By Canadian Press

No apology from Nova Scotia premier to teen cleared in privacy-breach case

May 8, 2018 | 1:26 PM

HALIFAX — Nova Scotia Premier Stephen McNeil is not offering an apology to a 19-year-old man who was arrested after allegedly breaching the province’s freedom-of-information website.

Police dropped the case against the young man on Monday, saying there was no criminal intent and “no grounds to lay charges.”

McNeil initially referred to the man’s actions as “stealing,” but has since backed away from such strong language.

On Tuesday he was asked about opposition calls for an apology for his early characterization of what occurred. McNeil wouldn’t address an apology directly, despite repeated questions from reporters.

“The information was taken outside our system,” he said. “We had a responsibility … to turn that over to police. They did their due diligence and determined the course of action that they’ve taken.”

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The youth was arrested after a dramatic raid on his family’s home on April 11 after it was alleged he downloaded 7,000 documents from the public website.

Prior to dropping the case, police gave him notice to appear under a rarely used section of the Criminal Code that prohibits unauthorized use of a computer with fraudulent intent.

Both the Opposition Tories and NDP say the onus has shifted to the government to take responsibility for what the auditor general has warned were lax security measures around the portal.

McNeil said it’s now the government’s job to ensure all safeguards are in place before the portal is put back in operation.

“People deserve and expect their information that is provided to government be protected,” he said.

Both the province’s privacy commissioner and the auditor general are considering whether the province upheld its own privacy procedures in the way the website was designed.

The Canadian Press