Government ethics

Justice department whistleblower on a crusade to sustain the rule of law

Topics: 
Justice Department, Government ethics, Whistleblowers
Rating: 
5
Edgar Schmidt

Kirk Makin – February 23, 2013

Somebody had to blow the whistle on the federal Department of Justice, Edgar Schmidt believed. And he decided the best candidate was him.

“As a fairly senior person toward the end of his career, it fell to me,” said Mr. Schmidt, who launched a legal action last month accusing his department of short-circuiting a legal requirement that new laws be vetted to see whether they comply with guarantees in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

CIDA ethics code muzzles bureaucrats

Topics: 
CIDA, Government ethics, Government transparency
Rating: 
4

Jessica Murphy – January 31, 2013

Opposition parties accused the feds of muzzling bureaucrats at the Canadian International Development Agency. The Grits and the NDP say a "loyalty oath" in the new code of conduct at the aid agency goes too far by barring government workers from publicly criticizing the department.

But the government says it's simply part of the code of ethics the government developed in concert with the public service.

Ottawa mayor’s office rushed casino vote, strategized with developer

Topics: 
Municipalities, Government ethics, Ontario
Rating: 
3

Watson staff co-ordinated push with OLG, documents reveal

David Reevely – January 21, 2013

The rush to approve the idea of a new casino for Ottawa was entirely self-imposed, driven by Mayor Jim Watson and his staff, newly released documents show.

The Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp., which wants the new casino, was prepared to give the city time for a full debate, according to correspondence released to the Citizen under access-to-information legislation. Much of correspondence is between Serge Arpin, Watson’s chief of staff, and Giacomo “Jake” Pastore, OLG’s manager of community and municipal relations.

Zabia Chamberlain: ‘That’s my whole life they took’

Topics: 
Harassment, Government ethics, PSLRB
Rating: 
3
Zabia Chamberlain

How bullying and inaction destroyed a public service career

Don Butler – February 8, 2013

Zabia Chamberlain’s nightmare began in October 2007 when she accepted an executive job at Human Resources and Skills Development Canada’s national headquarters at Place du Portage in Gatineau.

Within days, her new boss, a director general at HRSDC, began a pattern of bullying and harassment that ranged from profane shouting and door-slamming to uninvited physical contact. Within eight months, his behaviour had driven her out of the workplace, terrified and traumatized. She hasn’t been back since.

Whistleblower group files complaint with Canadian Bar Association against Justice Canada

Topics: 
Justice Department, Government ethics, Professional ethics
Rating: 
5

February 8, 2013

Canadians for Accountability has filed a complaint with the Canadian Bar Association, arguing that the federal government is requiring its lawyers to violate their moral and ethical obligations and requesting that it conduct an investigation into this matter.

The complaint arises from the suspension of Justice Canada lawyer Edgar Schmidt, who argued that the department was failing to provide Parliament with a full and proper assessment when proposed laws might breach the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Montreal whistleblower quit after 'sense of trust was broken' over rigged land sales

Topics: 
Quebec, Corruption, Construction industry, Government ethics
Rating: 
4
Joseph Farinacci

Les Perreaux – February 4, 2013

A whistleblower who ran real-estate deals for the city of Montreal lasted just 28 months before he quit his high-level job, testifying he finally gave up trying to stop the rigging of city land sales by his political masters.

Joseph Farinacci, who took a job as director of real estate transactions for the city in late 2004, testified Monday that he walked into a system where public tendering appeared to be a process meant to rubber-stamp preordained winners on bids for Montreal’s vacant public land.

Is Ottawa losing another crucial whistleblower?

Topics: 
Justice Department, Government ethics, Whistleblowers
Rating: 
0
Edgar Schmidt

Errol Mendes – January 23, 2013

Kevin Page, the first Parliamentary Budget Officer, will soon lose his job as a key protector of Canadian taxpayers’ monies. He is certain not to be reappointed by Stephen Harper when his term ends in March, even though he has been lauded for his warning about major financial mismanagement and misinformation by the government. Mr. Page stood his ground, even while he was fiercely attacked by Conservatives who claimed he was wrong on many key issues - such as the cost of the F35 fighter jets.

Now, a second brave public servant’s job is in danger for warning about how the 1982 Charter and the 1960 Canadian Bill of Rights are potentially being undermined by the Department of Justice.

Trouble brewing at Justice Canada

Topics: 
Justice Department, Government ethics, Whistleblowers
Rating: 
0

Glenn Kauth – January 21, 2013

In a sign of potential discord at the federal Justice Department, a government lawyer has gone to court over his employer’s duty to inform Parliament of legislation that may violate the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

According to The Globe and Mail, the lawyer, Edgar Schmidt, is challenging the government over the interpretation of that duty. He argues the test for informing Parliament is “whether, on balance, a measure is likely not in compliance,” the Globe reported last week. But according to Schmidt, the practice has been to approve measures with a five-per-cent chance of success.

Government lawyer Edgar Schmidt courageously blows the whistle

Topics: 
Justice Department, Government ethics, Whistleblowers
Rating: 
5

Toronto Star editorial – January 19, 2013

Even at the risk of his reputation and livelihood, Edgar Schmidt couldn’t stay quiet any longer. For more than a decade, the senior justice department lawyer has been trying to convince his bosses that they are breaking the law by inadequately evaluating whether proposed bills violate the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. When he was finally satisfied that no one would ever listen to him, he decided to sue the government.

Before a federal judge last week, Schmidt maintained that government lawyers are instructed to raise possible Charter conflicts only when the violations are unambiguous. Even if a bill is deemed to have a 95-per-cent probability of contravening the Charter, as long as some argument, however dubious, can be made in its defence, the minister is not to be notified.

Federal lawyer suspended after suing his own department

Topics: 
Justice Department, Government ethics, Whistleblowers
Rating: 
0

Andrew Livingstone – January 20, 2013

A federal lawyer is challenging his own department in court over internal policy that he says allows the government to cut corners, leaving open the possibility that legislation is enacted that infringes Canadians’ Charter rights.

Edgar Schmidt, a senior lawyer with the Department of Justice for more than a decade, believes the government is failing to apply the proper litmus test to laws and regulations before enacting them.

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