Big Money, For Little Protection: Blowing the Whistle on a Sham Tribunal

Little Known, Little Used Whistleblower Panel Budgets $8.1 million
Amy Minsky, October 25, 2010. Postmedia News.

OTTAWA — A little-known, never-used government tribunal will spend as much as $8.1 million of taxpayers' money by the end of 2012-13, federal documents show.

The Public Servants Disclosure Protection Tribunal was set up in 2007 to protect public servants from retaliation after reporting immoral or illegal activities in government. Since then, it hasn't heard a single case.

The fact that the tribunal hasn't been used comes to light following the sudden departure on Oct. 18 of Christiane Ouimet, the first federal public sector integrity commissioner, while her office was being investigated by Auditor General Sheila Fraser.

The tribunal would take cases referred by the Ouimet's office. In three years, the commissioner didn't find any wrongdoing in any of the 170 complaints her office received.

Fifty-eight whistleblowers complained to the commissioner's office since 2007-2008, saying they were mistreated or violated after filing a report. The commissioner launched only four investigations as a consequence of those complaints, and only two have been completed.

Because neither had findings of reprisal, the tribunal has never been referred a case.

"It's clearly a waste of money," said David Hutton, executive director with the Federal Accountability Initiative for Reform (FAIR), a registered charity advocating for whistleblower protection. "This whole expensive system has achieved absolutely nothing. In fact, it has made things worse."

Hutton said to the integrity com the tribunal gives whistleblowers an "illusion of protection" when the reality is civil servants are left without recourse after filing a complaintmissioner about irresponsible, immoral or illegal government activities.

The tribunal spent $836,000 in 2008-09, according to its performance report from that year, and has tabled spending estimates of $1.83 million for each successive year until 2012-13.

Lisanne Lacroix, the registrar and deputy head of the tribunal's office, said she is surprised they haven't received a single case in three years. But, as she pointed out, the lack of work has meant less money actually spent.

"I have $1.828 million in my budget," she said. "But since we haven't had any cases, I haven't spent it."

Money not used is returned to the government each year.

While waiting for a case, the office has established rules and guidelines, trained staff and become familiar with legislation, Lacroix said.

She said the office currently employs four full-time and two part-time employees.

But if and when the tribunal eventually hears a case, there is virtually no chance the public servant will win, Hutton argues.

An equivalent "kangaroo court" in the United States heard 2,000 complaints, and only four cases prevailed, Hutton said. "It's virtually impossible for an employee to prove that an employer took reprisal against them. It's very hard to look at this system and come to any conclusion other than this is for show."

Prime Minister Stephen Harper created an independent Public Sector Integrity Commissioner to protect whistleblowers in 2007, with the intention of making civil servants feel protected when calling government on a misdoing.

But some opposition MPs say it's clear the legislation isn't working.

"I think you can safely say the Conservatives broken promises are expensive," NDP MP Pat Martin said. "It's a smoke-and-mirror illusion of whistleblower protection, when really, the legislation is inadequate to really protect them in any case."

© Copyright (c) Postmedia News

Editorial: Effective Whistleblowing Protection Needed

What the public knows about the Basi/Virk case is the tip of the iceberg. And the people who know the most have been protected and indemnified. It pays so well to be in politics, for some.

BC Needs Effective Legislation to Protect Whistleblowers
Editor, Burnaby Now, Oct. 21, 2010

In the week following the dramatic rescue of 33 trapped workers from a Chilean mine, Chile’s president was pressured to ratify an international convention protecting whistleblowers who bring to light safety concerns at work.

The need to protect whistleblowers sounds like a problem from the developing world.

Surely Canadians have this all worked out. Or have we?

The recent Basi-Virk case, in which the duo pled guilty to breach of trust and accepting benefits relating to the sale of BC Rail, doesn’t just raise questions about the honest dealings of public employees involved in big-money projects.

It also questions the safeguards in place to protect those who may be aware of wrongdoing, but fear the repercussions of going public.

In British Columbia, the NDP introduced Whistleblower legislation in 2007 but it died on the vine. At the federal level, however, the Public Servants Disclosure Protection Act was enacted the same year, and is supposed to protect federal civil servants from the repercussions of whistleblowing.

That said, according to a report from the Public Sector Integrity Commissioner, the sentiment amongst civil servants is that the law doesn’t do enough to protect people who bring questionable conduct to light.

This sentiment is echoed by the Federal Accountability Initiative for Reform, FAIR.

One FAIR statement rings especially true in light of recent events in B.C.:

“Virtually every scandal—in government or in the public sector—has a whistleblower dimension: either because the story has come to light through information provided by insiders, and/or because the problem was preventable if the organization had listened to these insiders and fixed the problem, instead of covering up.”

One can’t help but wonder if effective whistleblower legislation in B.C. could have prevented the Basi-Virk affair in the first place.

The Price of Saying No: Unravelling Democracy in BC

One strand at a time, this is what it looks like when democracy is being unravelled. Well, perhaps it's more visceral than that. This is what it looks like when a corrupt government and it's leaders rip apart an already bruised and battered Democracy.

This is what happens to those who stand up and say no. Stand up for the citizens of BC. There is no more room for that in BC.

