Government Operations Committee on Feb. 9th, 2017

[The Chair, Conservative, Tom Lukiwski]

Colleagues, thank you.

For those of you new to our committee—Mr. Breton—welcome. Welcome to the new committee rooms in 180 Wellington.

I welcome our committee guests, Monsieur Bégin and Madame Ferlatte.

I understand, Monsieur Bégin, you have an opening statement.

[Luc Bégin, Ombudsman and Executive Director, Ombudsman, Integrity and Resolution Office, Department of Health]

Thank you.

Good morning. My name is Luc Bégin and I will speak to you on behalf of Health Canada in my capacity as senior integrity officer for this organization.

To provide members of this committee with some context, the Health Canada ombudsman, integrity, and resolution office, for which I am the ombudsman and executive director, was created nearly a year ago as a shared service to serve both Health Canada and Public Health Agency of Canada employees coming forward with workplace issues. Prior to February 2016, the senior integrity officer was the chief audit executive.

The launch of this office reflected an innovative decision on the part of senior leaders to implement a best practice and centralize four services, those being ombudsman, informal conflict management, values and ethics, and internal disclosure services. These services are responsible for delivering integrity programs to Health Canada employees at all levels in one mutual, confidential office led by an independent ombudsman as part of a seamless delivery of services for employees through one port of entry.

Under my guidance, the internal disclosure services are responsible for internal disclosure and providing a safe, confidential, and independent mechanism for employees to disclose wrongdoing in the workplace and to seek an opinion about whether a behaviour is in need of intervention. The internal disclosure services also provide advice and information to employees on the act and on the disclosure processes.

Further, it receives and reviews disclosures of alleged wrongdoing and conducts investigations as required. Where the disclosure of a wrongdoing is founded, we report the findings as well as any systemic problems that may give rise to wrongdoings to senior management, along with recommendations for appropriate actions. Reports concluding that wrongdoing was founded are also posted on the Health Canada website. Where the wrongdoing is unfounded, the allegation may otherwise indicate areas or issues to be addressed proactively to prevent escalation.

In my dual role as ombudsman and senior integrity officer, I manage these situations with objectivity and fairness while respecting confidentiality as mandated by the act. I am glad to further explain to the committee how we administer the act by describing the internal measures we currently have in place for the disclosure of wrongdoings and provide a description of the processes and procedures we follow to address them.

Health Canada, my office, and senior management take the application and administration of the act very seriously. We actively work to ensure employees have a safe and confidential mechanism for disclosures that is consistent with the values and ethics of the public sector.

Internally, the policy related to internal disclosure by public servants for Health Canada currently in place outlines the process for disclosing allegations of wrongdoing. It notably specifies that complaints of wrongdoing can be made either to the employee's direct supervisor, to the senior integrity officer, or directly to the Public Sector Integrity Commissioner. It also specifies the roles of the chief executive, the senior integrity officer, managers, and employees.

As a whole, this policy addresses Health Canada's obligations and reflects the department's commitment to implement the requirements of the act. It sets out expectations for Health Canada personnel in implementing the act and presents broad elements of the departmental processes that support the implementation of the act. The employee contacting our office for inquiries or intending to bring forth allegations of wrongdoing will get further details and information about how to proceed to submit their allegation, which documents they need to provide, how allegations are dealt with, and what they can expect.

There is a lot of unknown for the employee coming forward within this process, and fear of retaliation and reprisal is a component to be addressed. My office provides information to employees on all aspects of reprisal protection and all relevant information to help dismiss misconceptions, clarify assumptions, and manage expectations.

To protect confidentiality, reminders are made to everyone involved in the disclosure process to safeguard information pertaining to cases or inquiries. My office takes great care to ensure information is kept confidential by keeping a separate filing system, physical and electronic, and providing a secure email address and a phone, apart from the other services that we offer. These are accessible only to employees dealing with disclosure cases and inquiries in my office.

As far as outreach and awareness activities go, my office continues to promote its services by providing a monthly awareness session to all staff. Internal disclosure services are also presented at every orientation session for new employees as well as being discussed at every values and ethics session, which are, at Health Canada, mandatory for all managers and employees. In addition, all employees, upon nomination, attest that they have read and understood the code of conduct upon signing their letter of employment.

My office attends yearly events and forums involving large numbers of employees to provide awareness and to discuss the process. Furthermore, my office continuously updates the content of its intranet site to make relevant the information to Health Canada employees.

The intranet pages feature information about roles and responsibilities related to how to receive and lodge a disclosure, and to conduct investigations. They also feature resources that may be downloaded, such as brochures on the act, as well as a form for making internal disclosures. They also link to annual reports and Internet sites where other relevant information can be found, such as information found on the Public Sector Integrity Commissioner's website. They also feature links to contact our office through the dedicated email box and toll-free confidential hotline.

