Government Operations committee  For now, it would be more of an advisory role, to help people coming forward. The classic ombudsman role is not necessarily to assign accountability; it's to help resolve disputes, to get to the bottom of matters and to facilitate the correction of problems. In order to have the

Government Operations committee  I would agree. How many years has this law been in place? It has been in place for 14 years now, and the number of cases that have been found to be founded and that have justified disclosures is so low that if you're a person who is working in the public service, you might vali

Government Operations committee  From the whistle-blowing perspective, I think we need to go back to the drawing board for the whistle-blowing law. We need to extend it to the private sector, and it needs to meet best practices. There are best practices out there. In the EU, there's the government accountability

Government Operations committee  I would also add that the Criminal Code provision has never been used. It's completely ineffective. This is not surprising, because it's just a law that says it's an offence. It doesn't say anything about protection or a duty of the employer. It's basically hollow; it's just a li

Government Operations committee  No, I don't think it's necessary. It's helpful in circumstances where there are large amounts of money involved, for example. There's research out there suggesting that small incentives actually discourage whistle-blowing, so it's not always appropriate. It's more about protectio

Government Operations committee  Allan, do you want to go first?

Government Operations committee  Absolutely. That is indeed what the commissioner is supposed to do: keep confidentiality. Of course, there's nothing for the private sector right now at all, so adding that would be extremely helpful. People need to see results. It's not about just having a system that works inv

Government Operations committee  It hasn't been dozens; it's been a few. One thing that's been remarkable about this is how few people have actually spoken up. I'm not sure it's entirely fair to blame the public service for the problems. I think that in many cases the people are over-tasked and are doing the be

Government Operations committee  I think it's probably a better question for Mr. Holman.

Government Operations committee  I could add that the Privacy Commissioner used to give ratings—didn't they, Mr. Holman?—of A, B, C and D.

Government Operations committee  I do, yes. The criminal bar is a little harder to reach, if you're trying to prove, but definitely it should be an offence, I would think.

Government Operations committee  You're absolutely right about the gender-neutral term, but there's still some sensitivity about its use. I'm skeptical about government's ability to pass laws on a dime that would immediately be in force. It can be done, I think, and they certainly did it with the CERB and the e

Government Operations committee  I believe so.

Government Operations committee  No.

Government Operations committee  We looked at a couple of approaches. One was to take an existing office and expand its mandate to serve as a nerve centre, and the other was to create something fresh that would be a stand-alone. You'd pick somebody who had competence in the field and who would lead it. The ombud