Whistleblower watchdog strikes out for third time: FAIR calls for change

October 10, 2010

OTTAWA – The Public Sector Integrity Commissioner, the agent of Parliament charged with protecting government whistleblowers, published her third annual report this week.

For the third consecutive year the Commissioner’s office, with its annual budget of $6.5 million and staff of more than 20, has uncovered not a single case of wrongdoing and has protected not a single whistleblower.

David Hutton, Executive Director of FAIR, stated:

“This report serves up a feast of platitudes about the great work being done by the Commissioner’s office and how wonderful the Canadian system is – the envy of other countries. Yet whistleblowing experts consider our law a disaster and the numbers confirm this.”

“It’s time to abandon the hype and face reality – the Commissioner’s ship is sinking. With no findings of wrongdoing or reprisal, this office has little credibility left. It has protected no-one and provides absolutely no deterrent to wrongdoers.”

These results highlight the failure of the government’s much-touted whistleblower law, which Minister Baird described as the “Mount Everest” of whistleblower protection when it was introduced by the Conservatives after their 2006 election victory – won on a campaign platform of transparency and accountability.

Since the law was enacted FAIR has seen no change in the experience of whistleblowers, whose lives are typically devastated by reprisals, and who quickly discover that the Integrity Commissioner’s office does nothing to protect them. Yet they have nowhere else to go.

Until honest employees can speak out without fear of reprisal, our bureaucracy will continue to spawn (and cover up) disasters that could be nipped in the bud: like the Tainted Blood scandal, the Sponsorship Scandal, Shawinigate, and the $1 billion Gun Registry budget overrun.

FAIR calls upon lawmakers to accelerate the required 5-year review in order to enact properly-designed legislation. They should also ensure that those who administer the law are focused on getting results – detection of wrongdoing and real protection for whistleblowers – rather than merely going through the motions.

For more information:
David Hutton, Executive Director
613-567-1511

Reference:

OPSIC performance statistics, 2007-2010

What's wrong with the PSDPA – a FAIR publication

OPSIC third annual report (pdf)