What I would like to say is that, first of all, I'm more than willing to divulge to this committee or any official body all of the body of the 13,000 documents. I've done a lot of research and summary, so I can provide you with all those details. I can give you some general areas. For instance, in addition to what I already pointed out, that when I handled my advocacy work a briefing note was.... For instance, on March 21 I held a press conference to recommend that the charter be sent to committee before it went into force, to have a last-minute look to see whether it needed improving. A briefing note was slapped on the minister's desk. It acknowledged that the purpose of the briefing note was that I was holding a press conference on the charter. In the briefing note was everything from, as I said, my medical details to excerpts from my psychiatric report, such as that I was experiencing “suicidal ideation”.
I am trying to understand how that medical information had anything to do with applicability to my holding a press conference on sending the charter back to committee. The only rational reason is that they deliberately breached Privacy Act laws so that they could influence the minister, this from a party upon which, prior to their ascension to government, I had much influence. After these briefing notes started circulating, I started not receiving contact from, for instance, the previous parliamentary secretary. The minister, at the first meeting I had with him, promised he would follow up. He never followed up with meetings with me.
So it was very clear that they were effective about destroying my reputation, especially within the governing party.
In addition to that, I received phone calls. When I tried to meet with Minister Thompson, there were phone calls from two senior VAC bureaucrats. The gist of their phone calls was: “We know you're trying to talk to the minister. We recommend you don't try to do that. And by the way, you have no hope whatsoever of stopping this charter from coming into force.”
That may not sound like threatening words. They control my financial security; they control my financial future. They controlled my medical care. It doesn't take someone to say nasty or incriminating words to scare the heck out of me and to scare the heck out of my wife. They have the power. They know what buttons to push, and they did.
What kinds of things would I like to see to remedy this situation? First would be a truly independent and powerful public service integrity commissioner; an accountability law that actually protects public servants coming forward. As you well know from the record of the Public Sector Integrity Commissioner, there hasn't been a single investigation in two years. Apparently there is no wrongdoing in the public service.
I submitted my report to her. She came back.... First of all, as a Canadian citizen, I am not protected from reprisals. In fact, according to her definition, I can't suffer them: it's impossible, because the legislation doesn't say I can. Furthermore, she said in the follow-up letter that public servants could not have harassed me, because public servants can't instruct other public servants to commit wrongdoing.
I'm not sure what bizarre world of logic that comes from, but it shows an office completely loyal to the public service and not to protecting the rights of Canadians.