Prime Time Crime
| Whistleblowers |
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Canada is not a good place to be for whistleblowers. |
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OTTAWA - Canadian diplomat Richard Colvin issued a rebuttal Wednesday to top government and military officials who have derided his allegations that they ignored warnings about the likely torture of detainees transferred by Canadian Forces to Afghan custody in 2006-07. (CanWest) MORE: Richard Colvin case
Whistleblower under investigation SASKATOON - The deputy minister overseeing Saskatchewan's jails has placed an employee on what the government is calling "administrative leave" and has ordered an investigation. (CBC)
NEW YORK - Bradley Birkenfeld, the former USB banker central to the US's case against the Swiss bank in its long-running tax evasion fight, has been sentenced to 40 months in prison. . (Telegraph UK) PREVIOUS: UBS to give up 4,450 clients US UBS agreement .pdf Tax deal Corporate scandals
Child-support complained about TORONTO - In his annual report, Andre Marin says the Family Responsibility Agency had been closing cases it found "impractical to enforce" and clearing accounts owing once a case was deemed closed. He called the agency one of the "most consistently complained-about organizations." (CTV) REPORT: Annual Report 2008-2009 .pdf Power up the ombudsman Ombudsman reports mixed results on closed-door meetings Family responsibility agency criticized
Lawyer hired to find whistleblower Vancouver city council today appointed lawyer Richard Peck to find who leaked confidential council documents relating to the controversial $100 million bailout program for the financially troubled Olympic Village project. (Vancouver Sun) PREVIOUS: An athletes' village project primer
OTTAWA - Remarkably, in her first year of operation, with a staff of 21 people and a budget of $6.5 million, the Public Sector Integrity Commissioner has found not a single instance of wrongdoing. (Hill Times) MORE: Whistleblower law yields nothing Public Sector Integrity Canada: 2007-2008 Annual Report
VANCOUVER - A correctional officer is being investigated after he alerted the BC children's ministry about a woman who allegedly used her baby to smuggle drugs to an inmate, according to his union. (CBC) MORE: Babies being used to smuggle drugs Skip whistleblower and focus on prison drugs Day wants to tighten prison drug-search policy
He stuck out his neck and was fired VANCOUVER - Gord McAdams, a career civil servant fired for turning whistleblower, said Tuesday he learned something along the way from rare painted turtles he helped to save near Nelson. "What have I learned from the turtles?" McAdams said after receiving a 2007 whistleblower award in Vancouver. "To move forward, you have to stick your neck out, but it's nice to have a hard shell." (Vancouver Sun) PREVIOUS: Whistle blowing saved the turtles
MPs should commend RCMP whistleblowers, committee says OTTAWA - A group of RCMP officers and a civilian employee who jeopardized their careers to get the force's brass to investigate the mismanagement of the Mounties' pension fund should be given commendations by Parliament, says the Commons committee investigating the scandal. (Ottawa Citizen)
SCC leaves whistleblowers blowing in the wind OTTAWA - Two public servants who blew the whistle on their employer failed to convince the Supreme Court of Canada on Thursday to consider whether the public's right to know should outweigh a duty of loyalty to their bosses. The high court declined to grant leave to appeal to former RCMP officer Robert Read and Shiv Chopra, a former microbiologist at Health Canada. (CanWest) MORE: SCC won't hear appeal from RCMP whistleblower Read Bad month for honest public servants
US Supreme Court makes it harder for Whistleblowers to go public WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court on Tuesday made it harder for government employees to file lawsuits claiming they were retaliated against for going public with allegations of official misconduct. (AP)
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TORONTO - The McGuinty Liberals are being accused of showing the door to a couple of government watchdogs who’ve put pressure on the government over the last five years. Andre Marin’s five-year term as Ombudsman is coming to an end and the government is looking for a new one. Gord Miller, the environmental commissioner, is also going to be replaced. (CTV) MORE: 'Fishy' watchdog review Skewing the process to get rid of bothersome watchdogs Andre Marin Gord Miller Reduce the number of watchdogs
MONTREAL - John Daniel Sweeney sent federal officials an email detailing apparent holes in security procedures at Trudeau airport, where he began work as a janitor Sept. 17. (Montreal Gazette)
REGINA - An occupational health and safety officer who raised serious concerns about the Saskatoon Correctional Centre said she was fired by the provincial government for doing her job and the problems at the jail likely still exist. (Saskatoon Star Phoenix)
WINNIPEG - Tracy Rose believes officials with the Pembina Trails School Division are punishing her for speaking out about her experience with a 17-year-old boy now accused of killing his father, dismembering the body and hiding the remains. (Mike on Crime)
Calls for watchdog to step down OTTAWA - In August 2007, Prime Minister Stephen Harper appointed Public Sector Integrity Commissioner Christiane Ouimet to enforce the new act. However, Ouimet has yet to report a single case of public-sector wrongdoing to Parliament. (CanWest)
