If you knew your boss was doing something unethical, would you tell someone more senior? Let's be honest. It's a safe bet that most of the people reading this have witnessed unethical behaviour where they work. Someone using company supplies for personal profit, perhaps, or someone working on a private project on company time.
It's an even safer bet that these dubious activities went unreported. Why? Because as anyone who has ever blown the whistle on the boss can tell you -- it's career suicide. Sure, you may have right on your side. You might even have some form of legal protection. But you will be ostracized all the same, and probably forced out of your job.
[. . . . ] Which brings us to the whistle-blower-protection legislation that Prime Minister Paul Martin is now promising.
The Liberals' record in this area is not good. Such legislation was promised as far back as the 1993 election, but has never materialized. Several opposition MPs took matters into their own hands and introduced a private members bill called the Whistle-blowers Human Rights Act. The Liberal government killed it in 2003 by refusing to vote in favour. In delivering the coup de grace, Tony Tirabassi, parliamentary secretary for the president of the Treasury Board, said: "We are not convinced that legislative measures are necessary to address the issue of employee protection when whistle-blowing in the federal public service." With the sponsorship scandal, Liberal attitudes have suddenly shifted.
Have attitudes really shifted? Remember RCMP Cpl. Read who lost his job because he turned to the media after the investigation named Operation Sidewinder was halted? He was the whistleblower who was sent to investigate visa thefts and bribery at the Canadian Embassy in Hong Kong -- activities connected to investor and entrepreneur immigration from Hong Kong to Canada, entry of Chinese triad members to Canada, and some connections--it is alleged--to very rich and powerful, Hong Kong businessmen with ties to Communist China. Even though a committee recommended, after investigation, that he be reinstated, he has never recovered his job with the RCMP. It was rumoured that his investigation was halted by someone with much clout in government or that the investigation would have gone too far and upset the status quo.
We still wonder who that might be who called a halt -- despite security concerns for Canadians. Jean Chretien has just returned from China and business meetings; do you suppose he would have tried to get to the bottom of this? No? We wonder why.
Paul Martin, would you reinstate Cpl. Read and re-open that investigation -- or would that open one can of worms too many? Whistle blower legislation is meant to pacify us until the Liberals are re-elected -- not actually accomplish something in the can of worms department -- right? NJC
