Prime Time Crime
Whistleblowers
Canada is not a good place for whistleblowers.
SCRABSTER
- The family of a woman from Bell Island, NL, is speaking out about
alleged workplace abuse of their sister - which included being bound and
gagged in an office chair.
DeeAnn Fitzpatrick said the incident
occurred in 2010, but it was part of a decade-long pattern of bullying
and abuse that she experienced when she worked as a fisheries officer
at Marine Scotland's Scrabster office on Scotland's northern coast.
MONTREAL - Documents from a hearing of the
disciplinary committee of the Quebec Order of Engineers in mid-August
show Jean-Claude Gilbert gave Radio-Canada details and video of a broken
expansion joint on Montreal's
Champlain Bridge in May 2013.
His former employer, an engineering
firm contracted to inspect the bridge for the federal agency that runs
it, filed a complaint for divulging confidential information.
(CP)
Whistleblowers sentences reduced
LUXEMBOURG - Former employee Antoine Deltour,
31, received a 6 month suspended sentence with a 1,500-euro fine,
instead of the 12-month jail term given at the original trial last June.
His colleague Raphael Halet, 40,
received a 1,000-euro fine instead of a 9-month prison sentence.
(AFP)
SAVANNAH - Reality Winner, charged with
leaking US secrets to a news organization told FBI agents she was
frustrated with her job as a government contractor when she tucked a
classified report into her pantyhose and smuggled it out of a NSA
office.
(AP) PREVIOUS:
Intercept classified NSA report
Reality
Winner
Whistleblower not IOC's problem
RIO DE JANEIRO - Russian whistleblower Yulia
Stepanova may be in danger after her revelations on doping in her
country that triggered a massive scandal and forced her to flee, but it
is not the International Olympic Committee's responsibility, the
IOC said.
(Reuters)
TORONTO - Ontario's securities watchdog (OSC) has launched its whistleblower program, a first in Canada, in an effort to root out accounting fraud, insider trading and market manipulation. (CP) MORE: Office of the whistleblower
UN - Figures obtained by the Government Accountability Project reveal that the UN ethics office had received 447 approaches up to July 2014 from those alleging they have faced retaliation for exposing wrongdoing. (Guardian UK) PREVIOUS: UN's investigation wars
Nanex and Eric Hunsader has finally been vindicated, and is the first whistleblower eligible under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act meant 'to reward an independent third party for analysis of a potential securities law violation.' (Zero Hedge)
MADRID - Herve Falciani, a
former
HSBC technology employee convicted for leaking
account data that led to a tax evasion scandal has been arrested in
Madrid on an arrest warrant issued by Switzerland.
(AFP)
Light on search for whistleblowers
MONTREAL - A Canadian journalist expressed
dismay after learning that the RCMP were planning to shadow him
in hopes he would lead them to the person who leaked secret information
on a suspected terrorist.
(CP)
HALIFAX - Search warrants say a NS civil
servant told police somebody 'hacked' into the province's
freedom-of-information website in a case investigators later dropped
because there were no grounds to lay criminal charges.
The youth never intended to scoop up
people's personal files or social insurance numbers, and this was due to
a lack of proper security safeguards on the website.
(CP)
PETERBOROUGH - Several local producers say they're facing expulsion from the Peterborough farmers market because of their campaign to increase transparency among fellow vendors, just months after a CBC Marketplace investigation revealed 2 vendors were not being upfront about the provenance of their fruits and veggies. (CBC)
REGINA - Carolyn Strom plans to appeal the fine handed down last week by the SK Registered Nurses' Association. The committee ruled she violated the registered nurses' act when, in Feb 2015, she posted on Facebook about what she called the 'subpar' treatment of her grandfather in a long-term care facility in Macklin, SK. (CTV)
TORONTO - Andre Marin, Ontario's former
ombudsman is suing for wrongful dismissal, alleging Premier Kathleen
Wynne and the Liberals 'orchestrated' his removal from public office.
