BC Defends Firing Premier’s Office Staffer over Leak Allegations

The British Columbia premier’s office says a former official under RCMP investigation for allegedly leaking sensitive and classified documents while in a previous job for the federal government was fired for cause.

In February, John Robert Pratt filed a lawsuit in the B.C. Supreme Court against Premier David Eby’s office. Pratt argued he was wrongfully dismissed as the acting executive director of international relations in the Intergovernmental Relations Secretariat, or IGRS.

In its recently filed response to the claim, the premier’s office said it told Pratt in a December 2025 letter that his employment had become “no longer tenable.”

Pratt was allegedly responsible for the unauthorized disclosure of documents containing sensitive and classified intelligence while in a previous job for the Privy Council Office, or PCO, which supports the Canadian prime minister and federal cabinet, it said.

“As a result of its investigation, the PCO determined the evidence raised national security concerns sufficient to refer the matter to RCMP for criminal investigation in accordance with its policies,” the response said.

The premier’s office was therefore entitled to fire Pratt for disciplinary reasons without notice or pay in lieu of notice, the province’s court filing argued. “The PCO investigation revealed a character flaw so incompatible with the discharge of the Plaintiff’s duties that it rendered the employment relationship no longer viable.”

Pratt made a material omission by failing to disclose to the premier’s office that he was under investigation and he had “fatally undermined the Employer’s confidence” in him by breaching the obligations of faithfulness and honesty, the filing said.

“The Defendant never would have hired the Plaintiff had it known about the Unauthorized Disclosures or investigation into the Unauthorized Disclosures,” it said.

The record at the Privy Council Office also meant Pratt was unlikely to get the security clearance he needed for the positions in the premier’s office, the filing said.

“As a result of his failure and/or inability to receive the required level of security clearance from the federal government, the Plaintiff was unable to meet one of the fundamental terms of his employment with the IGRS and, consequently, the employment contract was frustrated.”

Pratt’s positions in B.C. included being the primary point of contact with other premiers’ offices, intergovernmental relations ministries, the Privy Council Office and Global Affairs Canada, the filing said. He would also need to work closely with embassies, consulates and U.S. governors’ offices.

“In each of the positions he held at the IGRS, fostering and maintaining the trust and confidence of the Defendant’s partners in the federal government, including in the PCO, was an essential requirement,” it said.

“The Plaintiff was required to have a demonstrated history of honesty, discretion, sound judgment, tact and diplomacy in dealing with issues that could have a significant impact on the image and credibility of the government in its relations with other governments.”

In July 2025 Pratt had worked for the premier’s office for about a year when it learned he had been arrested and detained by the RCMP. He was immediately suspended without pay, then fired in December.

According to Pratt’s court submission, he worked for the Privy Council Office between May 2022 and February 2023, but the province’s filing says his actual end date was April 2023.

The province also says Pratt’s annual salary in the premier’s office was $86,150, not the $124,700 he claimed.

It said Pratt provided two references when he applied to work in the premier’s office, both of whom the employer interviewed, but neither had worked with him in the Privy Council Office.

Pratt’s February court filing said that the RCMP investigation is ongoing and that no charges have been laid against him.

He is seeking general and special damages, interest and costs.

The lawyer representing Pratt didn’t respond to a request for comment.