I would have thought that, in a developed country, their experience would be taken into consideration and their observations regarding the management of government would be viewed as expertise. When a person witnesses an irregularity, this becomes a kind of expertise that can be used to serve the government.
In academia, which is where I come from, expertise is valued. Several of the whistle-blowers who have sought my help, who have shared their accounts and with whom I have been in contact have been subject to reprisals, retaliation and demotions. We also need to consider the physical and mental stress that these people endure. They can lose trust in their employer. These are people who are loyal to their employer and who want the government to function properly. They want the government to serve Canadians. However, when they go through this process, these individuals and their families may suffer significant collateral damage.
To my surprise, in a potentially large number of cases, this loss of trust has caused individuals to avoid disclosing irregularities; these cases are therefore not included in the statistics. This is one of the problems plaguing the current regime.
I would have thought that these individuals' unique expertise would be welcomed. This has deeply shocked me.