Sure.
Mr. Chair and members, this is a privilege, and thank you to members Garon and Vignola.
In 2004 I provided the first of many testimonies on the tenets of effective whistle-blowing legislation, but rather than protect truth-tellers, the government imposed oppressive anti-free speech regimes. Today we must, therefore, confront Canada's dehumanizing treatment of whistle-blowers, who, as eye witnesses to the birthplace of scandals, are indispensable to bridge the secrecy gap.
Former prime ministers Chrétien, Martin and Harper all affirmed that, in their governments, whistle-blowers would be safe. A bright light was in 2006, when Pierre Poilievre stated, “The plan is to protect all whistle-blowers regardless of the approach they take to expose the corruption,” but with Justin Trudeau now positioned as the global champion for openness, public servants remain muzzled, seemingly powerless against the hypocrisy.
Thirty-one years ago I joined Global Affairs. My job was to accountably manage billions of dollars of diplomatic housing. Almost immediately, I faced an indulged diplomatic class who, in violating rules, wasted billions on excessively luxurious and palatial accommodations. My duty to hard-working taxpayers prevented my acquiescence. By 1995, with a deep recession engulfing Canada, 33% of urban children lived in poverty, rising to 50% in Montreal. This gross waste was not only unlawful; it was evil.
For six years I worked internally, believing that change would come. It didn't. Instead, the department unleashed a campaign of retribution. It started subtle but became brazen: I was ordered silent at meetings, struck from memos and deprived of essential work tools. I was, as one colleague said, rendered irrelevant. My job was sabotaged, putting my title and salary at risk. Then one day, I was simply stripped of my job in a degrading public statement. Maintenance took my door plaque, computer and phone, and the department expunged me from the directory. Whether a lie, lack of courage or something else, the ADM's betrayal of the promise to get back to me following our meeting left me hanging, subject to more stealth abuse for going up the hierarchy.
The deputy minister stonewalled, and after sending evidence of the unchecked profligacy to the minister Lloyd Axworthy, I was threatened with liable for suggesting any wrongdoing. On my final day, I was invisible and alone, and my director advised that the problem was that I cared too much about doing my job right. The final ignominy was an anonymous call tracked to a phone booth, menacingly warning me to back down or the department would publicize who I was sleeping with. One month later, June 10, 1998, I sued.
Reeling from six years of abuse, weary from constant vigilance, I now faced a justice department that financed 13 years of warfare, using taxpayer money, hell-bent on bankrupting and destroying me. Shamed by nothing, in 2000 the government demanded I pay $360,000 for just one motion. In 2003, they hauled me back into court, claiming I was stalling, because I needed a brief reprieve to breastfeed my newborn.
Now 62 years old....