United Conservative Party MLA Brad Rutherford is demanding NDP leader Rachel Notley “come clean” about when she first learned former NDP MLA Thomas Dang hacked Alberta’s vaccine record system..A release from the United Conservative Caucus said Rutherford, the Leduc-Beaumont MLA and former police officer, said a leaked email revealed Notley knew Dang “found a flaw” in the reporting system in September..NDP-email.Download.Notley, in December, said she had no prior knowledge of the Edmonton-South MLAs hacking activity after RCMP raided Dang’s private residence when it was revealed he had breached the private health records of at least one Albertan..At the time, Dang removed himself from the NDP caucus, as is policy when a member is actively under investigation..“If Notley knew anything about Dang hacking Alberta’s vaccine records system and wasn’t completely forthcoming with law enforcement, she must resign, full stop,” Rutherford said..“We need to know what Notley knew and when she knew it. Accessing the private health records of Albertans is completely unacceptable, never mind potentially using those records for political gain. Notley must come clean.”.“In December, the Alberta RCMP Cybercrime Investigation Team executed a search warrant on Dang’s private home and is now investigating the potential ‘unlawful access of private information related to the vaccination records portal’,” said a statement in a February release from the United Conservative Caucus..In the release, Rutherford called on Notley to demand Dang resign from the Select Special Information and Privacy Commissioner Search Committee, for his involvement in the privacy breach and said his involvement in the committee could “potentially represent a conflict of interest.”.Rutherford also indicated in February he had “serious concerns that Notley and the NDP may know more about the Dang incident than they have revealed” and called on Notley to come clean..“Albertans need to know what exactly Notley knew and when she knew it about Dang’s activities, and whether he shared information that could have politically benefited her or the NDP,” Rutherford said in the February release..“A serious criminal investigation into Dang is underway, and as the leader of the NDP Notley must come clean on whether she or anyone in her caucus was involved. If the NDP used any illegally obtained information to attack United Conservative MLAs, it goes without saying that Notley should resign.”.Dang released a paper Tuesday detailing how and why he attempted to access Premier Jason Kenney’s personal health records to demonstrate how vulnerable the government’s system was to cyber-attackers..In attempting to access the system, Dang used Kenney’s publicly available birthdate and date of vaccination. Ultimately, Dang’s script accessed a private record that was not Kenney’s..Dang said in the absence of a “vulnerability disclosure program” he used his own means to expose the portal’s security limitations..Dang has not been charged by the RCMP, and said he hopes Albertans can see his intentions were in the public interest..“I remain hopeful that the public interest will be fully considered in this process and that charges will not be laid. In conducting this test, I was acting in the public interest and within my role as an MLA,” he said..Melanie Risdon is a reporter with the Western Standard.,.mrisdon@westernstandardonline.com
