Ombudsman’s review shows whistleblower act’s impact during first decade
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 18/06/2018 (2109 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
The province’s whistleblower legislation may have found only three cases of wrongdoing in government in its first decade, but the Manitoba Ombudsman says complainants aren’t whistling in the wind.
Charlene Paquin said while three cases of wrongdoing were found out of 155 disclosures made during the first 10 years of Manitoba’s Public Interest Disclosure (Whistleblower Protection) Act, there have been 76 recommendations for improvements made to provincial departments, Crown corporations and other provincial bodies covered by the act.
“It (the conclusion) may not be a finding of wrongdoing, but it may result in change,” Paquin said Tuesday following the release of a review looking at the first 10 years of the act’s implementation.
“It is about improved governance and improved public bodies, and that is the good.”
The legislation was introduced in 2006 by then-premier Gary Doer’s NDP government.
At the time, then-finance minister Greg Selinger said if the legislation had been in place it could have protected the former CEO of the Workers Compensation Board from losing her job.
Pat Jacobsen complained to the province’s labour minister about what she saw were several abuses of power, including by then-chairman Wally Fox-Decent.
But the complaint was sent back to the WCB’s board, whose members Jacobsen had complained about, so she was forced to resign. A subsequent auditor’s report criticized the government’s handling of the matter.
Paquin said the Ombudsman’s office doesn’t release information about specific cases dealt with because it wants to do everything it can to keep the whistleblower’s identity secret.
But two of the three findings of wrongdoing have been made public by others.
The office made a finding of wrongdoing in the case of gross mismanagement of public funds at the Middlechurch Home in 2012. The executive director at the time was fired in the wake of the discovery.
An August 2017 report by the Ombudsman’s office also found wrongdoing by the Brandon Regional Health Centre. It found the hospital’s administration knew for at least 20 months — in 2015-16 — it was endangering patients’ lives by putting them on breathing-support machines with no alarms to alert staff if the oxygen line had become disconnected.
During the investigation, the hospital told the Ombudsman that it was still using six Bilevel Positive Airway Pressure machines, also known as BiPAP, which could disconnect from patients or fail and had no alarms. The hospital replaced them with new machines last year, just six months before the Ombudsman’s report was issued.
The third case of wrongdoing has never been made public, but according to the review it involves “unauthorized use of government equipment and property for an employee’s personal profit.”
Paquin said she hopes the 10-year review also helps the public learn more about the act and what the results have been.
The report found the office opened 24 investigations during the decade. It also said the majority of whistleblowers who stepped forward made allegations against provincial government departments; other public bodies often mentioned include Child and Family Services, personal-care homes, universities and colleges and agencies that receive provincial funding.
kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca
Kevin Rollason
Reporter
Kevin Rollason is one of the more versatile reporters at the Winnipeg Free Press. Whether it is covering city hall, the law courts, or general reporting, Rollason can be counted on to not only answer the 5 Ws — Who, What, When, Where and Why — but to do it in an interesting and accessible way for readers.