The previous government had directed that the Department of Human Resources consult other employees and employee representatives on the feasibility of whistleblower protection. We received 69 responses. Of the 69,

59 were generally in favour and 8 did not indicate support. We are still reviewing the information we have and trying to determine whether it’s an area we want to proceed with. We haven’t included it in any deliberations, but with business planning coming up for 2009– 2010, this is something we could look at.

As the Member may know, there are a number of issues we would have to resolve if whistleblower protection is to be provided. How would we deal with anonymous complaints? If people are not willing to identify themselves, how would we deal with that? There are also multiple complaint venues. Currently people can file complaints in a number of areas: grievances, Workers’ Compensation, human rights, et cetera. So there are already a significant number of venues for employees to complain or report wrongdoing. We’d need to analyze whether another venue would be appropriate or required.