Privy Council Office (PCO)

CBC The Current – November 22, 2011

CBC: The Professional Institute of the Public Service called it a sad day for federal employees worried about the safety of Canadians. This summer, the labour relations board ruled against two out of three Health Canada scientists who lost their jobs in a long battle over whistle blowing.

Doctors Shiv Chopra, Margaret Haydon and Gerard Lambert went public with their concerns that bovine growth hormones might be a risk to human health. In the end, the hormone was never approved for use in Canada.

The Canadian Press – August 25, 2011

A fisheries scientist says she believes senior officials close to the prime minister prevented her from talking to the media about her research into the 2009 sockeye salmon collapse in B.C.

Kristi Miller told a federal inquiry Thursday that she learned about the gag order only through the inquiry and believes officials with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans were OK with her giving interviews about the publication of her article in the journal Science.

David Hutton – August 13, 2011

Last week an adjudicator at the Public Service Labour Relations Board handed down rulings related to three Health Canada scientists that confirm what many Canadians — and international observers — had already concluded: that Canada is not a safe place for honest employees, especially if they work for the federal government.

After four-and-a-half years of proceedings, it took a further year for the adjudicator to deliver his 208-page decision, which dismissed seven out of eight grievances and ordered one whistleblower reinstated — but not the others. Having followed this case closely from the start, the end result seems absurd to me — as do the reasons given for treating one scientist differently from the others.

Amy Minsky – June 7, 2011

It's a matter of days before the six-month term of Canada's interim integrity commissioner comes to an end, yet the federal government still hasn't advertised the job.

The lack of public action to fill the post — its last occupant departed amid considerable controversy — has some critics worried the next commissioner will be chosen behind closed doors.