Ian Bron

Manitoba government taking longer, charging more for freedom of information requests: report | CBC News The Manitoba government has been taking longer to respond to freedom of information requests and collecting more money from people filing them, newly released figures show.

There's nothing exceptional about this trend in Canada. I do wonder, however, how much is due to poor information management practices - also a problem across Canada, I'd bet. Whether that's deliberate would be an interesting thing to study #FOI #Manitoba

www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

4/4 To make matters worse, there is an ongoing investigation by the Auditor General - and a lawsuit by the fired former head of AHS, Athana Mentzelopoulos. Either of these could uncover misconduct that Wyant could not. If so, the premier will have done herself more harm than good

3/4 Fortunately for Albertans, Judge Raymond Wyant was honest about the limitations of his findings. Unfortunately for Premier Smith, this is unlikely to accomplish the presumed intended goals of the investigation: rebuilding confidence and dispelling public concerns.

2/4 The investigation was hamstrung from the beginning, lacking full powers to compel the production of evidence and testimony, and had to deal with document dumps and refusals to cooperate

Braid: Judge's report on health procurement scandal finds official had conflict of interest As judge find conflict of inters, Premier Danielle Smith continues to deny any responsibility for health procurement scandal.

The inquiry into #Alberta Health Services procurement processes perfectly fits the category of sham investigation, frequently used by organizations after #whistleblowing has exposed misconduct 🧵 1/4

calgaryherald.com/news/braid-j...

Former Manitoba judge clears premier and government officials of wrongdoing in AHS procurement investigation Premier Danielle Smith thanked the former Manitoba judge Raymond Wyant for his work, adding she was 'disappointed' by the way AHS

Holy mendacious framing, Batman!
He did not clear Danielle Smith or her government of wrongdoing. He very clearly made it explicit that they wouldn't provide evidence that might implicate them.

First Nations University faculty call for dissolution of board, suspension of executives | CBC News In an unsigned statement, faculty members at First Nations University of Canada are expressing grave concerns over the direction of the institution, saying the gains made since its 2019 financial cris...

In an interesting development on my Monday post, the faculty at the FNU have called for drastic action after the board refused to remove the President - who had been found to have committed wrongdoing (including firing a #whistleblower)

www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

First Nations University president fired key whistleblower behind scathing review of her conduct | CBC News A three-month investigation into more than two dozen allegations against the president of First Nations University of Canada, commissioned by the institution’s board in 2023, concluded with a stark as...

Jacqueline Ottmann was found to have engaged in nepotism, mismanagement and ‘empire building.’ Unbelievably, she wasn't fired, even after firing a #whistleblower while being investigated. Things will only get worse now. #whistleblowing
www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

Publications | Centre for Free Expression

2/2 The @CFE_TMU have assessed all of Canada's federal and provincial #whistleblowing laws - in detail. You can find them at cfe.torontomu.ca/publications...

Canada’s whistleblower laws protect the corrupt, not the courageous: Garry Clement for Inside Policy | Macdonald-Laurier Institute Forcing whistleblowers to rely solely on flawed internal mechanisms undermines both confidence and effectiveness.

1/2 Garry Clement comments on the defects of Canada's #whistleblower laws. For a full, detailed analysis of those laws, visit the Centre for Free Expression website (link in 2/2) #whistleblowing

macdonaldlaurier.ca/canadas-whis...

Access-to-information overhaul increases commissioner's independence, but not power | CBC News The Nova Scotia government has tabled the first major overhaul of the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act in 25 years.

Funny how politicians back off on promises once they win an election: Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston says he no longer supports giving the #Privacy Commissioner the power to order the release of documents
www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

4/4 The report makes numerous recommendations for changes. Requiring a regular evaluation would be an excellent way to ensure that it constantly improves and becomes more effective in protecting the public interest

3/4 The regime failed to prevent the Lac-Mégantic train derailment, which cost 47 lives, and the Phoenix pay system debacle, which has cost over $3.5 billion to date. Whether there are other undetected failures is unknown due to the lack of transparency or an audit mechanism

2/4 The law needs to prioritize the protection of whistleblowers, which is flimsy at best. It is more effective in investigating wrongdoing but, overall, ensures that disclosures can be “managed” in ways that minimize reputational damage to the government and executives

Assessment of Canada’s Legislation Protecting Public Sector Whistleblowers | Centre for Free Expression By Ian Bron

My assessment of the Canada’s federal #whistleblowing legislation has been posted online. I found that it does not conform to international best practices and is not achieving its stated goals 🧵 1/4
cfe.torontomu.ca/publications...