OTTAWA - Given the track record of our corporations (with fiascos like Bre-X and Nortel) and past government waste and corruption (such as the $1-billion gun registry overrun and the sponsorship scandal) we have little reason to trust that this unprecedented expenditure will be managed competently or even honestly. (Hill Times)
The Whistleblower who exposed warrantless wiretaps WASHINGTON - Thomas M. Tamm was entrusted with some of the government's most important secrets. He had a Sensitive Compartmented Information security clearance, a level above Top Secret.. (Newsweek) PREVIOUS: NSA warrantless surveillance controversy
Bureaucrats attack food safety OTTAWA - When Food Inspection Agency head Carole Swan abruptly fired union steward Luc Pomerleau for sharing a confidential memo with his colleagues, she provided us with yet another example of apparent retaliation against a public servant who, by stumbling upon the truth, embarrassed his bosses - and in this case got in the way of senior bureaucrats’ secretive plans. (Hill Times)
Audit vindicates whistleblower VANCOUVER - Laura Anderson was a Cassandra at Kwantlen College through much of 2005 and 2006, warning everyone who would listen that something was rotten in the school's student association. The part-time horticulture student complained that the new executive of the Kwantlen Student Association was abusing democratic procedures and playing fast and loose with the KSA's million-dollar budget. (Vancouver Sun) Kwantlen student fund misspent Student association sues
VANCOUVER - The man who triggered a police investigation that led to Glen Clark resigning as premier almost five years ago has had his east Vancouver home torched. (Vancouver Sun)
Canada's government culture promotes loyalty at all costs and takes immediate and crushing action against employees who blow the whistle. (Joanna Gualtieri and David Kilgour) RELATED: Whistleblower heroes of Adscam play the price Bill C-11 as passed by the House of Commons Whistleblowers: Our last line of defense Provinces should look at whistleblower legislation
Government whistleblowers reap hefty rewards WASHINGTON - Crime may not pay, but blowing the whistle on companies that swindle the government sure can. Since its inception, the False Claims Act has generated $12 billion for the federal treasury and more than $1 billion for hundreds of whistleblowers. (AP) |
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Whistleblower faces $10M lawsuit EDMONTON - Zues Yaghi, an Edmonton resident, said he has been the subject of a search warrant, a gag order and a lawsuit from WMS Gaming Inc. for reporting the flaws in its poker machines, which the company has since fixed. (CBC) |
Government tried to silence her OTTAWA - The retired civilian watchdog over the RCMP says the Martin government "didn't want any waves" and tried to "shut her up" by offering to continue her salary if she stepped down early. (CanWest) |
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OTTAWA - A senior Transport Canada official fended off accusations Wednesday he used his position of authority to influence the actions of employees and deter them from voicing concerns over proposed changes to federal air-safety regulations. (CanWest) PREVIOUS: Transport Canada official accused of interfering in safety audit UN threats against whistle-blowers Whistleblower legislation needs more work Whistleblowing: Beyond the call of duty |
CTV Whistleblower: Fish from Asia found to contain carcinogen Bill Chui had a suspicion -- that some types of fish imported to Canada from Asia are contaminated with a known carcinogen. Tests done for CTV Whistleblower have proved him right. (CTV) PREVIOUS: Ottawa on the hook for clean-up of vacant land Reno work doubles cost of government building Doctors demand mandatory wait time standards Health heroes fight bureaucratic attack |
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Military ombudsman delivers stinging report OTTAWA - Andre Marin held the position of Canada's first civilian ombudsman for soldiers for seven years. Before he moves on to the job of Ontario's ombudsman, the 40-year-old delivered a stinging review of the way the defence department handles complaints from those on the front lines. (CTV) REPORT: Ombudsman White Paper |
Whistleblower: How free drugs end up in the wrong hands The federal government spends tens of millions of dollars more than necessary each year on prescription drug benefits for native Canadians, and fuels an epidemic of abuse and addiction among First Nations patients in the process. (CTV) MORE: Auditor General 2004 report: Management of Federal Drug Benefit Programs |
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Whistle-blowers told complaints stay in-house HALIFAX - Nova Scotia government employees who want to blow the whistle on wrongdoing or corruption now have new rules to follow. Cabinet ministers have approved a new set of regulations, which require workers to take their complaints up the bureaucratic chain of command. The whistle-blower is not allowed to make the complaint public or enlist help outside the bureaucracy. (CBC) |
Firing linked to whistleblowing TORONTO -- A federal civil servant who was fired after going public about wrongdoing at the Immigration and Refugee Board has turned to the courts for help because he says he has been punished for his decision to come forward. While the board says it axed Selwyn Pieters for tarnishing its image by lying to the media, he argues in Federal Court documents that his dismissal was in retaliation for blowing the whistle. (CP) |
