Government Operations committee  So I do not want to depict anybody who came forward in the past years as not doing the right thing. I know they've been motivated by the public interest. This is an absolutely legitimate question you're raising. I've put the question to union leaders. In fact, I have a specific initiative that I've launched with union leaders.

Government Operations committee  That is an excellent question, Mr. Chair. We are working together with the Canada School of Public Service, which is going to train that new generation for all departments. Very early in my mandate, I decided that I would focus on the middle managers, because they are the key group that is going to bring the new generation in.

Government Operations committee  Thank you very much for the question. Since I took the position, we have, in fact, looked at similar situations. We recruited one of the country's experts, Professor Ken Kernahan, who had already been conducting research internationally, to help us, not only with methods of comparison, but also to find out about case law and procedures elsewhere.

Government Operations committee  My obligation will be to examine the facts carefully and to apply the legislation, the tools that Parliament has given us. The final decision will lie with the Federal Court. There are practical tools that can be used. For example, I would not hesitate to ask that proceedings be conducted in camera and that documents be sealed.

Government Operations committee  Yes, we have looked at the four countries that interest us most: New Zealand, Australia, the United States and Great Britain. I spent a few days in Washington looking at the system there. Ours is the most comprehensive system: disclosure, reprisals and investigative power are all together.

Government Operations committee  First of all, let me go over the figures from the last financial year in broad terms. There were 151 requests for general information. If we take away the files where the discloser realizes that there is after all another way of going about it—because, ultimately, we want the best act, the best procedure for dealing with the request and because private interests are often involved—there are 76 allegations of wrongdoing, or disclosures, and 23 reprisal complaints.

Government Operations committee  Mr. Chair, we certainly take our role of protecting the identity of people who come to our door very seriously. That obligation does not just apply to our office. I neglected to mention that, as part of the internal processes, each department and deputy head has the same obligation to protect the identity of those who decide to speak out.

Government Operations committee  No. In fact, any member of the public can come forward with respect to a concern about the public sector, as I've described it. Any member of the public is invited to raise concerns about public administration.

Government Operations committee  In fact, I've had a lot of conversations with newly appointed or not-so-newly-appointed heads of organizations. My small organization has the same reporting responsibility as does a large department. We're just undertaking, with the Office of the Auditor General, a full audit of our activities—that's more than 700 hours of verification—and of course we're an open book.

Government Operations committee  It's under section 33 of the Public Servants Disclosure Protection Act. It invites any members of the public to communicate with our office with any concerns. There's a very specific test, because members of the public are probably not as knowledgeable about the functioning. In fact, the test is slightly lower with respect to the level of information that can be brought forward.

Government Operations committee  Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. These are very valid observations. Perhaps I'll use a preface. First of all, it is true that whistle-blowing is not used in the legislation, and intentionally so, because it does carry a pejorative connotation. That's why we're talking about disclosure of wrongdoing.

Government Operations committee  Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. I'm very pleased to appear before the Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates, and yes indeed, Mr. Chair, we'd like to discuss the mandate and the rather complex work of my office and hopefully present you with a clearer idea of the mandate that has been given to us, but as well, of the quality of the work of my office as it carries out its mandate.

Information & Ethics committee  Thank you very much.

Information & Ethics committee  We're also exploring another tool, perhaps a survey, to monitor exactly the level of comfort. I don't know what the members of Parliament might think about that and whether this is something that could be pursued by the human resources agency. I think we need to be able to find out.

Information & Ethics committee  It's a very good point, Mr. Chair. We'll pursue this.