Question Period Note: PUBLIC SERVANTS DISCLOSURE PROTECTION ACT REVIEW - IMPLEMENTATION OF GOVERNMENT RESPONSE COMMITMENTS

In 2017, recommendations for legislative amendments to the Public Servants Disclosure Protection Act were made. What has been done so far to improve the internal disclosure regime?

• The Government is committed to promoting a positive and respectful public sector culture that is grounded in values and ethics.

• This work involves both ensuring that public servants understand what constitutes wrongdoing and the ways in which they can go about reporting it, but also ensuring that the conditions that lead to such disclosures are prevented.

• The Office of the Chief Human Resources Officer has been active in making public servants aware of the value of diverse perspectives, helping them navigate the complexity and richness of our diverse population, and fostering an environment within the public service that is deeply inclusive.

• We have also been active in ensuring that the tools and supports necessary to help public servants cope with and maintain resilience in the face of the conditions that may lead to such allegations are available and used.

• This investment in mental health and the attentiveness of leaders to the needs of their employees again help combat the conditions leading to allegations of wrongdoing.

• These efforts and others demonstrate the Government’s ongoing commitment to promoting ethical practices in the public sector and a positive environment for disclosing wrongdoing, making significant progress towards recommendations made by the Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates.

In June 2017, the Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates tabled its report on their independent review of the Public Servants Disclosure Protection Act. The report contained 15 recommendations covering issues such as the definition of terms, training, protection of whistleblowers, research and assessments.

In October 2017, the Government committed to implement improvements to the administration and operation of the internal disclosure process and to protection from acts of reprisal. The Government did not commit to legislative amendments, given the complexity of the Act and consultation required.

In February 2018, the Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates adopted a motion to invite the President of the Treasury Board to provide a briefing on the progress made by the Government in implementing the recommendations made by the Committee in its statutory review of the Public Servants Disclosure Protection Act.

The Office of the Chief Human Resources is leading the implementation of activities in support of these commitments. More generally, we have taken a number of actions to foster an environment where public servants feel safe and protected to come forward, including:

• conducting outreach and education activities to inform public servants about the disclosure of wrongdoing process and protection against acts of reprisal;
• establishing a Centre of Expertise on Mental Health in the Workplace, helping implement the National Standard of Canada for Psychological Health and Safety in the Workplace;
• establishing a Centre for Wellness, Inclusion and Diversity, providing public servants with a platform for engaging with these issues and conducting research and analysis;
• taking steps to address harassment and violence in the workplace, including providing guidance to deputy heads, managers, departmental advisors and public servants on what constitutes harassment as well as how to prevent and resolve harassment in the workplace; and
• completing the first phase of Policy Suite Reset for the Policy on People Management and the Policy on the Management of Executives, which sets the foundation for the ongoing adaptation of policies to better support an ethical workplace culture in which public servants feel safe to come forward without fear of reprisal.

In addition, we have kept a pulse on this issue by:

• monitoring departmental activities via the Management Accountability Framework as it relates to people management; an
• monitoring public servant sentiment via the annual Public Service Employee Survey..

o Since 2015, there has been an increase in disclosures of 34.5%. However, the percentage leading to findings of wrongdoing has remained stable.
o The Office of the Chief Human Resources Officer (OCHRO) has undertaken several activities to foster an environment where public servants feel safe and protected to come forward, including:
o Raising the awareness of and educating public servants about what constitutes wrongdoing and how they can go about disclosing it;
o Helping public servants understand and value diverse perspectives, foster an environment that is deeply inclusive, and preventing the conditions that may lead to an allegation of wrongdoing; and,
o Providing mental health tools and supports to help public servants cope with and maintain resiliency in the face of the conditions in which an allegation of wrongdoing may arise.