December 21, 2011
I begin my seven year term as the Public Sector Integrity Commissioner of Canada today. I am honoured by the confidence accorded to me by the Prime Minister and Parliament to fulfill this mandate, and I am fully committed to leading this Office to success in its work towards bringing resolution to wrongdoing and reprisal complaints.
I invite you to consult the opening remarks that I delivered before the Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates on Tuesday, December 13, 2011. They provide a summary of the work accomplished over the past twelve months by the Office and identify my priorities for the immediate future.
As we mature as an organization in the months ahead, we will develop decision-making policies in order to clearly set-out the guiding principles and criteria under which some of our key decisions are made. I am also committed to enhancing accessibility to our Office for potential disclosers or victims of reprisal, and we will focus attention on maximizing the effectiveness of our communications to ensure our roles and responsibilities are better understood and that people who need our services know where to find us. We will also explore how to provide an independent means of support for those who need assistance in making a disclosure of wrongdoing or complaint of reprisal.
Our biggest challenge remains establishing trust in the Office. Our primary commitment remains the performance of our mandated functions; that is, to receive, analyze and investigate disclosures, and to report findings of wrongdoing to Parliament. We also receive and handle reprisal complaints. In the past twelve months, we have referred two cases to the Public Servant Protection Tribunal, and I expect that both will be heard in the coming year. We are also currently coordinating conciliation on two other reprisal cases, in accordance with the Public Servants Disclosure Protection Act.
Given the increase in the number of ongoing investigations (from 14 a year ago to 35 today), we can expect more demonstrated results by the Office in the months ahead. I am confident that, as cases of wrongdoing are found and reported on, and reprisal cases heard before the Tribunal, that public sector employees’ trust and confidence in their disclosure regime will improve.
I believe in the value of providing an effective and predictable disclosure regime in Canada. I am confident that it is by learning the lessons of the past and implementing concrete measures that we will succeed in providing what Parliament anticipated in 2007.
Best wishes over the Festive Season and into the New Year.
Mario Dion
Commissioner