Canada needs to strengthen the protection it provides to people who warn of wrongdoing. The federal government is currently reviewing its law that protects whistleblowers in the federal public sector, and the advocacy group Democracy Watch is calling for substantial change.
Laws are weak laws, enforcement is bad, says advocate
“Whistleblowers have been harassed, fired from their jobs, sued, silenced,” says Duff Conacher, co-founder of Democracy Watch. “And there’s lots of stories we don’t even know about how these people have been hurt by governments and big businesses all because they were trying to protect Canadians and the whistleblower protection laws in Canada are unfortunately weak and enforcement is negligently bad.”
ListenConacher says people have tried to protect Canadians from billions of dollars in government waste, the approval of dangerous drugs and from big business gouging, selling hazardous products and covering up pollution.
Protection against retaliation sought
He would like the government to set up a central office with clear procedures for people to anonymously report wrongdoing both in the public and private sectors. In cases where a whistleblower feels there has been retaliation he would like the government to shift the burden of proof from the whistleblower to the business or public entity suspected of retaliating. Whistleblowers should be compensated for legal advice and rewarded if their claims are proven.
These are some of the 17 recommended changes made by Democracy Watch and proposed in a petition that has been signed by 21,000 people.
‘One of the most effective things you can do’
“Whistleblowers are essentially front line inspectors to make sure that people in big businesses and government are doing the right thing,” says Conacher as he argues for improved protection. “If we do this and we do it right, we’ll increase the likelihood that wrongdoing will be caught, that waste will be stopped, pollution, abuse, people getting hurt by big business and governments in various ways. It’s one of the most effective things you can do to make sure laws are followed and enforced properly.”
The Centre for Free Expression has provided a list of Canadian whistleblowers prepared by David Hutton, CFE Senior Fellow and former Executive Director of FAIR.
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