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Whistleblower urges more medical inquests VANCOUVER - An ex-coroner has claimed that the public is being denied information about deaths caused by medical mistakes. Kathleen Stephany, formerly the coroner in charge of special investigations, told the Georgia Straight that this is because the office of the chief coroner won’t order inquests into medical-related deaths. (George Straight) |
The Washington Post today confirmed that W. Mark Felt, a former number-two official at the FBI, was "Deep Throat," the secretive source who provided information that helped unravel the Watergate scandal in the early 1970s and contributed to the resignation of president Richard M. Nixon. (Washington Post) MORE: 'Deep Throat' identity confirmed Revisiting Watergate Watergate |
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Los Alamos whistleblower beaten up SANTA FE, N.M. - A Los Alamos lab whistleblower scheduled to testify before Congress about alleged financial irregularities was badly beaten outside a bar — an attack his wife and lawyer believe was designed to silence him. (AP) |
VANCOUVER - Lori Bailey, a 34-year-old correctional officer at Mountain Institution in Agassiz, says she fears for her family's safety after learning that inmates were approached to help in an alleged bullying campaign by a group of her co-workers. (The Province) |
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MPs should comment RCMP whistleblowers, committee says OTTAWA - A group of RCMP officers and a civilian employee who jeopardized their careers to get the force's brass to investigate the mismanagement of the Mounties' pension fund should be given commendations by Parliament, says the Commons committee investigating the scandal. The accolades go to the group of five that special investigator David Brown exonerated in his report into the pension scandal -- Denise Revine, the human resource director who first uncovered the misuse of pension funds; her boss, Chief Supt. Fraser Macaulay; retired staff sergeant Ron Lewis; Staff Sgt. Steve Walker and Staff Sgt. Mike Frizzell, the RCMP investigator who was removed from the Ottawa Police Service's criminal investigation into the affair. (Ottawa Citizen) |
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Lesley Anthony and Jean Bowen, were hailed as heroes after they secretly videotaped the plight of an elderly woman in a Versa-Care Long-Term-Care Home. Lesley Anthony is being accused of professional misconduct for her actions. |
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Dr. Barry Armstrong, Canadian Armed Forces. The Canadian Forces doctor was considered one of the initial whistle blowers in Somalia Inquiry. There was a campaign within the military to smear him until he retired. |
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Myriam Bedard in the context of the Sponsorship Scandal disclosed that she had been pushed from her marketing department job at Via Rail in 2002 shortly after raising concerns about the company's dealings with advertiser GroupAction. This led to the firings a few days later of Via Rail chairperson Jean Pelletier and president March LeFrancois. |
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Dr. Michelle Brill-Edwards, of the Health Protection Branch, resigned in 1996, claiming wholesale abuses inside the Branch. |
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Bruce Brine who had 22 years of policing and a 1994 governor-general's award for exemplary service, was fired from his job as chief of the Halifax ports police in 1995 after he made allegations that senior officials with the Canada ports police were getting kickbacks from the Hells Angels. The ports police were disbanded in 1998 and the ongoing investigations were abandoned -- just as they were in Vancouver in 1997. Much of the material from the files of those investigations was listed as missing when Mounties began to pursue his obstruction complaint. Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission awarded him a cash settlement, an apology and a letter of reference from the port authority. |
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Dr. Shiv Chopra, a senior veterinary drug evaluator in Health Canada's Therapeutic Products and Food Branch, along with Dr. Margaret Hayden in the Animal Health Division, and Gerard Lambert blew the whistle on the drug approval process for bovine growth hormone and animal feed. They said human health concerns were being ignored due to pressure from lobbyists of drug companies. CBC: Madcow Health Canada told to compensate fired employee Scientists to fight Health Canada firings Health Canada fires outspoken scientists Health Canada fires 3 scientists Health Canada |
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Allan Cutler lodged a complaint, which prompted a departmental audit of the advertising and public opinion division. But by the time the audit was underway, Cutler was transferred to the technical and special services division of Public Works. During the Sponsorship Scandal investigation Cutler tabled an inch thick document which contained meticulous notes, memos and his own diary detailing how the rules were being broken. |
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Perry Dunlop, a police officer in Cornwall, Ontario, uncovered a local pedophile ring, and twice fought charges of contravening his duties under the Police Act for handing the case. He was cleared of any wrongdoing, as judges ruled that his duties to Children’s Aid superceded his responsibilities as a police officer. But he still had enough of the taunts and threats, and moved with his family to the west coast. |
