Al Hilton confirmed Thursday that he has fired one of his employees for allegedly leaking confidential information to the Opposition NDP. (CBC)

An employee in Saskatchewan's Ministry of Corrections has been fired for not following proper procedures in releasing information, the deputy minister in charge says.

The employee, whose name has not been made public, was found to be responsible for revealing details about an inmate who was unlawfully at large last fall.

Al Hilton, the deputy minister of corrections, public safety, and police, confirmed to CBC News on Thursday the worker, who was initially suspended while the incident was investigated, had been fired.

"You know, he didn't phone the police. He didn't bring it up through the organization. So a public servant needs to do that, and in this case it didn't happen," Hilton said. "It wasn't transparent and it was done by leaking information."

'He didn't bring it up through the organization.'— Al Hilton, deputy minister of corrections in Saskatchewan

Hilton said the worker gave the information to a member of the legislative assembly, and tried to cover his tracks.

"Trying to protect your indentity while you're doing it," Hilton said was wrong. "There's no accountability there."

Last November, Saskatchewan's minister in charge of corrections was on the defensive in the legislature trying to answer questions about the mistaken release. Yogi Huyghebaert said he was disturbed that confidential information about an inmate who was unlawfully at large had been made public.

The Opposition NDP had raised the case of Brock Wiebe, a man serving time at the Regina Correctional Centre for sexual assault and assault with a weapon. Jail officials thought Wiebe had reached his probation date and released him, although his release date was 71 days later.

NDP MLA Kevin Yates wanted to know why the government hadn't told anyone Wiebe had been let out, contrary to a government promise to make public every time someone who was considered dangerous was on the loose.

Huyghebaert said officials were worried the man would hide if they made his case public. As it turned out, Wiebe voluntarily returned to custody.

"It's very much a concern of mine that confidential, classified and sensitive information is being released by somebody somewhere and going directly to [Yates]," Huyghebaert said in defence of the ministry's investigation.

Wrong man fired: Opposition

When Yates was asked Thursday to comment on the firing of a government employee, he said officials had the wrong person.

According to Yates, information was given to him but the timing does not connect the fired person with his office.

"They're saying he accessed the information on the 29th, apparently. I had the information on the 26th, three days before this individual even accessed the information," Yates said.

However, Hilton said, the ministry had gathered sufficient evidence pointing to the fired employee. He said the worker cannot be considered a whistleblower, because he failed to follow proper procedures.