Hill Times: Advocates, MPs Point Fingers Over Delays to Long-Awaited Update to Canada’s Whistleblower Laws
This article features Government Accountability Project Legal Director, Tom Devine, and was originally published here.
Advocates and opposition MPs on the House Government and Operations Committee are accusing the Liberals of delaying a long-awaited update to the Public Servants Disclosure Protection Act hailed by some as a much-needed first step to improving Canada’s protections for whistleblowers. But NDP MP Gord Johns says some of the blame for the prolonged study of a private member’s bill falls on the Conservatives, who have eaten up valuable committee time focused on trying to find a scandal.
Introduced on June 16, 2022, by Bloc Québécois MP Jean-Denis Garon (Mirabel, Que.), Bill C-290, the Public Sector Integrity Act, seeks to amend the Public Servants Disclosure Protection Act (PSDPA) to provide a better foundation for the disclosure of misconduct in the public sector and the protection of whistleblowers.
While the act hasn’t been updated in the 17 years since it first became law, whistleblower advocates had been given hope that could soon change when the bill received second reading on Feb. 15, but their patience will have to extend until at least the fall for more progress. Over the course of three months and eight meetings, the bill failed to progress to the report stage and third reading as the Government Operations Committee’s (also known as OGGO)...
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