Bill C-2 (39th Parliament, 1st Session) committee  I just wanted to add to this debate that the Public Service Staff Relations Board does not have the authority to give out compensation for pain and suffering. You're talking about the authority of the board versus the new authority of the tribunal. What we're saying is the board has the experience of the labour world, so why not confer to them the authority to deal with reprisals and with awarding moneys for pain and suffering, and why not use the expertise and the knowledge of the people who are at the board currently?

Bill C-2 (39th Parliament, 1st Session) committee  I'm a little bit disturbed by some of your comments because I feel that it's like a vote of non-confidence vis-à-vis the Public Service Staff Relations Board, or a lack of confidence in their ability to deal with this on a non-biased basis. That, to me, is very disturbing.

Bill C-2 (39th Parliament, 1st Session) committee  That has to be spelled out, though. It's not good enough the way it is now.

Bill C-2 (39th Parliament, 1st Session) committee  With respect to protection, I think the role of the bargaining agent needs to be clearly defined in the legislation, and the presence of the bargaining agent or representative ensured for the whistle-blower throughout the process, from the disclosure onward. With respect to representation, as I said, we have the expertise and the experience of representing our members in front of the Public Service Commission.

Bill C-2 (39th Parliament, 1st Session) committee  In my opinion, public service employees regardless of their level are essentially honest people. There are bad seeds everywhere and there always will be. To avoid that kind of situation what you need is a sufficient number of control mechanisms that are applied.

Bill C-2 (39th Parliament, 1st Session) committee  Yes. We are a labour organization. We have a tribunal that has been in place for a long time that has dealt with situations like reprisals or other forms of discipline in the past. The new tribunal that's being created poses many questions for us. It's a judicial process, and we have labour relations officers who represent our members in labour relations situations.

Bill C-2 (39th Parliament, 1st Session) committee  In my opinion, when these incidents took place, mechanisms had been put in place but were not in force. There weren't sufficiently strict controls over the way public funds were spent or the way contracts were awarded. I think this bill provides for better control measures, which is reassuring for the people we represent.

Bill C-2 (39th Parliament, 1st Session) committee  Thank you very much. Thank you. The Institute's major concern respecting the government's strategy respecting passage of the Federal Accountability Act is the delay in proclaiming Bill C-11. The Federal Accountability Act may take a long time to put in place and will represent a major delay in the protections for which we have been fighting for over 15 years.

Bill C-2 (39th Parliament, 1st Session) committee  The institute recommends that clause 220 of Bill C-2 be deleted. I'm sorry that this is amusing to you; it's very serious for us.

Bill C-2 (39th Parliament, 1st Session) committee  Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I would like to thank the committee for adjusting the time allocated to us for this presentation. For more than 85 years, the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada has been representing the interests of employees in the federal public service, a claim almost unparalleled in the sector or indeed in this nation.