(Sun Media)
THE HAGUE - Florence Hartmann was grabbed by
guards outside the UN war crimes tribunal last Thursday as the court
convicted Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic of helping to organize
atrocities during Bosnia's 1992-95 war.
The tribunal convicted her in 2009 for
publishing confidential material, giving her a fine which was later
converted into a 7-day prison sentence.
(AP)
MORE:
Whistleblower released early
Whistleblower in military custody
LONDON -
Able Seaman
William McNeilly, 25, the Royal Navy whistleblower who went on the run
after alleging a catalogue of security failings at the Trident nuclear
base is in custody in Scotland.
(Guardian UK)
THAILAND - A Swiss businessman who allegedly
leaked thousands of emails to the
Sarawak Report
has been arrested in Thailand at the behest of a controversial oil
exploration company connected to the
1MDB scandal in Malaysia.
(Asia Sentinel)
OTTAWA - Doug Drever, who has worked for the
military for years, bucked his bosses and refused to follow instructions
he apparently believed were unethical.
(CBC)
Veterans Affairs broke the law
OTTAWA - The yearlong investigation stemmed from a complaint by
retired intelligence official Sean Bruyea. (CTV) MORE:
'Alarming' breach
Sean Bruyea
Advocate settles privacy suit
Feds right a wrong
WASHINGTON - The most perilous posting for Jeffrey Scudder turned out to be a
two-year stint in a sleepy office that looks after the agency's historical
files.
(Washington Post)
Institutions gather, store
and analyze vast amounts of information about individuals and other
institutions. The process, even when intentions are benign, is
nonetheless invasive. (CBC)
OTTAWA - The Liberal government has been expanding the number of public servants subject to lifetime gag orders, placing them under threat of hefty prison sentences should they spill any secrets before they die. The Privy Council Office has designated at least 94 individuals, some of whom no longer work for the federal government, as 'persons permanently bound to secrecy' or PPBS - a binding legal order intended to enforce their silence. (CBC)
AG criticizes government secrecy
Bureaucratic reflex to overclassify
OTTAWA - Ethics Commissioner Mario Dion is asking MPs for sweeping new powers, suggesting he should be able to impose publication bans on the media, suspend parliamentarians from sitting in the House of Commons and impose hefty fines in the range of $25,000. (Globe & Mail)
Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada
Public Sector Integrity Commissioner. (CTV)
Auditor general: gross mismanagement
Severance deal includes gag order
Commission to submit complaints
Commissioner's actions 'unacceptable'
Public Sector Integrity Commissioner
OTTAWA - The RCMP have laid a single charge of breach of trust against Vice-Admiral Mark Norman. The scope of the investigation was expanded recently beyond claims that Norman was the source of unauthorized disclosures to the media shortly after the Liberal government was elected in the fall of 2015. (CBC)
Whistleblowing behind removal?
