We have received the following question from a CMCFA member: Are personal e-mails used for work communications subject to Access to Information requests?

As you know, a serious network outage has occurred at RMC. For that reason, the CMCFA has forwarded necessary communications from management to our membership using our email list of personal email addresses. You have already received some of these messages.

Soon, however, if not already, you will be required to provide an email address to RMC in order to re-set passwords. We have received advice that the most secure option for this purpose and any work communication would be to set up a new “throwaway” email address—one you could discard or disable after the RMC servers are up and running. However, please also note that, consistent with legal advice we have received, it remains our view that email communication using personal email accounts, even between colleagues, is not subject to access-to-information legislation and that such communication is not within federal government custody and control.

Please note that the CMCFA will not ask for information regarding your temporary “throwaway” email address. We will continue to use the email address that you have provided to the Association.

If you have any questions on this matter, please e-mail any of the following CMCFA officers:

• President, Helen Luu (luu@cmcfa-apcmc.ca)
• Vice-President, Sylvain Leblanc (leblanc@cmcfa-apcmc.ca)
• Legal Officer, Barbara Falk (falk@cmcfa-apcmc.ca)
• Grievance Officer, Charles-Philippe Courtois (mailto:courtois@cmcfa-apcmc.ca)