Will anything change?
Ottawa cuts blemished integrity watchdog’s deputy loose
Gloria Galloway
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Gloria Galloway
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Treasury Board President Stockwell Day has named a new whistleblower watchdog.
Mario Dion, the former chairman of the National Parole Board who was also the executive director of the Office of Indian Residential Schools Resolution of Canada, was announced Tuesday as the new interim Public Sector Integrity Commissioner of Canada.
“When our Government took office, we promised to bring accountability to Ottawa,” Mr. Day said in a news release. “As part of that commitment, we created the Office of the Public Sector Integrity Commissioner to ensure that public servants can speak out about wrongdoing without fear of reprisal. Through today's appointment, we are ensuring that commitment is followed in the spirit it was intended.”
Mr. Dion, who has also been associate deputy minister of justice, has a strong legal background with significant experience in strategic and operational management, the release said.
His appointment comes after Christiane Ouimet took an early retirement from the watchdog post in the face of a damning report by Auditor-General Sheila Fraser. It found that Ms. Ouimet had been abusive to her staff while doing little about the hundreds of complaints of wrongdoing that had been submitted to her office by federal whistleblowers.
The move occurs on the same day that Joe Friday, the acting commissioner and former legal adviser to Ms. Ouimet, appears before a Commons committee to explain the actions of his office.
Critics have suggested that asking Mr. Friday to review the many files that were dismissed without being investigated was like asking him to review his own work. For that reason, Mr. Day said last week it was imperative to get a new interim commissioner in place as quickly as possible.
“I would expect that the interim Commissioner's immediate priority will be the review of the disclosures of wrongdoing and complaints of reprisal received by the Office of the Public Sector Integrity Commissioner and that he will report his findings to Parliament,” Mr. Day said in the release.
The interim appointment of Mr. Dion is for a maximum period of six months.
The Public Sector Integrity Commissioner is supposed to provide a safe and confidential mechanism enabling civil servants and the general public to disclose wrongdoings committed in the public sector. It also protects from reprisal public servants who have disclosed wrongdoing and those who have cooperated in investigations.
Ms. Fraser’s audit found that the office, as it was operated under Ms. Ouimet, did neither.
Mario Dion, the former chairman of the National Parole Board who was also the executive director of the Office of Indian Residential Schools Resolution of Canada, was announced Tuesday as the new interim Public Sector Integrity Commissioner of Canada.
“When our Government took office, we promised to bring accountability to Ottawa,” Mr. Day said in a news release. “As part of that commitment, we created the Office of the Public Sector Integrity Commissioner to ensure that public servants can speak out about wrongdoing without fear of reprisal. Through today's appointment, we are ensuring that commitment is followed in the spirit it was intended.”
Mr. Dion, who has also been associate deputy minister of justice, has a strong legal background with significant experience in strategic and operational management, the release said.
His appointment comes after Christiane Ouimet took an early retirement from the watchdog post in the face of a damning report by Auditor-General Sheila Fraser. It found that Ms. Ouimet had been abusive to her staff while doing little about the hundreds of complaints of wrongdoing that had been submitted to her office by federal whistleblowers.
The move occurs on the same day that Joe Friday, the acting commissioner and former legal adviser to Ms. Ouimet, appears before a Commons committee to explain the actions of his office.
Critics have suggested that asking Mr. Friday to review the many files that were dismissed without being investigated was like asking him to review his own work. For that reason, Mr. Day said last week it was imperative to get a new interim commissioner in place as quickly as possible.
“I would expect that the interim Commissioner's immediate priority will be the review of the disclosures of wrongdoing and complaints of reprisal received by the Office of the Public Sector Integrity Commissioner and that he will report his findings to Parliament,” Mr. Day said in the release.
The interim appointment of Mr. Dion is for a maximum period of six months.
The Public Sector Integrity Commissioner is supposed to provide a safe and confidential mechanism enabling civil servants and the general public to disclose wrongdoings committed in the public sector. It also protects from reprisal public servants who have disclosed wrongdoing and those who have cooperated in investigations.
Ms. Fraser’s audit found that the office, as it was operated under Ms. Ouimet, did neither.
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