Date: Monday May. 28, 2012 8:11 PM ET

OTTAWA A veterans advocate has complained to the privacy watchdog about an internal report that largely exonerates federal bureaucrats who spread around his personal medical information.

The Veterans Affairs investigation into Sean Bruyea's case has revived questions about how seriously the Harper government has treated breaches of privacy of ex-soldiers.

Privacy Commissioner Jennifer Stoddart concluded almost two years ago that the use of Bruyea's medical information in two 2006 briefing notes to former veterans minister Greg Thompson broke the law.

However, an outside report commissioned by the department found no "malice" or "fault" in the actions of bureaucrats and senior department officials.

The report noted that Bruyea's medical information was stitched into several other notes that were not part of the privacy commissioner's investigation.

Bruyea, who described the report as a whitewash, says his privacy was violated once again because the consultant had full, unfettered access to the briefings.

He says no one from Amprax Inc., headed by a former senior bureaucrat Alain Jolicoeur, contacted him for either permission to view the material or for input into the report.

"I certainly ... never would authorize an individual like Mr. Jolicoeur who has an extensive background as a senior bureaucrat which places him in a conflict of interest in assessing whether his peers broke the law," Bruyea said in his letter to the privacy commissioner.

"In authorizing this investigation and releasing unprecedented large amounts of my personal information to Mr. Jolicoeur, it is apparent that senior officials grossly and flagrantly broke privacy laws in order to solicit a report which would justify their breaking of those same laws in the first place. (Veterans Affairs) has crudely attempted but failed to justify the unjustifiable."

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Veterans advocate revives privacy war