Federal Green Party Leader Elizabeth May, deputy leader Jonathan Pedneault (centre) and David Coon, New Brunswick Green Party leader, attend a news conference in Fredericton, Friday, Jan.27, 2023. May says the party will thoroughly investigate and conduct a "root to branch review" of all of their data retention systems after member information was mistakenly posted online. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Hina Alam
OTTAWA – Elizabeth May says the Green Party will investigate and conduct a “root to branch review” of all of its data-retention systems after member information was mistakenly posted online.
The Green Party leader says she does not know how the security breach happened but says the information, including names and addresses of donors, had been available online through Elections Canada before it was mistakenly posted on the party’s website.
She says the breach was unintentional, but the Green Party will seek to regain trust by taking responsibility for the leak and will be contacting those who were affected.
The party says its internal investigation into this breach will also explore whether any other mistakes were made, with the goal of them not being made again.
The Green Party, which experienced internal struggles, poor fundraising and weak electoral results in recent years, is seeking to rebuild voter confidence with the return of May as leader, who had stepped down from the role in 2019.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 27, 2022.
– With files from Hina Alam in Fredericton.