Expanding whistleblower protections in British Columbia will give the government more insight into issues of concern at the public service level, says the attorney general.

The protections under the Public Interest Disclosure Act were extended Friday to employees at most provincial tribunals, agencies, boards and commissions, joining about 35,000 ministry staff and workers at independent offices of the legislature, David Eby said.

The act, which became law in December 2019, allows employees to share information about possible wrongdoings that affect the public interest with designated officers or the Office of the Ombudsperson without reprisals.

More employees at agencies, boards and commissions will be covered by the protections later this year as the government continues a phased-in approach to implementing the act across the public sector, said Eby.

“The benefit of doing it in phases like this is to make sure the training and communications are in place, so these complaints are handled properly and the tools are in place for the ombudsperson to do proper investigations,” he said in an interview.

Employees at health authorities and the education sector will be covered under the act over the next two years, Eby said.

The B.C. government’s budget tabled last February said there are more than 500,000 people in the public sector, which includes the core public service, Crown corporations and agencies and employees in health, community social services, public education and...

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