The Bank of Canada was not following federal security rules when Governor Mark Carney's travel bag containing classified documents was left unattended by his driver in a car on a Montreal street, officials say.
The car's window was smashed on Nov. 1 and confidential documents were stolen, leading to embarrassing headlines for the security-conscious organization.
The Bank of Canada is a Crown corporation and one of the most independent institutions in the federal government. It is refusing to release its security protocol or state whether it was normal practice to allow Mr. Carney's chauffeur to leave the car for a prolonged period. The bank would not identify the driver nor say whether the person still works for it.
However, the Treasury Board Secretariat said that the Bank agreed in 1989 to align its security practices with those of the rest of the federal government, which clearly call on agencies to have an eye on their secret documents at all times.
"No, you cannot leave classified information unattended in public spaces," said Treasury Board spokesman Pierre-Alain Bujold.
Government insiders said that classified information is either kept inside federal departments or transported in lockable government-supplied briefcases, all the while never being left alone in open areas.
The RCMP has dedicated a team of top officers from its Integrated National Security Enforcement Team to investigate the incident in Montreal. The bag has been found, but it is unclear whether any arrests were made and what happened to the actual documents and other items that were inside.
Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said he was informed of the incident about a week ago, and said that he did not chastise Mr. Carney.
"He's a victim of a crime, that's an unfortunate thing," Mr. Flaherty said outside the foyer of the House of Commons.
Mr. Flaherty initially said there was "no harm done" because all documents were retrieved, but he had been wrongly briefed and a Finance official later confirmed that the exact status of the documents remains unclear.
The opposition's finance critics were more scathing in their criticism of Mr. Carney, a former private sector banker at Goldman Sachs who took over the Bank of Canada in 2008.
NDP finance critic Thomas Mulcair called on Mr. Carney himself to state what happened, instead of allowing his "mouthpiece" at the Bank of Canada to speak to reporters on the matter. In addition, Mr. Mulcair said he wants Mr. Carney to lay out which documents were stolen and what has been done to improve security at the Bank of Canada over the past two weeks.
"He can't point to the driver and say, 'The butler did it.' It is his responsibility because he is ultimately in charge of the institution," Mr. Mulcair said. "He was in Montreal doing important work and he was bringing those documents with him; it was because they were important."
Liberal MP Scott Brison said the incident was an "unfortunate breach of security," adding that he hopes that the Bank of Canada will have learned its lesson.
"Any incident like this raises concerns, and strengthening security protocols probably makes sense at this point," Mr. Brison said.
Bank of Canada spokesman Jeremy Harrison said the stolen documents had differing levels of security classification, and included staff reports and briefing notes that would not affect markets. None of the documents were related to sensitive policy areas such as the direction of interest rates.
Mr. Harrison confirmed that the chauffeur have responsibilities related to security, but refused to state whether any disciplinary measures have been imposed following the incident.
He said the theft has led to a review of the bank's "security procedures, policies and training," adding that bank drivers are expected to "exercise sound judgment" and "demonstrate security awareness."
With a report from Jeremy Torobin and Bill Curry