• Auditor General and Public Service Commission audits reveal Radwanski Enron-esque scandal as another - if not most alarming - wake-up call
  
• Taxpayers and rank and file public servants both deserve better
  
• CTF slams Treasury Board sham of a Public Service Integrity Office
  
• CTF outlines five pillars for effective whistle-blowing legislation
  
• Paul Martin's democratic deficit proposals remain silent on whistle-blowing

OTTAWA: The Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) today called again for Treasury Board President Lucienne Robillard and the federal Liberal government to honour their 1993 election campaign promise and implement comprehensive whistle-blowing legislation.

Will Ottawa continue to condone or expense account fiascos
" Expense account extravagance and abuse of power examples such as those seen in the Office of the Privacy Commissioner and other recent revelations of high flying, expense-charging bureaucrats and senior mandarins continue to occur with disquieting frequency," stated CTF federal director Walter Robinson.

Robinson added: "The fundamental questions for the federal government are clear: Will these abuses continue to be nudge, nudge, wink, wink tolerated Or will comprehensive whistle-blowing legislation be brought in to end this ongoing mugging of Canadian taxpayers "

Taxpayers and rank and file public servant employees deserve better
" Both the Public Service Commission audit and the Auditor General's audit of the activities in the Office of the Privacy Commissioner point to a culture of fear, intimidation and disrespect that paralyze operations and effectively censor rank and file employees from speaking out," added Robinson. "But even if they had the courage to risk their jobs and speak out, such principled action would have changed nothing since public service whistle-blowers have no legal protection in federal law."

Treasury Board's Public Service Ethics Czar admits system is broken
" Dr. Ted Keyserlingk, the first federal public service integrity officer has admitted on the record that after 22 months, his office has not been embraced by public servants and likely never will be," said Robinson. "He noted that if he was a whistleblower, he wouldn't even present his case to his own office. This is clear, irrefutable evidence that the government's policy of 'internal disclosure' is an abject and unmitigated failure."

The five pillars of whistle-blowing legislation
" The need for whistle-blowing legislation is self-evident. From the Radwanski scandal to the sponsorship fiasco to the HRDC boondoggle, dozens of examples point to this long-unfulfilled need," concluded Robinson. "From the CTF to federal public sector unions to opposition parties of all partisan stripes, there is broad agreement that such legislation would minimize the potential for abuse and strengthen the institutions of government."

The CTF released its list of five key pillars that must be present for whistle-blowing legislation to be effective and enduring:

1) A requirement that the whistle-blowers allegation of unethical activity be supported through physical evidence and/or evidence of "gross mismanagement" in the supervisory chain;

2) The ability for the whistle-blower to make his/her claim to an independent body which is not subject to political influence;

3) Affording protection to the whistle-blower from reprisals such as loss of employment, discrimination through declined labour mobility, financial losses, benefit claw-backs, harassment in the workplace, etc;

4) Adequate retribution and disciplinary measures for those individuals who seek to use the legislation as a shield to attack government policy or abuse the legislation with intent to personally harm others; and

5) A mechanism which allows for reporting through to appropriate legislative officials on recommendations (if applicable) for changes to various statutes.

Future Prime Minister Martin should say where he stands
" Sadly, Paul Martin has not spoken to the issue of whistle-blowing legislation and all the policy pronouncements on his website remain silent when it comes to whistle-blowing legislation," concluded Robinson. "You'd think that addressing our democratic deficit would also entail ungagging and protecting public servants that want to do the right thing, it appears that Paul Martin disagrees."