Canadians are not been given accurate info on price
Irving warship procurement deal
HONG KONG - Authorities have rejected asylum requests from a group of refugees who sheltered Edward Snowden 4 years ago, in what their lawyer said is retaliation for helping the former NSA contractor. (AP)
PM had advance warning of detention
2013 mass surveillance scandal
Snowden applied for temporary asylum
Warrantless surveillance controversy
Feds ordered to pay legal costs
OTTAWA - Edgar Schmidt, who was suspended without pay after filing his claim in December, asserts in court documents that the government has failed to live up to its obligations to ensure that new legislation complies with the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
LONDON - Swedish prosecutors on Friday dropped a 7-year rape investigation into Julian Assange, a legal victory for the WikiLeaks founder who has been holed up in the Ecuadoran embassy in London since 2012. British police have said they will arrest Assange as soon as he walks out of the embassy because he has broken his conditions for bail. (AFP)
Integrity of Feds 'secret network' questioned
WikiLeaks release detainee policies
Searchable archive of government records
Public library of US diplomacy
US diplomatic intelligence reports
WikiLeaks publishes 1.7M US records
Not guilty of aiding the enemy
How Manning changed whistleblowers
Police will arrest him regardless
WikiLeaks releases 'Syria Files'
US pokes fun at Arctic pledges
Swedish Judicial v Julian Assange
Ego conceals triumph of WikiLeaks
Telegraph: WikiLeaks cable files
US Bank plan to destroy WikiLeaks
Best way to rob a bank in Africa
Nigeria pressured UK to drop charges
Cables outline Olympic threats
Ransom paid for Canadian diplomats
Assanges Swedish sex crimes file
al-Qaeda is planning a dirty bomb
Release of Abdelbaset al-Megrahi
Ex-IRA wants WikiLeaks designated
WikiLeaks threatening security
Location matters up in the cloud
Warning about bank leak a mistake
Chinese official doesn't believe figures
US knocks WikiLeaks off the net
GENEVA - Anders Kompass, the director of field operations for the office of the high commissioner for human rights in Geneva, was suspended and faced dismissal after he passed confidential documents detailing the abuse of children by French troops in CAR to the authorities in Paris because of the UN's failure to stop the exploitation.(Guardian UK)
Lifetime confidentiality agreements
OTTAWA - A proposed lifetime gag order for employees of members of Parliament that would restrict their ability to share information - and stifle the kind of whistleblowing that led to some of the revelations in the Senate scandal - is triggering alarm among Parliament Hill staff. (CBC) DOCUMENT: Conflict of interest & confidentiality agreement .pdf
OTTAWA - The commander of the Canadian army has threatened to go after soldiers who provide information to the media without permission and "pursue disciplinary action against them," according to a memo sent widely across the land force. (CBC) Marquis Hainse
LONDON - Alexander Perepilichnyy had fled Russia in 2010 before helping expose a $230 million tax fraud ring allegedly involving senior Kremlin officials. By the time paramedics reached his mansion, he was dead. (Washington Post) MORE: Whistleblower had traces of race poison in his stomach
VANCOUVER - Alayne
Fleischmann was the key witness in the US Justice Department's
investigation into the bank's dubious mortgage deals, which resulted in
a landmark $13B settlement with JPMorgan Chase, announced on Nov 19,
2013. (Globe & Mail)
SASKATOON - Care aide Peter Bowden took his concerns to the legislature in March about the well-being of seniors at SK's Oliver Lodge. The following month, Bowden was suspended with pay. His dismissal was confirmed this week. Oliver Lodge is an affiliate of the Saskatoon Health Region. (CBC)
NEW YORK - A former CIA officer who was involved in a highly secretive operation to give faulty nuclear plans to Iran was convicted of providing classified information about his work to a New York Times reporter - a significant win for federal prosecutors and a presidential administration that has worked zealously to root out leakers. (AP) PREVIOUS: Jeffrey Sterling Operation Merlin
State of WarTORONTO - 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: Power up the ombudsman Ombudsman reports results on closed-door meetings
OTTAWA - The
Canadian Forces has reversed its decision to discharge a Canadian
soldier who testified about his struggle for health benefits and his
long recovery from injuries suffered in the Afghanistan war.
(CTV) PREVIOUS:
Witness discharged
Peter MacKay
LONDON - The
FSA,
is investigating claims by a whistleblower that Britain's $476B
wholesale gas market has been "regularly" manipulated by some of the big
power companies. (Guardian UK) MORE:
2nd whistleblower
OFGEM under fire over energy price fixing allegations
Big 6 suppliers
Whistleblower goes to jail
ALEXANDRIA, VA. - John Kiriakou, 48, pleaded guilty to one count of disclosing the identity of a covert agent. MORE: John Kiriakou CIA whistleblower Maher Arar
MOSCOW - Russia is preparing to put lawyer Sergei on trial, even though he died in 2009, in the latest twist in a case that has become a byword for rampant Russian corruption. (AP)
NIAGARA FALLS - The OSPCA investigation into how MarineLand treats its animals has bogged down into a bureaucratic battle between the society and the province. (Toronto Star) PREVIOUS: Probe into mass animal graves Inspection of mass graves begins MarineLand
Whistleblower still seeking justice
VANCOUVER - Sylvie Therrien lost her job as a fraud investigator with Service Canada in Vancouver in 2013 after leaking information to the media about aggressive government targets for reducing EI benefit payouts. (Toronto Star) PREVIOUS: EI fraud investigator axed Whistleblower suspended Doublespeak Code of Conduct
WASHINGTON - The
federal agent who blew the whistle on the Fast and Furious scandal is
suddenly unwelcome at the very
Border Patrol agency he sought to protect.
