Whistleblower tips expose federal workers behaving badly

Five federal government workers in one department have been fired or reprimanded following complaints about their conduct made under whistleblower legislation.

The misbehaviour occurred within Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) during the 2017-18 fiscal year, according to the department's website. Under law, the department is required to make certain details of the wrongdoing public.

In one case, two temporary employees used a "cannabis derivative" at work and provided it to other casual workers. Both employees were fired, the department wrote.

Another employee was found to have participated in the hiring of her spouse as a casual worker. The woman then tried to use her position to have her spouse hired on for longer, and got involved in other aspects of their employment, the department wrote.

"Corrective actions" are being taken in that case, but the department has not said what those measures are.

Contracts awarded to relatives

In a similar case, a worker was involved in awarding government contracts to "a company owned by a close relative," and to another contractor with whom he had worked.

Again, the department said "corrective actions" are being taken.

Another case involved a manager who worked irregular shifts, arrived at the office late and falsely claimed to be working from home. She also assigned employees work after hours, earning them unnecessary overtime, PSPC found.

According to PSPC, the manager sometimes worked on business related to her private company while on government time. She had one of her staff members drive her to meetings using the staffer's personal vehicle.

The department said the woman is no longer employed there.

Protection not guaranteed, prof says

The cases could encourage more civil servants to come forward to report misconduct, said Gilles LeVasseur, a business and law professor at the University of Ottawa.

"It opens the door to actually allow more civil servants to express their actual discontent about certain conduct or behaviours that are inappropriate in the public service," he said.

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LeVasseur said he believes the Public Servants Disclosure Protection Act (PSDPA), which came into force in 2007, should be updated to make it mandatory for employees to report misuse of public funds or abuse of power.

The legislation is supposed to protect all federal government workers, as well as those employed by the RCMP, from reprisal for reporting wrongdoing. However, LeVasseur said he believes that protection isn't always guaranteed, especially at senior levels.

"You don't want to be put on the blacklist," he said.

LeVasseur adds whistleblowers may still face less obvious consequences, such as being overlooked for a promotion or special project.