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OTTAWA - A bearded, slender, and apparently shoeless Perry Dunlop was released from the Ottawa-Carleton Detention Centre shortly after midnight on Saturday, ending his seven-month sentence on contempt of court charges stemming from his failure to appear at the Cornwall Public Inquiry. (Cornwall Standard Freeholder) |
Whistleblower - 6 months in jail |
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Bernard Dussault, chief actuary, Canada pension plan, reported that he was asked to modify numbers to paint a more positive state of the CPP. He was fired. |
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Joanna Gualtieri and John Guenette at DFAIT, blew the whistle on waste and lavish spending on diplomatic housing and embassies. The Inspector General and Auditor General of Canada later supported there allegations. Gualtieri and Guenette claimed the bureau seemed not to care, that their bosses harassed them for raising the concerns and that they were given dead-end jobs after coming forward. Both bureaucrats went on stress leave. Joanna Gualtieri is still doing battle for whistleblowers as the Director of Federal Accountability Initiative for Reform (FAIR). |
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Gary Lovett got fired for telling the media that Canada's base in Afghanistan didn't have adequate fire-fighting gear. Though his pay came from the Canadian government, it flowed through a contractor, SNC-Lavalin. |
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Linda Merk discovered that the president and business manager of Ironworkers Union Local 771were double dipping on their travel expenses. Raise the matter "in house” and then went to the police. She was fired. The Supreme Court will hear Merk's case, while police continue to look into her original accusations of fraud. |
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Brian McAdam was a 30-year veteran Foreign Service officer in Canadian diplomatic missions in the Caribbean, Europe, the Middle East, South America and Asia. In 1991 he documented evidence of corruption at Canada's foreign mission in Hong Kong and the cover-up by the Chretien government. He took an early retirement. |
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Russell Mills, was fired from his job as the publisher of CanWest's Ottawa Citizen when he called for the resignation of Prime Minister Jean Chrétien who had lied repeatedly in the case that has become known as Shawinigate. |
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Dr. Nancy Olivieri, a scientist at the Hospital for Sick Children and clinical professor at the University of Toronto discovered evidence suggesting that a drug she was testing might be life threatening. Apotex Inc. which partly funded her research insisted that she should not publish her results and threatened legal action if she were to inform the patients in the trials. The U of T showed its concern for health and scientific integrity by refusing to intervene, of course, the fact that at that time the U of T was negotiating with Apotex Inc. for a multimillion dollar donation for a new building presumably had nothing at all to do with the matter. After a Report vindicates Dr. Nancy Olivieri, she took a leave of absence to pursue her research. |
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Corporal Robert Read, a veteran RCMP officer associated with the report called “Sidewinder”, which has been ignored due to political pressure. The RCMP ordered Read to resign or be fired for his actions. The RCMP Adjudication Board recommended that the Commissioner of the RCMP reinstate Read. The RCMP rejected the recommendation to reinstate whistleblower. |
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Ron Robertson EDMONTON - Ron Robertson dismissal is the latest in a series of events which began in 1998, when he came forward with concerns the force had been infiltrated by organized crime. (Edmonton Sun) PREVIOUS: Internal Affairs: Edmonton Police under the microscope |
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Louise Ross, who worked in the Prime Minister's Office as the assistant to the professional photographer for the House of Commons, found out that the photographer was using House of Commons equipment for his own benefit. She went to her superior and said that she thought that was wrong. She was fired. |
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Michael Sanders, financial analyst, Office of the Superintendent for Financial Institutions, blew the whistle on the absence of sufficient safeguards to protect taxpayers against the collapse of major financial institutions. He was fired from his job. |
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Bob Stenhouse, a much-decorated, 18-year veteran of the force with extensive undercover experience, landed in hot water in 1999 when he disclosed RCMP plans for outlaw biker gangs to Yves Lavigne which appear in the book Hells Angels at War. Stenhouse was found guilty of discreditable conduct and ordered to resign. A court ruled his disciplinary hearing was unfair and ordered a new one which ruled he should be reinstated. In June of 2004 he was reinstated and then immediately suspended with pay while the RCMP awaits a new court-ordered disciplinary hearing. |
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