UK's "Failure To Prevent Fraud" vs. Canada's Approach: Why Fraud Risk Assessments Are Essential On 1 September 2025, the UK's new "failure to prevent fraud" offence came into force, representing one of the most significant shifts in corporate criminal liability and fraud prevention in years.

Is the UK "failure to prevent fraud" law coming to Canada? One law firm thinks so, and is warning clients to prepare. Sadly, a safe and effective system for employees to report misconduct (i.e., #whistleblowing) is not one of the recommendations
www.mondaq.com/canada/contr...

4/4 And if the government doesn’t want the system to work, which is entirely possible, they really have nobody to blame but themselves when the next scandal hits

3/4 There's really no data to inform the debate, which is part of the problem. Her budget has only been boosted by 20%, which is clearly not going to be enough. Parliament will need to take this more seriously if they want the system to work

2/4 There may be a number of reasons for this - a bigger public service, more trust in her office (or less in departmental channels), a post-COVID surge now that people are back in the office, or a younger generation of workers with higher expectations, or just more wrongdoing

Integrity commissioner's office struggling to keep up with whistleblowers | CBC News The Office of the Public Sector Integrity Commissioner says it's being overwhelmed by its workload and that eliminating the backlog of files would require more analysts and lawyers.

Canada's federal Integrity Commissioner can't keep up with the number of #whistleblowers coming to her office. Numbers have increased by a 100% in the past two years 🧵 1/4 #whistleblowing #cdnpoli
www.cbc.ca/news/politic...

Intervention at six continuous assistance resources in Lanaudière The Protecteur du citoyen intervened after receiving a report concerning the quality of services provided to people with serious behavioural disorders. These people are housed in continuous assistance...

The #Quebec Citizen's Protector has another report out, this time on the quality of services offered to patients in facilities for people with intellectual disabilities. Findings include unqualified personnel and inadequate facilities
#whistleblowing

protecteurducitoyen.qc.ca/en/investiga...

Un lanceur d’alerte réclame 1,1 million à Hydro-Québec pour son « congédiement déguisé » Un ex-employé d’Hydro-Québec reproche à la société d’État d’avoir subi des représailles après avoir dénoncé auprès des autorités des malversations concernant des contrats publics. Ce lanceur d’alerte ...

A #Quebec whistleblower has sued Hydro-Québec for $1.1 million in damages after alleged reprisals. Quebec has been relatively friendly to #whistleblowing, so it will be interesting to see how this evolves
www.lapresse.ca/actualites/j...

Intervention at Hôpital du Sacré-Cœur-de-Montréal The Protecteur du citoyen intervened following a report regarding the abusive application of control measures in various care units of Hôpital du Sacré-Cœur-de-Montréal.

(2/2) The report can can be found in English here: protecteurducitoyen.qc.ca/en/investiga...

Abus des mesures de contention | Rapport accablant sur l’hôpital du Sacré-Cœur-de-Montréal L’hôpital du Sacré-Cœur-de-Montréal fait l’objet d’un rapport accablant du Protecteur du citoyen. Son enquête révèle que dans plusieurs unités, le personnel abuse des mesures de contention chimique ou...

The Quebec Citizen's Protector has a new report out, on the indiscriminate use of restraints at the Hôpital du Sacré-Cœur-de-Montréal. This was reported either by an insider (a #whistleblower) or someone outside the organization (1/2)
www.lapresse.ca/actualites/s...

3/3 More would still need to be done, however, such as some way to order "adverse actions" against whistleblowers to cease while an investigation is ongoing, and requiring organizations to prove that those actions have no connection to the disclosure

2/3 These include broader scope, more support for #whistleblowers, training for disclosure recipients, higher standards for investigations, and giving the for the Ombudsperson to audit departmental investigations, among others

The BC Ombudsperson has published report recommending changes to the province's #whistleblowing law. At first glance, it makes some excellent suggestions 🧵 1/3

bcombudsperson.ca/news_release...

Breakenridge: It's not transparency when forced into it Government to reconsider not releasing spending receipts after public outcry

More from Alberta: the government back down on its plan to reduce #transparency on government officials' expenses. Rob Breakenridge's column in the Calgary Herald is astute. #FOI

calgaryherald.com/opinion/colu...

Alberta government changes expense disclosure policy, removes eight years of records | CBC News Key changes to Alberta’s expense disclosure policy mean that the receipts of senior government officials, including the premier, will no longer be public.

Centre for Free Expression Executive Director Jim Turk comments on #Alberta's decision to reduce transparency on expenses claimed by the Premier, ministers, deputy ministers and senior staff. No explanations were given for the changes #foi
www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

5/5 Effective reporting systems have other benefits as well, such as improved performance, smaller losses when misconduct does occur, and preventing the intervention of government authorities