Thank you very much, Chair.
Thank you, witnesses.
It seems like it's very well-established and institutionalized. I use that word; it's not a negative connotation. You want to have a system in place to receive wrongdoing.
Something that caught my eye and was a concern to me the other day was the on-boarding of new employees into a new culture. Of course, we're hopefully getting young employees coming in, and it's their first time in the workforce. It's all very new, and it's a lot to absorb that there could be some possible wrongdoing and you're on the spot to report it. I was interested in the decision-making tool that is referred to in our briefing notes and is available to employees. It's “Five questions to ask yourself before making a protected disclosure of wrongdoing”.
We could also check the French version.
Already you'll agree with me that the words are like, whoa, what's this? It's trying to be helpful to the employee:
Do you think something is wrong? Check the facts. Before making a protected disclosure, ask yourself... What facts or documentation do I have to support [it]? Does the activity breach any federal, provincial or organizational codes, policies or rules?
It's putting the onus on the employee, who's not sure. I'm thinking, purely based on my experience in corporate life and so on, that it typically is the newer people who will notice something and say, “Hmm, is that right or is that wrong? What's going on here?” I would like to get your feedback. You have 12,000 employees. Talk to us about what kind of work these employees do.
How can you be sure? The machinery is there. I'm not looking for tens of thousands of cases, but it does strike me that typically when you're trying to get at something specific, you need to have a big funnel. You want people to feel comfortable talking about anything that they see. It's actually a positive thing when corrective action is able to be taken. It's not a big deal, like what's listed in the act, but it's something that's worth reporting on, looking at, and talking about.
Please comment.