Government Operations committee  Right now, the protection is for anyone who has made a protective disclosure or participated as a witness in an investigation. Potentially that could be expanded to anyone who—I'm not giving you the actual wording in the legislation—is mistakenly believed to have been a discloser

Government Operations committee  Yes.

Government Operations committee  During the investigation, they would be asked to provide information. At the end of the investigation, a report is written that summarizes the information. They would be given an opportunity to see the report and comment as to whether it is accurate from their perspective.

Government Operations committee  You're right. Currently the act does not protect someone who is not either the discloser or a witness in the process, so if someone mistakenly believes you're the discloser and takes a reprisal against you, you have no protection through the act.

Government Operations committee  We know this was a recommendation from the Gomery commission and that some other stakeholders hold that recommendation. We're interested in the views of the committee on that issue.

Government Operations committee  This is the first review of the legislation since it came in, in 2007.

Government Operations committee  You're right. The concept of natural justice is that if it's a circumstance in which the disclosure is about another individual, then that individual has to have the opportunity to also provide evidence and explain what went on. Sometimes all it takes is an explanation and clarif

Government Operations committee  Thank you. You have the data on general inquiries.

Government Operations committee  That would be the first step that we would hope an employee would follow, so if they thought there might be something wrong, they would first talk to their supervisor and say, “I'm concerned about something”. In many cases it can be dealt with there and then. It could be miscommu

Government Operations committee  Certainly, but first could I clarify some of the data for you?

Government Operations committee  The general inquiries aren't disclosures; they're inquiries. An individual comes and says, “I think I might want to make a disclosure. Tell me about the process.” That's an inquiry, as opposed to coming in and saying, “I think there is something wrong happening over here”, which

Government Operations committee  Correct.

Government Operations committee  You can have corrective measures without necessarily having a finding of wrongdoing. In situations where, because of the disclosure, the department looks at whatever the process is and determines there is something they can do so that the problem doesn't happen again, that woul

Government Operations committee  Well, you have all of the data there since the act came into force, and—