government.
Miller was deputy chief of staff to former Ontario Liberal premier Dalton McGuinty in 2013. She and former chief of staff David Livingstone have been charged with one count each of breach of trust, mischief in relation to data and "misuse of a computer system to commit the offence of mischief," the Ontario Provincial Police said in a statement Thursday.
The charges relate to email records that were sought by opposition parties after the Ontario government abruptly cancelled two planned gas-fired power plants that were facing strong local opposition. Miller and Livingstone were accused of bringing in Miller's partner, computer technician Peter Faist, to erase hard drives in McGuinty's office that contained the records.
Miller left the Ontario government when McGuinty retired and came to B.C. to work for the B.C. Liberal Party.
Miller posted a statement on her Twitter account Thursday, saying she has retained lawyer Clayton Ruby to defend her. She said the charges come after she filed a complaint against two OPP officers over their investigation into the handling of the gas plant documents investigation.
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