ARTS: Orchid lovers prepare exotic showcase /A3
NEWS: Flattened frogs prompt conservationist warning /A10 SPORTS: Claremont Spartan star to join Vikes b-ball /A14
SAANICHNEWS Wednesday March 11, 2015
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Mt Newton & Pat Bay Hwy . 250.652.1146
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BRING IN THIS COUPON AND WITH A PURCHASE OF A REGULAR MENU ITEM AND TWO BEVERAGES, RECEIVE A SECOND ITEM OF EQUAL OR LESS VALUE FOR FREE! Limit one per customer. Expires April 2, 2015 Dine In Only • Excludes daily specials, other coupons/ promos, weekend brunch menu • Maximum value $14.
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FOI results on spying software reveal big costs Daniel Palmer News staff
The installation and use of employee monitoring software at Saanich municipal hall could cost the municipality at least $30,000 in 2015, thanks to licensing and maintenance agreements that were confirmed before B.C.’s privacy commissioner launched an investigation into the District’s practices earlier this year. Emails released Monday through a freedom of information request show Saanich’s Information Technology department underwent training on Nov. 24, 2014 and installed Spector 360 – which is capable of capturing keystrokes as well as continuous screen images of employee activity – on an unknown number of computers at a cost of $1,992. Two invoices dated Jan. 14, 2015 reveal Saanich was given the option of paying another $29,250 for further licencing and one year of maintenance, or $43,992 for licencing and three years of maintenance by SpectorSoft Corporation, which sells Spector 360. The software had been monitoring activity on several municipal computers until Jan. 20, when the B.C. Privacy Commissioner Elizabeth Denham launched an investigation into its use. The FOI response also reveals Laura Ciarniello, Saanich’s director of corporate services, sent an email on Dec. 2 to IT manager Forrest Kvemshagen approving the software installation. Mayor Richard Atwell and council were sworn in on the same day. “I approve of this program and the machines that it has been installed on,” Ciarniello wrote in the email to Kvemshagen. “I have spoken with the Directors and Paul about this and I left it with (former CAO) Paul (Murray) to discuss with [redacted] and [redacted] or not.” Murray was on vacation leave on Dec. 2 and left the municipality on Dec. 16 with a $468,000 payout. Ciarniello was on vacation Monday and was unavailable for comment. PlEASE SEE: Software investigation, Page A2
OVER rs 30 YeaC in B
Don Denton/Black Press
Coy koi Colourful koi fish rise to the surface of their pond looking for food at the Wildwood Outdoor Living Centre at Cannor Nursery on Elk Lake Drive on a cloudy winter day.
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