New Brunswick's whistleblower legislation is intended to increase transparency and accountability. But it's been criticized for being difficult to use and poorly understood by many senior civil servants responsible for complying with its provisions.
Whistleblower Laws Fall Woefully Short, Says Longtime Advocate
Federal and provincial laws designed to protect whistleblowers are woefully inadequate, says an advocate who has worked for stronger whistleblower protection for over a decade.
David Hutton, a senior fellow at Ryerson University’s Centre for Free Expression Whistleblowing Initiatives (CFEWI), says the federal Public Servants Disclosure Protection Act (PSDPA) has numerous significant problems.
“It’s just loaded with loopholes,” Hutton said in an interview. “It’s like a car that doesn’t have wheels and has no transmission, doesn’t have an engine, doesn’t have a gas tank I mean, it’s completely useless.”
| Updated February 9, 2021
Sean Kilpatrick/CP
Two images of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau are seen in the viewfinder of a TV camera as he holds a news conference at Rideau Cottage in Ottawa on Feb. 5, 2021.
OTTAWA Prime Minister Justin Trudeau refused to commit Tuesday to updating the federal whistleblowing law a law that makes it illegal for civil servants to flag wrongdoing to the public.
While Trudeau said it is “extremely important” that every Canadian has a safe and secure workplace free from harassment and inappropriate behaviour, he declined to state why his government won’t fix a law that has been criticized by whistleblowers, union leaders, and even its own Liberal MPs for failing to protect those who dare come forward.