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A whistleblower challenging his firing from Opportunities New Brunswick says his case exposes issues preventing whistleblowers from coming forward.

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Scott Campbell, 54, of Saint John, alleges in a lawsuit he was harassed at Opportunities NB over what he called unethical behaviour and was eventually fired for making a complaint. He is now suing the provincial economic agency, as well as Montana Consulting, the HR company that investigated his claims, and is also pursuing four other actions under employment and human rights legislation.

“I think it’s near-impossible for one individual to exercise their rights,” said Campbell, who said he’s spent more than $150,000 over five years since a sequence of events in 2019, when he was a business development agent looking to connect companies to taxpayer-funded investment, which would be approved by the provincial cabinet.

“I don’t have a lot of money, I’m not a well-off person, and I just find that the public interest disclosures act is broken,” Campbell said, referring to the provincial whistleblower legislation. “Any government employee right now would have to be crazy to raise their hand … based on the last five and a half years of me trying to do the right thing.”

In December, David Mombourquette, chair of the labour and employment board, ruled that Campbell’s July 30, 2020, firing was “motivated, at least in...

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