Why did Saskatchewan’s human rights watchdog fight to keep its consultants’ invoices secret?
The Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission withheld 39 of 64 pages about its own consultants. The province’s privacy commissioner called its claimed harm “nothing more than fearful speculation.”
The Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission withheld 39 of 64 pages, in whole or in part, from a request about its own consultants, and the Information and Privacy Commissioner says the claimed financial harm from release was “nothing more than fearful speculation.”
A hard verdict for a body whose job is holding everyone else to account.
The request, received August 25, 2025, asked for all records of services provided to the commission or its members by Vanesa Vanstone, Brenna Vanstone, Mike Carr or Galt Resources Strategy Group: contracts, work product, quotations, invoicing and payment.
The commission answered on October 24, 2025, after an extension to notify third parties, and withheld invoice details, a consultant’s “briefing report” and more, citing trade secrets, harm to third parties and the exemption for advice and recommendations.
Commissioner Grace Hession David, in Review Report 309-2025 of September 30, 2026, took the exemptions one by one.
The pay of Vanesa Vanstone’s firm, Pinnacle Peak Leadership, was “agreed upon by Pinnacle and the SHRC,” a negotiation, not a secret handed over. “We cannot find that the withheld information was supplied by Pinnacle Peak Leadership to the SHRC.”
Financial harm to the consultants, a claim the commission adopted from them? “The financial loss in this case is based on nothing more than fearful speculation.” Public bodies must offer “persuasive evidence that goes beyond bald assertions.”
The commission did win some points. Pages 56 to 64, a consultant’s analysis and recommendations, stay sealed as advice, and personal details stay private.
But the contract and invoice details on pages 49 to 53 and most of the rest should go to the applicant, the Commissioner recommends, by October 30. Her recommendations are not binding, and the commission’s answer is not yet public.
One name in the request deserves a second look. Alan Thomarat was described as president and founder of Galt Resources Strategy Group when he was appointed to the commission itself in January 2024 by then Justice Minister Bronwyn Eyre, alongside Chief Commissioner Treena Sikora.
The report never mentions Thomarat, does not say whether any Galt records exist, and names no official who decided to withhold. It refers only to “the SHRC leadership team.”
A human rights commission spends its days telling other institutions what they owe the public. It took the Privacy Commissioner to remind it that the public is owed the invoices too.
Sheila Gunn Reid
Chief Reporter
Sheila Gunn Reid is the Editor-in-Chief, Alberta Bureau Chief, member of the board of directors, and host of The Gunn Show at Rebel News. Sheila also serves as President of the Independent Press Gallery of Canada. A mother of three and longtime conservative activist, Sheila is the author of bestselling books, including her most recent release, Independence Blueprint: What Alberta Can Learn From Quebec.
https://mybook.to/sheila
