Harper’s nominee to replace disgraced integrity czar draws fire
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.
The Federal Accountability Initiative for Reform (FAIR), which aims to help bureaucrats speak out without fear of reprisal when they encounter wrongdoing, was joined by Democracy Watch and Canadians for Accountability in denouncing the decision to give the job to Mr. Dion. The groups want to appear before MPs at committee to give their opinions about Mr. Dion’s suitability for the position.
“We are not surprised, but we are deeply disappointed and we vigorously oppose this nomination” David Hutton, the executive director of FAIR, said in a news release. “How can the government claim to be revitalizing Christiane Ouimet’s discredited agency when it appoints another career insider – and not just any insider but a veteran of the Justice Department, which has a fearsome reputation as the scourge of whistleblowers.”
The groups say Mr. Dion has actually made a good first impression, and he is more personable and capable than Ms. Ouimet. A damning report by the Auditor-General released a year ago – just after she suddenly retired – found she had berated and marginalized her staff while seeking vengeance against those she suspected of reporting her misdeeds.
FAIR and the other groups say that, out of almost 400 complaints that have been filed with the Integrity Commissioner’s Office, Mr. Dion has not found a single case of wrongdoing, and he has referred only two cases of reprisal to the Public Servants Disclosure Protection Tribunal.
That’s not far off the record established by Ms. Ouimet. During her time in office, she received 228 disclosures of wrongdoing or reprisals from public servants. Seven were investigated. Five were closed with no finding of wrongdoing and two remained under investigation at the time of the release of the report of the Auditor General.
FAIR and the other groups also point out that Mr. Dion’s performance has never been scrutinized and that he was not called to testify before any House committee after he tabled his first annual report in June. Officers of Parliament are generally required to appear before a committee after the release of their annual reports.
“With hindsight it seems clear that the Harper government has acted against the interests of honest public servants from the moment it first came to power,” FAIR and the other groups said in the release. “It pushed through whistleblower legislation that was known to be deeply flawed, created a toothless watchdog agency and put someone in charge who seemed hostile to those she was supposed to protect.”
Despite the complaints about her performance, Ms. Ouimet received a severance package from the government that included a separation allowance of $354,000, another $53,100 in lieu of foregone benefits, and an additional 28 weeks of severance pay worth about $137,000.
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