McMaster University is going to court in an attempt to prevent The Hamilton Spectator from gaining access to President Peter George's employment contract.

The university is seeking to overturn a recent decision by Ontario's Information and Privacy Commissioner, who ordered McMaster to release details of his contract to The Spectator by Feb. 29.

The university has applied to Ontario's Superior Court of Justice for a judicial review of the order, stating George could "suffer irreparable harm" if a stay of the order was not granted.

Ontario's universities, which previously had been exempt, were included in the province's Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy legislation as of June 10, 2006.

A McMaster spokesperson said the university believes the legislation "has to be tested a bit."

"The Freedom of Information legislation is designed to do two things," said Andrea Farquhar, McMaster's director of public and government relations.

"One, to give the public access to information, but it's also designed to preserve the privacy of personal information."

Spectator managing editor of news Jim Poling said taxpayers have a right to know both how much of their money is being spent and how it's spent.

"The law now says the public can ask for this information just as it can with any other publicly funded institution," said Poling.

Bob Spence, a spokesman for the Information and Privacy Commissioner, said any employment contract at any institution covered by the legislation "would normally be available under FOI."

George's salary is already released annually as part of Ontario's Public Sector Salary Disclosure Act. This year's release comes Tuesday, though some organizations issued their lists early.

The act covers municipal governments, universities and colleges, school boards, hospitals and Crown agencies. It also applies to provincial ministries and some nonprofit organizations that receive a large share of their funding from the provincial government.

In 2006, George was paid $432,882 in salaries and benefits combined.

"For the university, there's a principle here," said Farquhar. "The president's salary is already disclosed but the particulars of his employment contract should be protected."

In August 2006, The Spectator made a Freedom of Information request seeking George's contract, including benefits, pension and all other entitlements he receives from the university.

McMaster refused to release his contract and The Spectator appealed to the Information and Privacy Commissioner.

In its submission to the IPC, the university argued George's contract should be exempt because his position is not like that of a regular employee or officer.

McMaster stated a specific description of George's benefits should not be disclosed because "universities function as autonomous bodies and the government has no direct power to control them."

McMaster also argued making the contract public would be an unjustified invasion of George's personal privacy.

In his own submission, George stated a university president does not have a specified job classification or job description.

Seventeen months after The Spectator made its FOI request, the IPC ruled in favour of the newspaper.

A court date for the judicial review has not been set.

sbuist@thespec.com

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