Minister Tim Hudak
Ministry of Consumer and Business Services
December 17, 2002
Dear Mr. Hudak:
My name is Larry Paterson, and I am a Customer Service
Representative with more than 27 years pensionable service with the Liquor
Control Board of Ontario. I am currently
located at Store # 343 on
I am writing to you, as Section 2 1(a) of the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act seems to make you the responsible enforcer of the Act where the LCBO is concerned. I have copied this to Mr. Andrew Brandt as Chairperson of the LCBO, and to other people and agencies as detailed at the end of this letter.
Attached is a pertinent portion of an article concerning Mr. Brandt written by Mr. Trevor Cole in the December issue of Toronto Life. Portions of this article (attached) strongly suggest that a member of LCBO management, namely, Mr. Paul Forsyth, District Manager, District # 8, has violated my personal privacy. The article quotes Mr. Forsyth as having discussed my personal work record and private information regarding a Notice of Intended Discipline (NOID) with Mr. Cole. If true, this would seem to be a serious violation of the Act.
I personally refused to discuss such issues with or provide
any documentation to Mr. Cole or Toronto Life (on multiple occasions). I referred them to the appropriate
authorities at the LCBO. The only
question I answered was “Are you being disciplined” to which I answered
“technically no, but I feel threatened as hell”. I also discussed the possibilities of growing
grapes in non-traditional areas of
The NOID mentioned was issued to me co-incidentally within
two weeks of a failed mediation hearing in the matter of a personal harassment
grievance that I filed against Mr. Forsyth in mid-2001. I believe it to be punitive in nature. The original grievance concerns the manner in
which I was transferred from a slower store in Omemee to a busy store in
I suffer from osteoarthritis, flat feet and an as-yet
unknown but serious lung disease that is causing me to lose breathing
ability. I am scheduled for an open lung
biopsy Dec 19 2002. I have missed more
than 20 percent of my salary this year due to taking time off in a preventive
attempt to preserve my health, both physical (arthtritis)
and emotional (nerves). As part of the
mediation hearing, my arthritis specialist supported my request to move to a
smaller (I thought Dr. Doris meant “slower”) store. The only accommodation the Board was willing
to allow was to move me to a physically smaller store within
At the May 2002 mediation hearing I was willing to drop the grievance if I had been moved to any of the Lakefield, Bridgenorth or Omemee stores. The mediator informed me that this was not possible as according to the LCBO there were no such positions available. Before the end of June a position opened at the Bridgenorth store that I was not sent to. In the fall a position opened in Omemee that I was also not sent to. I feel that the LCBO has ignored a request for medical accommodation for 7 months now. I reserve all my legal rights to current or future remedies arising from these facts.
The Toronto Life article states “Paul Forsyth now insists that a letter was sent a month later declaring the matter closed”. If Mr. Forsyth indeed discussed the matter with Mr. Cole I would have to treat this as a severe violation of my privacy. The original NOID was sent to me during a period when I was known to Mr. Forsyth to be out on stress leave (mainly without pay). My June 6, 2002 reply to the NOID of June 5, 2002 specifically requested that the LCBO reply to my concerns (both documents are attached). There has, to this date, been no reply of any kind, no letter as mentioned in the article. I have been living under a cloud for more than six months, a condition that may qualify as cruel or unusual punishment under the Canadian Bill of Rights, and as a violation of my fundamental rights under the Canadian Charter of Rights as outlined in my June 6 reply. A copy of my letter of June 6 was sent to Mr. Forsyth’s superior, Regional Director Don Bourre, who has been totally silent on all matters. I hold Mr. Bourre responsible for all events that have occurred, as well as Ms. P. McGregor of the Human Rights office in the Regional Headquarters. Neither has made any attempt to mitigate the situation despite being in possession of the facts.
It would seem that someone has been discussing my other
grievance without my permission. The
article further quotes “But when the LCBO selected employees in each of
its A- and B-ranked stores to become official Ontario wine advocates, Larry
Paterson’s name was refused.
“No, I reject that out of hand,” says Brandt to the notion that an employee might be getting grief for a connoisseurship that dare not speak its name. “The more I think about it, the more it annoys me. That is not possible within our system.””
