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OTTAWA — Canada’s privacy commissioner has found the federal government broke privacy rules when it revealed the identity of a Postmedia reporter to Irving Shipbuilding last March.

In a recent letter to Conservative MP Peter Kent, who filed complaints about the issue earlier this year, the privacy commissioner’s office concluded the Department of National Defence (DND) contravened the disclosure provisions of the Privacy Act when an employee “inappropriately disclosed the journalist’s information to a third party who did not have a need to know.”

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The privacy commissioner decided that Kent’s complaint was “well-founded and resolved,” given that the department has already conducted an internal investigation and plans to provide additional training to its employees as a result of the privacy breach.

In March, Postmedia reporter David Pugliese sent questions to DND and Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) about possible problems with the welding on the first of six Arctic patrol ships Irving is building for the Royal Canadian Navy.