(Washington Times)
Charged under espionage act
Espionage Act of 1917
Official retaliated
Dennis Burke
Investigation of improper disclosure
.pdf
ATF gunwalking scandal
Whistleblower forced investigation
CALGARY - Evan Vokes, a former TransCanada engineer, says he reported its substandard practices to the federal energy regulator because he believed the company’s management refused to act on his complaints. (CBC) PREVIOUS: TransCanada reproached by regulator over compliance National Energy Board
WASHINGTON - The new financial reform law has what some lawyers call a secret weapon against fraud on Wall Street and in corporate America: the promise of a million-dollar jackpot to insiders who reveal an illegal scheme to the government. (LA Times)
WASHINGTON - Tim Wallender, a former CN trainmaster has filed a lawsuit under the US Sarbanes-Oxley Act - which was passed into law to protect whistleblowers. (CBC) PREVIOUS: CN defends safety record Train fire will have to burn itself out Explosion CN Rail
FREDERICTON - NB’s whistleblower law has barely been used in the 5 years since it was introduced to allow civil servants to report illegal or dangerous actions by their co-workers, according to the province’s acting ombudsman. (CBC)
TORONTO - Ken Tooby, 45, was among several staff members who revealed problems in labour relations, contracts, disappearance of university property and use of outside consultants starting in 2009. (Toronto Star) York University
Whistleblower saved $300M
OTTAWA - When Niagara Parks Commissioner Bob Gale began to question a secret deal that some board members had struck with the Maid of the Mist tour operator, he had no inkling that he would face a 2-year battle pitched battle. MORE: Niagara Falls tour boat contract goes to US company
The controversial Internet hacker-activist group Anonymous has launched a financial research arm aimed at exposing corrupt corporate practices. Called Anonymous Analytics, its first target is Chaoda Modern Agriculture, one of China’s largest food producers. (Toronto Star) MORE: Chaoda is next
TORONTO - The Liberals are being accused of showing the door to a couple of government watchdogs who’ve put pressure on the government over the last 5 years. (CTV) MORE: 'Fishy' review Skewing the process Andre Marin Gord Miller
Skakun guilty
PRINCE GEORGE - City Councillor Brian Skakun has been found guilty of breaching the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act. MORE: Guilty of leaking report Whistleblower or violator of laws? Councillor charged over leaked report
WASHINGTON - The IRS has awarded the largest whistleblower award in history - $104M - to a former UBS banker who gave information that helped expose a $20B offshore banking scheme. (Washington Times)
US UBS agreement .pdf
Whistleblowers blowing in the wind
OTTAWA - Two public servants who blew the whistle on their employer failed to convince the Supreme Court of Canada 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.
He stuck out his neck and was fired
VANCOUVER - Gord McAdams, a career civil servant fired for turning whistleblower, said 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."
OTTAWA - Canada's whistleblower law has done nothing to help people who raise red flags. (CP) PREVIOUS: Public Servants Disclosure Protection Act Meanness is a way of life in Ottawa Allan Cutler
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)
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.
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.
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.
Dr. Michelle Brill-Edwards, of the Health Protection Branch, resigned in 1996, claiming wholesale abuses inside the Branch.
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.
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. Health Canada
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.
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.
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.
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).
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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)
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.
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.
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.