55 Lake Shore Blvd. East
Toronto ON M5E 1A4
Tel: 416 864-6660
Fax: 416 864-6864
roy.ecker@lcbo.com

FEB 5, 2003

Mr. Larry Paterson
1325 Royal Drive
Peterborough Ontario
K9H 6R6

Dear Mr. Paterson:

Your letter to the Hon. Tim Hudak, Minister of Consumer and Business Afairs and copied to Mr. A.S. Brandt, has been forwarded to me for response.

The LCBO has looked into the issues raised in your letter. First and foremost, I wish to make it clear the the LCBO has not provided Mr. Trevor Cole any correspondence or information relating to you, specifically with respect to the Notice of Intended Discipline referred to in his article in the December 2002 issue of Toronto Life. The LCBO does not provide personal information relating to employees to journalists or other third parties. You indicated in your letter that you referred Mr. Cole to the appropriate LCBO authorities. As a result, Mr. Cole did contact several individuals at the LCBO. Although it was clear that Mr. Cole already had a copy of, or information about the NOID since he was thoroughly familiar with the contents, LCBO representatives refused to discuss the matter with him. We are most cognisant about protecting the privacy of our employees and as a general rule, do not disclose personal information of individuals without their consent.

With regard to the issues you have raised about the NOID, you will agree that these are not related to your allegations of invasion of personal privacy contained in your letter to the Minister. However, I understand that your concerns have already been addressed and clarified by the Director of the Eastern Region.

With regard to the issues raised by you regarding the mediation held in May 2002, this mediation was scheduled to deal with issues raised in grievances that you filed. thus it was part of the grievance procedure. As you have filed greivance and are represented by the Union and these matters have proceeded through the grievance procedure, it would be improper and inappropriate for me to comment on these matters.

Similarly, it is understood that you also filed a grievance regarding the Ontario Wine 'Advocate programme. Thus, it would also be improper and inappropriate for me to comment on those issues. Nevertheless, although I cannot coment on the issues raised in your grievances, I can assure you that they are being handled thoroughly and properly by the LCBO.

If you have further concerns regarding your grievances, it is suggested that you contact your Union representative.

I trust this response has clarified some of the issues raised in your letter.

Sincerely,

R.W. Ecker
Vice President, Store Operations
Retail Division

c. A.S. Brandt     D. Bourre

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