Gomery Report Offers Useful Suggestions

Feb 1st, 2006

The long-awaited Gomery Report Part 2 which contains Gomery's recommendations for corrective action, was published on February 1, 2006. Gomery offers 19 recommendations; dissappointingly none of them dealing with whistleblower protection. However the report does 'suggest' some changes to Bill C-11. Pages 185-187 say:

The Commission takes the position that the new Act could be significantly improved if it were amended. It suggests that:

• the definition of the class of persons authorized to make disclosures under the Act (“public servants”) should be broadened to include anyone who is carrying out work on behalf of the Government;

• the list of “wrongdoings” that can be disclosed should be an open list,so that actions that are similar in nature to the ones explicitly listed in the Act would also be covered;

• the list of actions that are forbidden “reprisals” should also be an open list;

• in the event that a whistleblower makes a formal complaint alleging a reprisal, the burden of proof should be on the employer to show that the actions taken were not a reprisal;

• there should be an explicit deadline for all chief executives to establish internal procedures for managing disclosures;and

• the Act’s consequential amendments to the Access to Information Act and to the Privacy Act should be revoked as unjustified.

The Commission agrees in general with the scheme for disclosure, which has employees disclosing the information to their supervisors or to designated persons in their public service “units.” Disclosure to the Public Sector Integrity Commissioner or to the public is permitted only in exceptional (listed) circumstances.

Gomery's final comment, supporting the Bill C-11 scheme whereby whistleblowers should only disclose to their superiors, is surprising. Allan Cutler, the whistleblower whose efforts led to the Gomery Inquiry, has already explained how this aspect of Bill C-11 would have silenced him: by requiring him to report his concerns to the very people who were breaking the law.

Click here to see the Gomery Report Phase II.