In April 2010, Linda Johnston, deputy chief electoral officer with Elections BC said the provincial government could not fight former premier Bill Vander Zalm's anti-HST petition with a taxpayer-funded mail-out.

Elections BC wrote the government Wednesday saying the government mail out does not meet the rules of the Recall and Initiative Act when it comes to government advertising surrounding promoting or opposing Bills or petitions.

"In order to ensure compliance with the Recall and Initiative Act, it is imperative that government advertising does not indirectly promote or oppose an initiative petition or the associated draft bill in any way unless government first registers as an initiative advertising sponsor and complies with the $5,000 advertising limit," said the letter to the Ministry of Attorney General from deputy chief electoral officer Linda Johnson.

More here.

On June 5, 2010 Chief Electoral Officer Harry Neufeld's term came to an end. Neufeld told the media he had no concerns having to leave before the HST recall petition process has come to an end.

"I have excellent staff here and an extremely capable deputy [Linda Johnston]" he said.

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Ax Fall on Officer who Nixed Lib's HST Budget Mailer

Linda Johnson's job eliminated by politically appointed interim Elections BC chief.

By Andrew MacLeod, 10 Sep 2010, TheTyee.ca

In September 2010 the Tyee reported that [Craig]James, who was appointed by the government in June on an interim basis until an all-party legislative committee can decide on a permanent chief electoral officer, announced a restructuring that eliminated the deputy chief electoral officer position.

Linda Johnson, who had held the position for 19 years and who had been with the agency that oversees provincial elections for 28 years, lost her job as part of the restructuring.

Interim Chief Electoral Officer Craig James: What is he up to?
Ian Reid, the Real Story, Sept. 24, 2010

Two weeks ago, James fired the deputy Chief Electoral Officer Linda Johnston, claiming he was reorganizing the non-partisan office to be more efficient.

Critics speculated the real reason for the firing had to do with Ms. Johnson’s ruling preventing the government from advertising against the anti-hst campaign. To critics, the firing looked suspiciously like government ordered payback. That only added to concerns that James, the interim Chief Electoral Officer appointed by the government without consultation, was bringing a partisan flavour to the office during an unprecedented period.

Gambling with more than Dollars: How Organized Crime has Increased their Market Share in BC

In the media business , one would say this story has legs. And arms. And some heads that got together to create a plan for BC to become Super Friendly and pave the way to make it as easy as going online and washing lots and lots of cash 'til it is shiny clean here in Beautiful BC.

Questions to ask. Who made the decisions? Anyone influence the decision-makers? How exactly? Who benefits? Where is the RCMP in all of this? A simple time line tells the story and gives answers to many of the questions that arise out of this latest story of corruption in BC.

Remind us again why it is that BC's gambling and gaming enterprises are under the Ministry of Housing & Social Development and not the Ministry of Public Safety & Solicitor General? Who made that decision when they were deciding on the structure of government?

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Fun with FINTRAC
Public Eye Online. July 21, 2010.

Watch Coleman explain it all away here.

Let's compare and contrast: yesterday, when asked about British Columbia Lottery Corp. being fined more than $670,000 for 1,020 violations of the Proceeds of Crime and Terrorist Act, Solicitor General Mike de Jong told The Vancouver Sun, "Obviously the facilities are there to administer to members of the public engaged in lawful gaming activities and if some of these early reports are true, yes, it is troubling." But, last year, when confronted with allegations there was a "ton of criminal activity" at the province's casinos that wasn't being effectively targeted, the minister responsible Rich Coleman gave us a number of reasons why that wasn't the case.

The Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada is the same agency that fined the lottery corporation.

BCLC president and chief executive officer Michael Graydon has said those fines were connected to problems with the reports it filed to the centre - not money laundering or terrorism.

The Vancouver Sun paraphrased Mr. Graydon as stating those reports - which record transactions of $10,000 or more - were late, had clerical errors or didn't include enough information to satisfy the Act. [Ed. Technical incompetence can excuse away so many things, can't it?]

Mr. Coleman didn't respond to repeated interview requests placed through the housing and social development ministry's communications shop.

The fines, which are being appealed, followed an audit the centre conducted between October 28 and November 19, 2009. Mr. Graydon has said the problems that led to the fines have since been solved.

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Mike DeJong Worried About BCLC's Casinos After Money Laundering Rule Violations: Online Gambling Site also a Concern
Kim Bolan and Jonathan Fowlie, Vancouver Sun July 20, 2010

Solicitor General Mike de Jong says he is concerned about the potential for organized crime to misuse B.C. casinos and online gaming after revelations that the B.C. Lotteries Corp. has been fined $670,000 by the federal agency that tracks money laundering and terrorist financing.

De Jong said Tuesday he is reviewing reports he has just received about more than 1,000 violations by the lottery corporation of the federal Proceeds of Crime and Terrorist Financing Act.

He [B.C. Lottery Corp. CEO Michael Graydon] said the final eight improper reports came because people cashed out more than $10,000 without proper identification, and the casino did not do the follow-up required under the law.

