Integrity Commissioner

Integrity commissioner nominee faces scrutiny

Topics: 
Integrity Commissioner, Appointments process, Government Operations Committee, Mario Dion
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Mario Dion

Sonya Bell – December 13, 2011

The prospect of a new integrity commissioner being drawn from the ranks of the public service is being met with extreme skepticism from opposition MPs and accountability advocates concerned about giving rise to a second Christiane Ouimet.

Mario Dion, whose nomination to the post was announced last week, took questions Tuesday at the House’s government operations committee about his management credentials and long-term vision for the office.

Integrity Commissioner's appearance before Government Operations Committee

Topics: 
Integrity Commissioner, Videos, Government Operations Committee, Watchdogs, Mario Dion
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Mario Dion

December 13, 2011

Following his nomination by Prime Minister Stephen Harper to become the next Public Sector Integrity Commissioner, Mario Dion appeared before the House Standing Committee on Operations and Estimates on December 13, 2011 to be questioned about his appointment.

This is an unedited recording of the full session. (1 hour 30 minutes)

FAIR's ten questions re appointment of toothless whistleblower watchdog

Topics: 
PSIC, Integrity Commissioner, Government transparency, Appointments process, Mario Dion
Rating: 
5

FAIR Newsletter – December 12, 2011

Mario Dion, the Prime Minister’s choice for Public Sector Integrity Commissioner will testify before a parliamentary committee on Tuesday. This will be almost the final step in installing a whistleblower watchdog who has demonstrated over the past year that he can be equally ineffective as his disgraced predecessor.

FAIR is calling for proper scrutiny of this appointment before any decisions are made by Parliament. There are many serious questions that must answered before any decision is made: here are 10 for starters.

Feds to appoint another whistleblower watchdog who won’t bite

Topics: 
PSIC, Integrity Commissioner, Government transparency, Appointments process, Mario Dion
Rating: 
5
Mario Dion

This decision is alarming since it signals the continuation of a strategy that has been pursued consistently for the past five years: ignoring the duty to protect public servants who disclose wrongdoing.

David Hutton – December 12, 2011

With hindsight it seems evident that the Harper government has striven to silence honest public servants from the moment it first came to power in 2006. First, it pushed through whistleblower legislation that was known to be deeply flawed. Then it appointed as its new watchdog, Christiane Ouimet, a hand-picked bureaucrat who seemed hostile to the very people she was supposed to protect.

Perhaps most telling, it also turned its back on the very whistleblowers whose support it had courted during the election, for example, intensifying the legal battle against Joanna Gualtieri, having its lawyers force her to answer more than 10,500 questions, then settling on the courthouse steps—demonstrating that the government never had a case.

CFRA Radio: Mario Dion's nomination as Integrity Commissioner

Topics: 
PSIC, Integrity Commissioner, Audio, Mario Dion
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CFRA Ottawa – December 9, 2011

CFRA host Michael Harris and David Hutton discuss the recent nomination of interim commissioner Mario Dion to become the new Public Sector Integrity Commissioner, succeeding digraced former commissioner Christiane Ouimet.

Hutton explains why FAIR and other civil society organizations are vigorously opposing this nomination, based on Dion's track record and his aparently cosy relationship with senior members of the bureaucracy that he is supposed to be policing.

Harper’s nominee to replace disgraced integrity czar draws fire

Topics: 
PSIC, Integrity Commissioner, Mario Dion
Rating: 
5

Gloria Galloway – December 9, 2011

The federal government is proposing to replace the disgraced Public Sector Integrity Commissioner with the man who has been doing her job on an interim basis.

But three groups that work to promote accountability and fairness in government say the nomination of Mario Dion to fill the shoes of Christiane Ouimet proves Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s Conservatives have little interest in protecting whistleblowers in the public service.

New whistleblower watchdog draws mixed reviews

Topics: 
PSIC, Integrity Commissioner, Appointments process, Mario Dion
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Mario Dion

Karina Roman – December 8, 2011

Critics of Canada's whistleblower protection efforts reacted with disappointment Thursday to the appointment of Mario Dion as public service integrity commissioner, but opposition MPs said they were willing to take a wait-and-see approach.

Dion has been the interim commissioner since December 2010, after Christiane Ouimet abruptly retired amidst allegations she was failing to do her job and was abusive to her staff. She was given a nearly half-million dollar severance package.

PM nominates next Public Sector Integrity Commissioner

Topics: 
PSIC, Integrity Commissioner
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December 7, 2011

Prime Minister Stephen Harper today announced the nomination of Mario Dion as the new Public Sector Integrity Commissioner. 

Mr. Dion has been serving as interim Public Sector Integrity Commissioner since December 2010. During a public sector career that spanned 29 years, Mr. Dion held various positions of increasing scope and responsibility, including Associate Deputy Minister of Justice, Executive Director and Deputy Head of the Office of Indian Residential Schools Resolution of Canada and Chairperson of the National Parole Board. Mr. Dion holds a law degree (LL.L) from the University of Ottawa.

Harper government heads in wrong direction in anti-corruption battle

Topics: 
PSIC, Integrity Commissioner, Government ethics, Government transparency, Anti-corruption efforts
Rating: 
5
Stephen Harper in caucus

David Hutton – November 7, 2011

Protecting honest employees who speak out is one of the most important things that any country can do to combat misconduct and corruption in its institutions. In the wake of the sponsorship scandal, the Harper government came to power on a promise to do just this—but once elected did an immediate 180-degree about-turn.

Recent events suggest that despite its past rhetoric about transparency and accountability, this government is determined to silence whistleblowers rather than protect them.

Government Guts Its Own Anti-Corruption Law

Topics: 
Integrity Commissioner, Government ethics, PSDPA, Anti-corruption efforts, Christiane Ouimet
Rating: 
5
Christiane Ouimet

David Hutton – October 28, 2011

The government has recently taken steps to ensure that the only wrongdoer ever exposed by its five-year old whistleblower law will never be punished. By doing so it has in effect gutted its own anti-corruption legislation, the whistleblower protection that was the centrepiece of its vaunted Federal Accountability Act.

The wrongdoer in question is disgraced former federal integrity commissioner Christiane Ouimet whose misconduct was exposed in a scathing report by then auditor general Sheila Fraser, following an intensive two-year investigation.

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