It is often not required to formally investigate issues raised with the internal disclosure services under the act, even if the subject matter is of a relevant nature, that are informally addressed and referred.

My office works in close collaboration with internal partners, such as managers and representatives for other employee recourse mechanisms. When allegations do not meet the threshold to warrant the launch of an investigation, or internal disclosure is not the appropriate means of resolution, having a variety of recourse actions or options is considered an asset. It provides employees with access to a wealth of resources to assist them, regardless of the nature of their difficulties.

My office also collaborates with the Public Sector Integrity Commissioner's investigations by playing a liaison role and by notably ensuring that all internal partners are aware of and respect the strict obligations to safeguard the confidentiality of information.

Fear of reprisal, as per the 2014 public service employee survey results, is still prevalent with employees considering or having made allegations of wrongdoing. Health Canada is deeply concerned about this and is committed to correcting this situation and creating an environment where employees are comfortable in coming forward.

My office and its services continuously strive to embody the values of integrity, neutrality, and independence in dealing with allegations of wrongdoing. I strongly believe this supports and emphasizes transparency and accountability.

Health Canada is committed to promoting a culture of strong values and ethics where open communication on issues and concerns can be discussed and dealt with through appropriate recourse channels, including disclosure of wrongdoing, without apprehension of reprisal, to ultimately foster an ethical organizational culture.

Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, thank you for your time.

[The Chair, Conservative, Tom Lukiwski]

Thank you very much.

Our first round of seven minutes will go to Mr. Peterson.

[Kyle Peterson, Liberal, Newmarket—Aurora, ON]

Thank you for that, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Bégin, for being here, and Madame Ferlatte as well.

I don't know where to begin. There's lots of information to unpack. I appreciate your being here, of course.

How many employees in your department would be subject to the act?

[Luc Bégin]

Approximately 12,000 at Health Canada would be subject to the act.

[Kyle Peterson, Liberal, Newmarket—Aurora, ON]

Of that, there have been eight or nine cases?

[Luc Bégin]

Disclosures.

[Kyle Peterson, Liberal, Newmarket—Aurora, ON]

Do we have the numbers for general inquiries, the first contact?

[Luc Bégin]

There were eight general inquiries and eight disclosures reported.

[Kyle Peterson, Liberal, Newmarket—Aurora, ON]

The furthest any of these went was the settlement at the tribunal, correct? One case was settled at the tribunal.

[Luc Bégin]

There have been no investigations under those eight disclosures.

If you're referring to the tribunal, that refers to reprisal, a complaint of reprisal that was made to PSIC.

[Kyle Peterson, Liberal, Newmarket—Aurora, ON]

Okay, thanks for clarifying that.

Walk me through some of the process. If employees witness what they believe is wrongdoing under the act, what is the next step they would take? I know there are probably three or four different steps they can take, but do we know which is the most prevalent, or is it a mix?

[Luc Bégin]

First of all, Health Canada really encourages employees to make the information known to their supervisors. That's what we encourage. Employees have an opportunity to come to my office.

I have to preface that by saying the ombudsman, integrity, and resolution office has an operating principle that says it's confidential, informal, neutral, and independent. They have an opportunity to raise and discuss those issues in my office. If they do, at that point we would look at the different opportunities for them, the options for resolution. It may mean filing a wrongdoing.

[Kyle Peterson, Liberal, Newmarket—Aurora, ON]

Is that process distinct from the process under the act that we're discussing today?

[Luc Bégin]

The process for dealing with wrongdoing is not different. We have one layer where we have an ombudsman who hears a lot of workplace issues.

[Kyle Peterson, Liberal, Newmarket—Aurora, ON]

The role of the ombudsman is what I'm trying to get at. It is distinct from the whistle-blower legislation we're looking at today.

[Luc Bégin]

It's distinct once a formal complaint or disclosure has been filed.

[Kyle Peterson, Liberal, Newmarket—Aurora, ON]

Who's making the determination of whether or not the threshold has been met to escalate it? Is that your office?

[Luc Bégin]

Yes.

[Kyle Peterson, Liberal, Newmarket—Aurora, ON]

Are those powers bestowed upon that office through other legislation besides this disclosure act, or is it under the act we're studying today?

[Luc Bégin]

No. Under the act, the deputy needs to appoint a senior official. The ombudsman becomes the senior integrity officer.

[Kyle Peterson, Liberal, Newmarket—Aurora, ON]

In a sense, you're wearing two hats.

[Luc Bégin]

Yes.

[Kyle Peterson, Liberal, Newmarket—Aurora, ON]

Okay, I wanted to make sure that was clear.

You referred to a study that highlighted that fear of reprisal was still relatively high. Can you elaborate a little on that study?

[Luc Bégin]

This is the 2014 public service employee survey where it actually stated that, I believe, only 38% of employees at Health Canada would file a grievance or complaint without fear of reprisal. Don't quote me on this exactly.