Part of the fine came because B.C. Lotteries missed a deadline for creating "a geographic profiling and high-risk profiling and analysis system" that had been requested by FINTRAC and is now in place, he said.

"In 2008, the BCLC was criticized for inadequate reporting relatd to money laundering," Simpson said. [Shane Simpson, NDP MLA.]

And he said BCLC board chairman John McLernon claimed at the time in a letter then minister John van Dongen that a number of steps were being taken to fix the problem.

McLernon said there were more incidents of suspicious transactions at B.C. casinos than in other Canadian jurisdictions.

Last year, the B.C. government increased the weekly limit that can be spent on online gaming to $9,999 from $120. Critics said the move was set subvert FINTRAC rules where transactions of $10,000 or more must be reported to Ottawa.

De Jong said Tuesday he didn't know how the limit was arrived at.

She [FINTRAC director Jeanne Flemming] said one review indicated half the casinos examined "did not have an effective anti-money laundering training program in place."

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Begg's the Question
Public Eye Online. November 16, 2009.

Housing and Social Development Minister Rich Coleman has said the province's anti-illegal gaming team was disbanded on the advice of the RCMP unit's consultative board. But, according to internal documents obtained by Public Eye, the top bureaucrat responsible for overseeing policing in British Columbia wrote about shutting down that government-funded unit "ASAP" three months before the board made its recommendation.

On October 23, 2008, the then director of the province's police services Kevin Begg sent an email to the general manager of the government's gaming police and enforcement branch Derek Sturko with the subject heading "IGET (sic)" - the acronym for the province's now disbanded integrated illegal gaming enforcement team.

In that email Mr. Begg stated, "I need to give RCMP directions to shut the unit down ASAP so that we do not have any financial obligations beyond Mar 31. Not sure how this impacts your unit."

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Ex-unit Commander questions Government's Commitment to "meaningful" Illegal Gaming Investigations
Public Eye Online. October 21, 2009.

The former commander of British Columbia's now-defunct integrated illegal gaming enforcement team is questioning the provincial government's commitment to "meaningful" illegal gaming investigations. Speaking exclusively with Public Eye, Fred Pinnock also described the RCMP's senior management in British Columbia as demonstrating "willful blindness" when it comes to the connection between illegal gaming and organized crime. And he said his provincially-funded RCMP team should have been expanded - not shutdown.

Mr. Pinnock said there hasn't been any big busts at casinos even though "it obvious that highly-pedigreed gangsters frequent these venues on a continuing basis. There's a ton of criminal activity being conducted in these places every day, including money laundering, loansharking and other enterprise crimes."

The RCMP is "playing ostrich" about the problems inside legal gaming facilities, he concluded, with senior management only giving "token attention" to the illegal gaming problems outside those establishments.

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Question: What were Rich Coleman and Patrick Kinsella Discussing at Dinner Last Night?
Alex G. Tsakumis: Rebel with a Clause.

In what must be one of the STUPIDEST moves for a sitting Cabinet Minister of the Campbell govt, Minister Rich Coleman was having dinner last night at the Keg Restaurant in South Surrey, with none other than former unregistered (non?)lobbyist and BC Liberal insider/pal of the Premier, Patrick Kinsella. They were accompanied by their wives and third woman.

Whistleblowers BC says:

Your comment is awaiting moderation.

July 25, 2010 at 10:01 AM

My bet, haha, was it was a social dinner. They would keep the business behind closed doors and away from the wives and any prying eyes. It just doesn’t make sense to be discussing strategy etc. with the wives along at the Keg, they don’t want to hear that crap. Don’t underestimate the power of networking and socializing to cement working relationships.

Coleman doesn’t have a snowballs chance of hell in becoming the next premier. He may duke it out to become the next leader of the party and could win, but this would be the death knell for a party that is already on it’s knees. Don’t forget the former cop, turned politician has bungled every single portfolio he’s been on and there is enough of a trail to seriously question his morals and ethics, which citizens in BC are doing with the party in a big way. His nonchalance over this lottery scandal is indicative of someone who has zero ability to now connect to how voters are perceiving this very serious situation.

Question, where is the commercial crime unit of the RCMP in this lottery scam? You effectively have a sitting government, working in conjunction (colluding?, secret commissions?) with many other players, that has paved the way to what may be the biggest money laundering scheme in Canadian history. The FINTRAC investigation of BC Lottery should be made public and turned over to the RCMP. You just know there was a conversation had between some major players, “hey, you know how we can beat these FINTRAC regulations for reporting, let’s just change the reporting threshold to $9999. That’ll keep FINTRAC out of our hair. Changes like that don’t just happen. What specific individuals were involved in that conversation and then made it happen? The public deserves to know that.

Have said it before, will say it again, the BC Liberal government is the most corrupt, most incompetent and most unethical in the history of this fair province and quite likely Canada.

Attacks on Democracy: This is NOT my Canada

Full video of police charging on protesters as they finished singing the nation anthem

Yee-Guan's Posterous, June 27, 2010.

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Activists Decry Arrests at Peaceful March

Strong show of force disperses group calling on authorities to let arrested protesters go
Tim Kiladze and Adrian Morrow, Globe & Mail. Jun. 27, 2010.