Thank you.
The Public Service Alliance of Canada wishes to thank all members of the committee for the opportunity to appear on Bill C-2. This legislation will touch the working lives of tens of thousands of public sector workers who are members of the Public Service Alliance of Canada.
The PSAC has called for legislation that provides guidance, support, and protection for public sector workers who wish to speak out against wrongdoing. For over three decades we've made extensive submissions and taken every opportunity that we can to address protection for public sector workers who wish to serve the public interest by speaking out against wrongdoing in the public service.
While Bill C-2 seeks to amend a number of pieces of legislation in areas of concern such as conflict of interest rules, election financing, and procurement, during this statement I will concentrate on the provisions dealing with whistle-blowing.
We believe that Bill C-2 falls seriously short in delivering in key areas such as protection against reprisals. In particular, while the PSAC acknowledges that there has been an attempt to address some of the Bill C-11 shortcomings, we do not believe that the amendments go far enough in addressing our concerns.
The Public Servants Disclosure Protection Tribunal: We have long taken the position that our members ought to have the right to pursue issues related to whistle-blowing through their collective agreements and indeed have negotiated clauses around whistle-blower protection in some of our collective agreements. Given this, the independent tribunal created by Bill C-2 duplicates functions that are already performed by labour relations boards; it is unlikely that the tribunal will be able to match the labour relations expertise of those bodies, which is repeatedly deferred to by the courts. Yet Bill C-2 requires a tribunal to deal with sensitive matters of discipline and on-the-job reprisals. We question the need for the tribunal to deal with matters already addressed by other boards.
When it comes to pain and suffering, damages awarded by the tribunal are capped at $10,000, whereas the Canadian Human Rights Act has a limit of $20,000. We are also concerned that the bill does not contemplate systemic remedies or orders relating to terms and conditions of employment other than money. The sole exception to this is the power to order reinstatement. We do not believe that the tribunal can fulfill its mandate without authority to change departmental practices and reporting structures. The PSAC is also profoundly concerned by the tribunal's power to order damages in lieu of reinstatement. The relationship of trust between the parties cannot be restored.
It is our position that those who come forward despite reprisals should never have to pay for doing so by losing their livelihoods. It is unclear what the outcome will be if the tribunal finds that the action isn't a reprisal but is nonetheless clearly grievable as an alleged violation of the collective agreement. There needs to be greater specificity as to how the jurisdiction of the tribunal and labour relations boards would overlap. Powers are needed to give whistle-blowers access to interim reinstatement when they come forward to make disclosure.
Furthermore, not only is the bill silent on the right to choose a representative in reprisal complaints, but the amount of money provided for access to legal advice is inadequate. Given the sensitive and confidential information before the commissioner and the tribunal, union responsibilities in respect of this information must be clearly established.
Finally, we are concerned by the new tribunal's exclusive authority to discipline for wrongdoing. The right to grieve discipline is fundamental in the unionized setting. In the past we have seen workers scapegoated for the wrongdoings of managers. The recourse of these collateral victims of wrongdoing has always been the grievance process. All grievances against discipline must continue to be reviewable by labour relations boards.
On the issue of reasonable grounds, the right to file a complaint should not include the requirement for reasonable grounds to believe. In allowing commissioners to refuse to deal with complaints not filed in good faith, the stage is set for needless preliminary objections. Similar language in Bill C-11 was the subject of vigorous union opposition. This language opens the door to stall tactics and switches the scrutiny from the wrongdoer to the whistle-blower. No evidence from the Public Service Integrity Officer suggests that this approach is warranted.
In Britain, this approach has been sharply criticized in the Shipman inquiry report. In our opinion, reviewing the substance of a complaint determines adequately whether the complaint has merit.
On awards for whistle-blowing, the PSAC is fundamentally opposed to the provision of cash awards for whistle-blowing. They are at best unnecessary, and at worst are harmful to whistle-blowers. Paying people to come forward allows abuse and leaves all whistle-blowers open to unfair insinuation. Rewards make whistle-blowers vulnerable to attacks that they are motivated by greed. What is needed to protect whistle-blowers is real compensation for financial losses and real protection from reprisals.
In regard to reprisal no longer defined as wrongdoing, under both previous unenacted whistle-blowing bills--Bill C-25 and Bill C-11--a wrongdoing included a reprisal. Subclause 197(2) of Bill C-2 amends section 8 of Bill C-11, the Public Servants Disclosure Protection Act, by deleting paragraph 8(f), which brought reprisals under the wrongdoing umbrella. The change is entirely inconsistent with Bill C-2's stated objectives.
Finally, the bill should include all public services. The PSAC criticized previous proposed legislation for not covering all federal public sector workers. We were particularly concerned about the full exemption of the Canadian Forces, the CSE, and CSIS. Bill C-2 continues the exemption, and we believe this to be unnecessary.
I'm not going to read the recommendations. They are there before you. But we'll also be sending you more detailed information on the recommendations in a brief that will come to you as soon as we can.