Government Operations committee  The wrongdoing with regard to the commissioner's office is historical. Christiane Ouimet was audited by the Auditor General as the first commissioner and was found, in more than 200 cases, to have essentially not investigated but rejected the whistle-blower's complaint. Mario Dion was found by the Federal Court to have been negligent in a couple of cases.

Government Operations committee  I would echo what my colleagues have said.

Government Operations committee  Thank you very much to the committee for this opportunity to come and testify again on this very important law enforcement matter. That's what whistle-blower protection is really about, I think, with “law” and “enforcement” defined broadly. Making whistle-blowers front-line inspectors in every workplace and everyone who engages with government or business fully empowered to blow the whistle and fully protected when they do is very important in maintaining a rule of law.

Government Operations committee  We do have an office. It's the Public Sector Integrity Commissioner, but there are literally hundreds of cases that have still not been given the full investigation and fair investigation by that office. The current commissioner is someone who has been there pretty much through the whole time, and as far as we know, has never blown the whistle on what was massive wrongdoing by the first Integrity Commissioner and also wrongdoing by the second commissioner.

Government Operations committee  I believe it would be difficult to see that happen with the current commissioner unless that commissioner would be required to commission a fully independent audit, not only of the commissioner's office but of how every department is dealing with whistle-blower protection. It is something that hasn't been done since the first commissioner was audited, and it's long overdue.

Government Operations committee  Earlier, I mentioned reversing the onus so that the employer would have to prove the retaliation has not taken place. I think that's important. Also important is giving the commissioner the power to levy administrative monetary penalties straight up, so that chief executives, heads of organizations in the government or private sector, would know that a personal penalty could be coming their way, not through a tribunal process that's going to take years but through a commissioner saying, “You did wrong and you're paying this fine.”

Government Operations committee  Again, as the current banking service scandal shows, the federal government needs to pass a law protecting all federally regulated workers, and provincial governments need to do the same for both public sector and private sector workers. We have a couple of areas covered, with competition law through the Competition Bureau and with the labour board under environmental protection laws, but what's needed, I think, is not only a blanket law but a place to go, so that everyone will know that if you have a problem, this office will help you and figure out which law enforcement agency you're supposed to go to with that particular problem.

Government Operations committee  Essentially, everyone needs to be protected, including suppliers to the government. The enforcement has to include follow-up audits to ensure that they are not losing contracts in the future simply because they've blown the whistle. It would be very difficult for a person such as Mr.

Government Operations committee  I'm just talking about what's within the federal government's power. The provincial governments would have to strengthen their systems for the workers and the institutions that they regulate.

Government Operations committee  Other jurisdictions do allow that priority transfer. Is it realistic? It depends, really, on the size of the organization and the wrongdoing. If only a few people know about the wrongdoing, then it is very difficult to protect someone's identity, because one of the few must have reported it and the others usually dig to find out who it was.

Government Operations committee  Thank you very much to the committee for the opportunity to testify today. My name is Duff Conacher. I am co-founder of Democracy Watch, which started up in 1993. We now have 45,000 supporters across the country and another 100,000 people who have signed petitions in support of one or another of our campaigns, including our campaign to protect whistle-blowers who protect Canadians.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  If you're talking about the Commissioner of Canada Elections, yes, it's a clear bar on the commissioner and the Director of Public Prosecutions from disclosing anything about any investigation unless they prosecute or unless they do a compliance agreement. If they prosecute, obviously there's an open court proceeding and a compliance agreement is also disclosed.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  —violated the firm's internal policies.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  We have a current instance of a certain party's supervisor contacting the auditors who were doing audits of senators, and that—

Procedure and House Affairs committee  When you choose your own judge, it's always dangerous, I would say. Choosing your own auditor is dangerous. Elections Canada should be appointing these people.