I have attached documentation – emails within the LCBO which mention that stores will be required to have an Ontario Wine Advocate (OWA), my fellow workers selecting my name for consideration, and the appointment of another person. The stores request was e-mailed to the district office with my name suggested. According to a staff member, in less than 10 minutes the District Assistant called back to state that the District Manager had the right to make such appointments. As the documentation shows, Ms. Hunter was appointed by the end of the day. This was a clear indication to me (I was off that week, as was the Store Manager) that Larry Paterson is strongly discouraged from talking to customers about Ontario wine despite my “extensive expertise” as quoted in the denial of my grievance.
I filed a grievance over this matter, which is still current
(Mr. Forsyth’s reply and my reply to him are attached). This is the second personal harassment
grievance I have filed against District Manager Forsyth. I realize that District # 8 is experiencing
an unprecedented avalanche of grievances, and I wonder if either will be solved
before I retire in about 21 months. I
hope that at least my 2001 Grievance can be expedited due to the medical and
pay implications of my continuing in the busy stores in
Until the LCBO sees fit to respond to my letter of June 6th the cloud over my personal life still hangs over me. I would like for a moment to discuss some items related to my activities on my own time, and to LCBO reaction to them.
I have enclosed a communication to stores in District # 8, approving the placement of tear-off pads in many of Mr. Forsyth’s stores. I have also enclosed one of the tear off sheets, which very clearly highlights a portion of my website as the information source for Fiesta Buckhorn. I am reasonably sure that Mr. Forsyth knew that my website was the information source in 2001 as well, when his office similarly approved my website on the tear pad as well. He was in attendance at an earlier show, while he was the Manager of the Lindsay store, and I told him then about my web site (www.littlefatwino.com) , and he congratulated me on every aspect of the show, as had each LCBO District Manager who preceeded him.
I would like to point out that it was myself who pioneered
the first VQA sections in the LCBO in the early 90’s, as a direct result of
LCBO now-Vice President Bob Downey challenging me in 1989 to find a way to sell
“expensive Ontario wines”. I would also
point out that after Fiesta Buckhorn in 2001, the LCBO internal employee
newsletter, the Exchange, printed an article congratulating myself and other
LCBO employees for helping with the show (attached). Further, I would point out that the LCBO
Classics Catalogue (page 12, concerning 1999 Thirty Bench Cabernet Franc),
without asking permission of Fiesta Buckhorn, myself or Mr. Hugh Johnstone,
used a tasting note prepared for my website by Mr. Johnstone for use on my
website. I cannot understand how the
LCBO can now suggest that there is something “sinister” about my website. In fact, for many years my tasting notes were
in many stores (at one point 85 stores in the province). It seems that it is only since I have filed
personal harassment grievances against the District Manager that my actions
have become somehow “suspect”. I cannot
believe that the LCBO would rather tear down such work than attempt to work
with it to promote
In the past, I have received only praise from LCBO officials
and members of the government about my conduct inside and outside work, and in
fact no member of LCBO management has ever criticized my actions in any kind of
disciplinary manner until the NOIDS from Mr. Forsyth burst upon me. In fact the only negative thing I can point
to is that a number of
Until such time as the LCBO clearly informs me of any
violations of Conflict of Interest, I will continue to conduct my private life
in accordance with my own interests and conscience and subject to the laws of
this country. I would like to quote
Peterborough MPP Gary Stewart, from the Dec 13, 2002 issue of
In conclusion, without abandoning any of my current or future legal rights I am asking you to investigate these incidents, and for comments from all people receiving this letter.
Sincerely,
Larry Paterson,
CSR , LCBO Store # 343
Canadian Citizen,
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Cc: Mr. Andrew Brandt, Chairperson, LCBO
Mr. Gary
Stewart, MPP,
Mr. Peter
Adams, MP,
Commissioner
Ann Cavoukian, Information & Privacy Commissioner
of
Commissioner
George Radwanski, Privacy Commissioner of
Mr. Dennis McDermott, Director, Canadian Civil Liberties Association
Mr. John Coones, President,
Chief
Commissioner Keith Norton,