Sask. woman involved in privacy breach by RPS officer calling for change

A Saskatchewan woman says more safeguards are needed after a Regina Police Service officer accessed personal records.

A woman whose privacy was repeatedly breached over several years by an officer with the Regina Police Service (RPS) says not enough has been done to stop similar breaches from happening in the future.

CTV News has agreed not to identify the woman due to privacy concerns, instead referring to her under the pseudonym “Jane.” She is one of six people whose personal information was accessed by RPS Const. Clinton Duquette.

Jane told CTV News she was Duquette’s former partner and the primary victim of the case.

On Dec. 11, 2025, the Office of the Saskatchewan Information and Privacy Commissioner (OIPC) released its report, finding Duquette snooped on the personal information of six people 67 times in the RPS database over a period of three years, three months, and 15 days.

• Regina police officer snooped on 6 people using police database, privacy commissioner says

According to the report, in addition to Jane, the other people who had their privacy breached included Jane’s sibling and Jane’s former partner.

‘How it started’

Jane said she and Duquette began dating in November 2021.

She first met Duquette earlier that fall while working with RPS. Jane said Duquette expressed his feelings towards her in late October and that she initially blocked his advances, telling him she did not date coworkers.

“I remember him saying specifically, ‘Oh, let me get this straight, you aren’t going to date me because of what I do for work, and I have a badge,’ and I’m like, ‘Well not exactly but yes, kind of,’” she told CTV News.

“I felt guilty. That’s how it started.”

Jane said the relationship moved very quickly, with the pair moving in together at the end of March 2022 and becoming engaged in July 2022, but Jane said the tone shifted after she began navigating health issues in May 2023.

“Beginning of January 2024, [I] really noticed a change. He became cold, very mean, it really flipped. Like, ‘You’re not who I thought I was going to marry, you can’t look after me,’” she recounted.

By August 2024, Jane had begun to suspect Duquette had used police resources to search for her friends. Despite her suspicions, Jane said she did not become aware Duquette accessed her personal information until June 2025 when RPS informed her.

Documents obtained by CTV News show Duquette first accessed Jane’s personal information through the RPS database on Oct. 7, 2021 — about a month prior to when the pair started dating. The breaches in privacy continued until Nov. 29, 2023.

“I was not surprised. I actually didn’t know,” she expressed. “I had suspicions, but I couldn’t prove it. I couldn’t confirm it.”

The punishment and privacy concerns

Duquette’s disciplinary measures imposed by RPS included a one-day suspension without pay, the retaking of a one-hour privacy training course, the re-signing of the RPS Confidentiality Protocol, and random audits of the police Integrated Electronic Information System (IEIS) database for two years.

The OIPC report did not agree with the police service’s handling of Duquette’s reprimand.

“Given the scope and breadth of the privacy breach in this case, the three-year timespan of the breach and the concession that the privacy breach was wilful and undertaken with full knowledge of the violation of [The Local Authority Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act], the disciplinary measures adopted by the RPS in this case are wholly inadequate and cannot restore public faith in the RPS,” the commissioner’s report said.

The report added RPS should consider enforcing severe consequences when violations by members are deliberate, as the police service must commit to an environment that reflects zero tolerance for inappropriate access of personal information.

In addition, the report said RPS failed to notify the six individuals that their privacy was breached within a reasonable time frame.

“The fact it took RPS three months to notify the affected individuals is concerning,” the report stated. “Notification of affected individuals in a privacy breach should be given immediate priority given that a snooper may use the personal information for questionable purposes.”

The letters also included a notification that the police officer had been disciplined, an apology, contact information of the RPS manager of access and privacy, as well as contact information for the OIPC.

According to a letter obtained by CTV News, the RPS Access and Privacy Unit received a report from the Professional Standards Branch on March 5, 2025 that an RPS officer accessed personal information without proper authorization, just under four months before Jane was told about the breach.

Jane told CTV News the privacy breach still has a lasting effect on her mental health.

“I will forever have to look over my shoulder and live in fear for the rest of my life,” she said.

Jane’s friend, who also had their privacy breached by Duquette, told CTV News they were concerned for her safety during the relationship.

CTV News has also agreed not to identify the friend, over similar privacy concerns to those of Jane.

“She became involved with a police officer, with Duquette, and I don’t know where, it seemed like her mental health started to tumble,” the friend explained. “He became very obsessive with her.”

“She was messaging my phone telling me that she couldn’t trust her phone, she couldn’t trust her location, when he was showing up wherever she happened to be at the time.”

According to the OIPC report, Regina police explained that Duquette was “going through some personal issues during the time period which led [them] to making poor decisions.”

“Making poor decisions for three years, three months, and 15 days and deliberately bypassing every safeguard in place should lead to a conclusion that future access could be risky and highly questionable,” the report read.

One of the nine recommendations outlined in the report was to have the officer’s access to the database permanently revoked.

‘Respectfully disagree’

Duquette is one of two RPS members who have recently faced discipline for misusing the police database.

On Feb. 6, former RPS Sgt. Robert Semenchuck received a two-year conditional sentence for using the police service’s internal database to access the private information of 33 women.

• ‘33 women deserve more’: Former police officer will not go to prison for using internal database to pursue victims

“We know we have much work to do to regain your trust, if ever, and I can assure you we are deeply committed to this work. Without trust, the Regina Police Service cannot serve the City of Regina every day,” RPS Chief Davies told reporters on Feb. 6.

Of the nine recommendations given by the privacy commissioner’s report relating to Duquette, Davies said eight have already been or are in the process of being enacted.

However, she said Duquette’s access to the police database would not be revoked.

“I respectfully disagree with [permanently revoking access] on the basis that permanent revocation of access to [the database] would effectively prevent an employee from performing their core duties, and that would amount to dismissal,” she said.

“The decision on discipline on that case has already been made and cannot be revisited.”

RPS declined an interview with CTV News on Duquette’s case, commenting only on the findings of the privacy commissioner’s report following Semenchuk’s sentencing.

Demands for justice

Since releasing the report, Saskatchewan’s privacy commissioner Grace Hession David said she is unable to speak on the specifics of the matter as “it is in the hands of justice.”

In an emailed response to CTV News, David added through the general nature of her work she does not have the authority to pursue the recommendations provided to RPS.

If the OIPC had the authority, the commissioner could make an order rather than a recommendation – which could then be enforced by the courts.

“If the stakeholder did not follow the order, then the stakeholder could be brought before a judge of the superior court and the matter reviewed there in a public courtroom,” she explained.

This is the case in other provinces such as Ontario, B.C., and Alberta.

According to Davies, the matter was forwarded to the Attorney General on Jan. 16, 2026, following her response to the OIPC’s recommendations.

Since both Duquette and Semenchuck’s cases have been brought to light, a petition has been circulating online demanding accountability for officers caught misusing police resources to spy on members of the public across Canada.

As of Feb. 18, the petition has garnered 576 signatures, with people from all over Canada standing in solidarity by sharing their own experiences or words of support for the cause.

Jane said by sharing her experience, she hopes to encourage other women to speak up.

“I am trying to not only fight for justice for myself, and for my voice to be heard,” she expressed. “But for the many other women who have had to experience what I have.”