Government Operations committee  Yes, that's correct.

Government Operations committee  A disclosure under any act of Parliament is protected by the Public Servants Disclosure Protection Act. If I understood correctly, the question was about anonymous disclosures. It is difficult to protect those who make anonymous disclosures, because you don't know who they are. You don't know whom to protect.

Government Operations committee  I'm sorry.

Government Operations committee  Okay, thank you.

Government Operations committee  Yes.

Government Operations committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. Madame Vignola, I think I can reassure you that it's actually in the definition of “protected disclosure”. It's a disclosure made by any public servant, in the course of a procedure established under any other act of Parliament; Whether it's under the PSDPA or the Conflict of Interest Act or the Privacy Act, you are still protected by the reprisal protections of the PSDPA.

Government Operations committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. There is currently a section in the PSDPA whereby if the Public Sector Integrity Commissioner receives a disclosure that should be dealt with or that is a topic that is covered by the Conflict of Interest Act, he refers those disclosures to the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner, and they're dealt with under that act.

Government Operations committee  I'm sorry. After...?

Government Operations committee  Yes. After any reprisal, you are protected under the PSDPA.

Government Operations committee  The reprisal protection under the PSDPA starts at the reprisal, not at the disclosure. If you're reprised against two years after your disclosure, that's when the protection begins. This may be redundant.

Government Operations committee  From a very technical standpoint, it isn't a definition in the Public Service Employment Act. It's called a reference, which says, “For greater certainty”. It includes bad faith and personal favouritism. It doesn't actually, as a whole, define the term. It is telling you part of what is included but not the entire thing.

Government Operations committee  That's how the term is used in the Public Service Employment Act. That's correct.

Government Operations committee  I would add that what could be missing from the NDP amendment is the similar type of catch-all that you have in paragraph (d) in the current act. By giving a list with no catch-all, it is more restrained than what is currently in the act.

Government Operations committee  Disclosures that are made within departments would require the senior officer to investigate, and I think to investigate a political interference blurs the line between the public service and the political level. I'm not sure we want to go down that road.