Testifying under a partial immunity agreement, the partner of Dalton McGuinty's former deputy chief of staff told a downtown Toronto courtroom Friday that his common-law spouse hired him to "clean" 20 government computers.
Peter Faist, an IT consultant, told the court his partner Laura Miller asked him who could "clean the personal data off the [computers] in the office."
"Laura asked me if I knew anyone who could do this type of work," he testified.  "I said I could do it myself."
Miller and former McGuinty chief of staff David Livingston face three charges each related to deleting computer records in connection with the politically contentious gas plants cancellations in Oakville and Mississauga prior to the 2011 election. They have pleaded not guilty to all charges.
While Faist was familiar with the technical side of deleting computer records, he claimed that despite his long-term live-in relationship with Miller, he had little awareness of the structure in Ontario's cabinet office and premier's office. When asked what his partner's job was at the time, he could not identify that Miller was the deputy chief of staff, the second-highest ranking political staffer in McGuinty's office. He vaguely recalled that Livingston, his partner's boss whom he had met a few times, was the chief of staff.
The Crown offered Faist an investigative assistance agreement in October 2014. The agreement was that what he shared in his statement at the time could not be used against him. Faist continues to be Miller's common-law partner.
While Faist conceded he wiped the computers at Miller's request — he said he prefers the term "cleaned" — he characterized the deletion of personal records as "benign" and in an email encouraged staffers to back up their files on a USB drive.
Asked by Crown prosecutor Tom Lemon if he made any effort to de-select files on the computers, so as to only delete personal and not work-related files, Faist said, "I don't recall specifically."
Prosecutor Sarah Egan argued in the Crown's opening trial remarks that the deletions were not benign at all, but came from a premeditated desire of the co-defendants to obfuscate records in contravention of their public duty to maintain them.
Faist said he could not recall what he was paid for the work, or when he discussed payment. But records show he was paid $11,017.50 for the work by the Liberal Caucus Service Bureau to wipe the government computers, labelled as invoice No. 20 to the client. He was not a government employee or approved contractor, and did not have clearance to access the files. Additionally, the premier's office has its own IT office that typically handles routine requests.
Under questioning by the Crown, Faist said he remembers seeing a pop-up security warning about who was and was not supposed to have access to the computers, but said "I probably wouldn't have read it, to be honest."
Faist deleted the files after Livingston's junior aide Wendy Wai received extraordinary password clearance from top civil servants. Multiple witnesses have testified that Wai's skill level with computers was low.
Given the lack of documents produced by Minister of Energy Chris Bentley in response to a request for gas plants information, the province's top civil servants were concerned the government might not have been in compliance with an order from parliament. In the words of former top civil servant Peter Wallace, who testified last week, the claim that there were no relevant records to satisfy  the request "lacked credibility."
In this context, the civil service was reluctant to grant the password request made by Livingston, but could not cite a precedent to deny it. Following a Jan. 30, 2013 meeting with five top civil servants, including Wallace and cabinet office lawyer William Bromm, they decided to grant the access but reiterated the record-keeping responsibilities to Livingston in a two-page email, and in a five- to 10-minute phone call.
In cross-examination that began late Friday afternoon, Miller's defence counsel, Scott Hutcheson, asked Faist about his memory. "Do you have trouble remembering dates?" the attorney asked. Faist said that was true, and added with a laugh that it has been the source of some conflict in his and Miller's relationship, like when he can't recall how long they have been seeing each other. At another point in his testimony, Hutcheson quizzed him on the last names of two women named Deborah that were mentioned earlier in the morning; Faist could not immediately recall them.
Hutcheson also sought to draw parallels between the security-intensive IT work Faist did for the Liberal caucus and other clients, like the Ontario Provincial Police and Ontario Lottery and Gaming, to suggest their standards and procedures were comparable, and nothing seemed out of the ordinary.
The cross-examination of Faist will continue Monday.

With partial immunity in hand, Peter Faist testifies at gas plants trial about ‘cleaning’ government computers

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