MLA Dang ordered to pay $7,200 for breaching Alberta vaccine portal
MLA Dang ordered to pay $7,200 for breaching Alberta vaccine portal
An Independent Alberta MLA has been ordered to pay $1,500 for each day he spent trying to break into the province's vaccine portal to prove the website wasn't perfectly secure, a judge ruled on Tuesday.
In total, Thomas Dang – who left the Alberta NDP caucus when RCMP began investigating the incident – has to pay $6,000 in total, as well as a $1,200 victim surcharge fee, by June 30, 2023.
Judge Michelle Doyle called it a fit sentence given the gravity of Dang's actions, which she said had the potential to upend the public's expectation for their private records to be held securely.
However, she noted Dang believed he was acting in service of the public, although Doyle said he "lost sight of the larger context of his conduct" and called his hacking of the website "a backwards effort to protect the privacy of others."
Dang did not speak to media on Tuesday after the sentencing. A spokesperson from his team said they believe the penalty is "fair" and that Dang "is looking forward to putting this matter behind him so he can focus on representing his constituents for the remainder of his term and begin planning the next chapter of his career."
Dang claims he was contacted in September 2021 by a constituent with concerns about Alberta's online vaccine portal, which members of the public used to verify their vaccine status for access to public spaces during the peak of COVID-19 measures.
Dang says he used then-premier Jason Kenney's birth date and his vaccination status, which were already public, to run a computer script for four days that tested the portal's security.
According to an agreed statement of facts, Dang accessed the vaccination records of a person called "Ms. AB" before contacting his caucus with his findings.
He did not need to access a stranger's records to prove the concern and doing so betrayed the trust he was given as an MLA, the judge said on Tuesday.
Dang was charged under the Health Information Act and pleaded guilty in early November.
He has sat as an Independent member representing Edmonton-South since leaving the NDP in December 2021. He has said he does not plan to seek re-election in the spring 2023 vote.
Dang is 27 and says he earned in 2022 a Bachelor of Science in cybersecurity from Western Governors University and a university certificate in computing and information systems from Athabasca University.
With files from The Canadian Press and CTV News Edmonton's David Ewasuk and Sean Amato
U.S. President Joe Biden is using his State of the Union address Tuesday night to call on Republicans to work with him to 'finish the job' of rebuilding the economy and uniting the nation as he seeks to overcome pessimism in the country and navigate political divisions in Washington.
After raising interest rates eight consecutive times, Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem told an audience in Quebec City on Tuesday that inflation is showing signs of 'turning the corner' and that the coming year 'will be different.'
The federal government is pledging to increase health funding to Canada's provinces and territories by $196.1 billion over the next 10 years, in a long-awaited deal aimed at addressing Canada's crumbling health-care systems with $46.2 billion in new funding.
While much of internet is still buzzing about the wonders of ChatGPT, a Toronto-based technology and visual effects company is making its own splash in Hollywood using artificial intelligence.
As negotiations continue between premiers and the federal government, former Quebec premier Jean Charest is criticizing the feds' string-attached approach to health-care funding, stating that Ottawa should not be in the business of operating health-care systems.
We may soon be able to detect humidity levels, respiratory changes or a too-wet diaper, all with a new type of sensor — one created by drawing with a pencil on specially-treated paper.
An Ontario man is being accused of changing his name, profession and life story multiple times to potentially more than 100 women online before leaving some out thousands of dollars.
A 24-year-old man now linked to an unusual string of crimes that kept the Dallas Zoo on the lookout for missing animals told police that after he swiped two monkeys from their enclosure, he took them onto the city's light rail system to make his getaway, court records show.
Balloons and drones were among 768 reported UFO sightings in Canada last year, according to Winnipeg-based researcher Chris Rutkowski, who also found that eight per cent of all cases remained unexplained.
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith expressed her concerns with the federal government's proposed 'just transition' legislation directly to the prime minister on Tuesday, saying she hopes the two can find some common ground.
If Alberta accepts Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s federal health proposal, it would see, on average, $2.5 billion over the next 10 years, in line with population growth.
Robyn Silvernagle will be making her third appearance at the national Scotties Tournament of Hearts next week in Kamloops, BC, just weeks after her team was put together.
Residents at a downtown Saskatoon apartment complex are speaking out about what they say are unreasonable rent increases and a lack of attention to building repairs.
A forensic pathologist offered her expert opinion on how Catlin Goodwill’s three-month-old son died suddenly in October 2017, during testimony on the second day of trial.
A former medical student who claims he fatally shot a fellow student in self-defence during a drug deal in Halifax denied Tuesday he planned to kill the man and steal the marijuana he was carrying.
Retirement is bittersweet for a Nova Scotia doctor who says she feels like she has abandoned the 2,000 patients she has been caring for because she was not able to find a doctor to replace her.
An Ontario man is being accused of changing his name, profession and life story multiple times to potentially more than 100 women online before leaving some out thousands of dollars.
The federal government is pledging to increase health funding to Canada's provinces and territories by $196.1 billion over the next 10 years, in a long-awaited deal aimed at addressing Canada's crumbling health-care systems with $46.2 billion in new funding.
Meaghan Maloney of London, Ont. said she was driving on her way to work, along Highway 401, in her 2023 Nissan Rogue when the sunroof shattered without warning.
The federal government is pledging to increase health funding to Canada's provinces and territories by $196.1 billion over the next 10 years, in a long-awaited deal aimed at addressing Canada's crumbling health-care systems with $46.2 billion in new funding.
Quebec interim Liberal leader Marc Tanguay says that in wanting to close Roxham Road to prevent irregular entry of asylum seekers into Quebec, the Parti Québécois and its leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon are behaving like Donald Trump.
There is a new sign of financial issues with an Ottawa construction company that suddenly closed, leaving customers with unfinished projects unable to recoup their losses.
A dog in desperate need of care was found abandoned during frigid temperatures over the weekend and is just one of the many cases of abandoned dogs, according to Animal Control in that area.
Roundabouts are under the microscope in Waterloo region as regional councillors are reviewing the safety of the road design following a pair of serious collisions involving pedestrians.
An Ontario man is being accused of changing his name, profession and life story multiple times to potentially more than 100 women online before leaving some out thousands of dollars.
The federal government is pledging to increase health funding to Canada's provinces and territories by $196.1 billion over the next 10 years, in a long-awaited deal aimed at addressing Canada's crumbling health-care systems with $46.2 billion in new funding.
While some premiers are calling the health-care offer presented by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau Tuesday "disappointing," B.C.'s David Eby stopped short of that characterization.
At 2:18 Run in Victoria, Phil Nicholls is wondering what an economic slowdown might mean for his small business specializing in high-end sneakers and clothing.
A Victoria man says a series of devastating earthquakes in Turkiye and Syria have left him feeling nearly paralyzed, as the death toll from the quakes rises above 6,200 people.
