Government Operations committee  Could I make just one final comment? David and I have discussed this before and we actually handle more whistle-blowing cases than the commissioner does, and we don't get paid.

Government Operations committee  He mentioned the senior officer they can go to. Who does that senior officer report to? Are you going to risk your future career by supporting a whistle-blower? They're in a terrible dilemma.

Government Operations committee  I'm in agreement with you. One of the things you may not be aware of is that in the office of the Integrity Commissioner, virtually all the staff are public servants. They go in and out. They have their own careers as vested interests because they're going to move back into the

Government Operations committee  Two months later.

Government Operations committee  One of them is sitting in the back here.

Government Operations committee  You might say we're from the dark side.

Government Operations committee  I was going to say both. I think you need to rewrite the act almost completely. The other thing is that I think your appointment process needs to be redone. The first commissioner was appointed by the Privy Council. They found her in a department. They got her appointed. With reg

Government Operations committee  Go ahead, David.

Government Operations committee  I have dealt with a person at National Defence who was in the process of exposing a vast problem, which I think is still there. What we needed were the documents and we had asked for them, and then just as we were going to get the documents, suddenly they became covered by nation

Government Operations committee  Yes, so if there's wrongdoing, you can't uncover it easily.

Government Operations committee  I don't even remember the article.

Government Operations committee  What year was it?

Government Operations committee  I'm totally in agreement. Let me just say that what has happened is smoke and mirrors. Now there's something to hide behind. We have a process that will help them, so we're not responsible for doing the right thing anymore. I've tried to tell a number of different politicians th

Government Operations committee  Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Honourable members, thank you for the opportunity to appear before you to present my experiences regarding the Public Servants Disclosure Protection Act. My understanding is that it is in its 11th year and we are now commencing the five-year review. The