Earlier, we exclusively reported on Vancouver city clerk Syd Baxter's accusation that British Columbia Federation of Labour executive director Geoff Meggs was "engineering" a potential strike by civic workers. In an interview with Public Eye, Mr. Baxter said he notified Vancouver's elected officials about that accusation - which was included in a personal email accidentally sent to the Coalition of Progressive Electors. And it just so happens your humble organ has obtained that notification. The following is a complete copy.

----- Original Message -----
From: Baxter, Syd
To: Anton, Suzanne; Ball, Elizabeth; Cadman, David; Capri, Kim; Chow, George; Deal, Heather; Ladner, Peter; Lee, B.C.; Louie, Raymond; Stevenson, Tim; Sullivan, Sam
Cc: Rogers, Judy
Sent: Mon Jul 16 12:25:22 2007
Subject: Personal communication - important

Council Members:

This is to let you know of an unfortunate personal occurrence that has become public.
On Thursday, July 12 on my personal email at home, I received an email from a friend who attached, for my interest, a newsletter he had received from COPE by email. He is on the COPE mail list.
On Thursday evening July 12, 2007 I replied to him from my personal email account and it was inadvertently forwarded to the COPE email address. I believe this occurred somehow because of the incoming attachment. I take responsibility for that error.
This was a personal and private email intended only for my friend. I have communicated with COPE yesterday and advised them of this situation and requested that the email be destroyed and communicated to no person.
The email expressed some frustration with the labour situation the City is facing and contained humour. Obviously, this was private and never intended to become public and should not have. However, if it should cause offence, I sincerely apologize.

Syd Baxter
City Clerk, City of Vancouver