Government Operations committee  My goal is not only to have these policies shared internally, of course, but also to have them shared externally as appropriate. That would allow people to understand what framework we bring to our work.

Government Operations committee  Mr. Chair, if there's one thing I had the power to change, it would be those negative associations that attach to the word “whistleblower”. There's even debate as to whether or not we should be using the term. It's used internationally, and I personally use it. I believe there's no shame attached to the term, but I do recognize—

Government Operations committee  I do recognize that there are negative connotations or associations that are sometimes made with respect to loyalty, disloyalty, or dishonour. We say in our office that one of our challenges is to turn the perception of whistleblowing from an anti-social behaviour to a pro-social behaviour.

Government Operations committee  Mr. Chair, first of all I would agree that the heart of any whistle-blowing regime is the protection against reprisal. One of the very difficult issues—and I alluded to it in my opening remarks—is that the subtler forms of reprisal are the most difficult to identify. When someone blows the whistle and then immediately something bad happens to them, the precision is almost mathematical.

Government Operations committee  Mr. Chair, one of the recommendations for amending the legislation that I intend to propose is allowing our office—though we recognize there has to be some kind of reasonable limitation on our powers—to have access to information in the hands of the private sector. Very often, as you point out, and I agree with you, that information is in the hands of a former public servant.

Government Operations committee  Mr. Chair, I do think there is a great challenge facing our office and all of our colleagues' offices, whether in Canada or elsewhere, with respect to people feeling confident to come forward, feeling safe to come forward. That's why our communications, with respect to what we do and how we do it, will be a permanent challenge for us.

Government Operations committee  Of the situation from 2010?

Government Operations committee  The Auditor General's report, which is a matter of public record, is something that we would be more than happy to be judged against, or for there to be a further look into those issues if indeed they're still alive and still relevant. From my own personal perspective, I feel we have moved beyond that and have quite a different organization in 2015 than we did in 2010, with a number of safeguards in place and a number of operational and management steps we have taken to assure, quite responsibly, I think, parliamentarians and Canadians that what may have happened in the past simply will not or cannot happen again, given the safeguards and the—

Government Operations committee  Mr. Chair, with respect to the clarity, accessibility, and consistency, these are the hallmarks of my approach to working within PSIC and they will be the defining features of how I will lead PSIC should my nomination be approved. I think I can sum it up by saying that if people are going to come to us, they have to know who we are, where we are, what is going to happen to them when they come to us, and they have to be kept advised of what is happening and have to understand our decisions after we make them.

Government Operations committee  Mr. Chair, I would say that the Privy Council Office has been nothing but respectful of my independence and of any decision with respect to that appearance being my own. I will tell you that in speaking to the Privy Council Office on March 11 with respect to issues about the nomination procedure—just factual issues—it was at that moment I realized that I was actually not the nominee.

Government Operations committee  Mr. Chair, I'm in the hands of the committee and of Parliament with respect to what information is needed for you to be satisfied of our independence, and our professionalism, and our ability to do our work. I believe that my predecessor, Monsieur Dion, did speak to some of the activities that he undertook, as commissioner, when he came into the office with respect to a review of closed files and reporting on those.

Government Operations committee  We currently have a staff of 25 people, not counting me in my current position of interim commissioner. The majority of those 25 are operational employees—our investigators, our case analysts, and our legal services team. My focus as interim commissioner, and I hope as commissioner, is to continue to direct our budget toward the core operations of our mandate, the heart of our raison d'etre

Government Operations committee  Mr. Chair, I would assure committee members that all disclosures are dealt with equally, are dealt with in the same manner, and are dealt with fairly with justice and equity in mind. Every discloser and every reprisal complainant has the right to be assisted by whomever he or she wishes.

Government Operations committee  Mr. Chair, I would say that confidentiality is a key pillar of our regime, so any changes we might consider would have confidentiality as their driving feature. We have established timelines to allow us to hold ourselves accountable to be, as required by our legislation, as informal and expeditious as possible.

Government Operations committee  Personally, I've never encountered that. But I've often had to use my dispute resolution skills to communicate with people and address my concerns informally. But, no, I have never made a disclosure of wrongdoing myself.