Annual Report on the Public Servants Disclosure Protection Act 2009-10

Observations

Reports submitted by organizations continue to show that a great deal of work is being done to provide information about the PSDPA to employees and to handle internal disclosures made in accordance with the PSDPA. These essential steps should increase awareness among public servants that making a disclosure in good faith is an ethical act and should increase their trust that organizations will act with integrity in handling allegations of possible wrongdoing. More broadly, along with the establishment of the Values and Ethics Code for the Public Sector by Treasury Board and of internal codes of conduct by federal organizations, these steps will help to entrench public sector values more deeply in government organizations and enrich the public sector's ethical culture.

Nevertheless, it is difficult to clearly determine the degree to which individual organizations may, through their PSDPA-related efforts, be achieving these goals. Clearly, a count of disclosures does not necessarily correlate with the steps taken by organizations to establish internal disclosure procedures and communicate those procedures to employees. As well, the disclosures reported by organizations account for only a small portion of disclosures made under protection of the Act. Protected disclosures also include those made to the Public Sector Integrity Commissioner, those made through procedures established under other Acts of Parliament, and those made by public servants to their supervisors, which are dealt with as part of good management.

The disclosures reported here nevertheless provide a useful snapshot of activity under the PSDPA and are a measure of whether its processes are used by employees. Reported activity under the PSDPA, in combination with information about the consequences of disclosures, such as whether they led to corrective measures, also demonstrates whether disclosures are achieving one of the goals of the PSDPA, which is to encourage employees to come forward with information about possible wrongdoing.

In 2009–10, the number of general inquiries about the PSDPA increased by 49 per cent. This could reflect a healthy curiosity on the part of employees about the PSDPA. We also have registered a 17-per-cent increase in disclosures received in organizations in 2009–10, while only 7 disclosures out of 218 disclosures acted upon actually led to a finding of wrongdoing. Clearly, more public servants are making disclosures using their respective organization's internal disclosure procedures. This level of activity is very encouraging. While serious wrongdoing is extremely rare in the federal public sector and ethical behaviour is the norm for public servants, internal procedures established under the PSDPA are nevertheless leading to the discovery of incidents of wrongdoing and to actions to correct them.

While most organizations that reported findings of wrongdoing under the Act also reported subsequent corrective measures, some organizations reported corrective measures without having found wrongdoing or systemic problems. This is explained by the fact that some incidents or situations that do not fall under the Act's definition of wrongdoing may bring to light minor issues that the organizations have addressed.

Reports also show an increase in organizations reporting findings of systemic problems that have been addressed by corrective measures.

Looking forward, the substantial progress made in the first three years since the implementation of the PSDPA should not lead to complacency. Much work remains to be done:

• There continues to be varying levels of awareness of the Act in different public sector organizations. All public servants, regardless of their position and level, should know how to make a disclosure and how they are protected if they do so, and they should understand that if they have knowledge of possible wrongdoing, making a disclosure in good faith is the right thing to do. Ongoing communication of the basic elements of the PSDPA is therefore necessary, and public sector organizations should embed information about the PSDPA in the essential resource material available to all employees.
• Organizations, and particularly the Senior Officers appointed under the Act, need continued support to ensure that the requirements of the PSDPA are fully met. In particular, due to the relative infrequency of disclosures, except at the larger organizations, few Senior Officers devote all of their time to handling PSDPA matters. OCHRO will maintain its leadership role and continue to assist Senior Officers when necessary, while respecting the responsibilities of public sector organizations under the PSDPA.

Public sector values are reflected in the day-to-day activities of public sector organizations, from the most basic employee interactions to the most significant decisions of senior leaders. These values underpin public service renewal, and they guide us in how we serve Canadians. In the Seventeenth Annual Report to the Prime Minister on the Public Service of Canada, the Clerk of the Privy Council stated:

Further, the Values and Ethics Code for the Public Sector and the individual organizational codes of conduct required under the PSDPA are intended to support organizations' ability to attract and engage employees who are committed to excellence in the public service. The Values and Ethics Code for the Public Sector will describe values in a general way so that they can be applied to all organizations, while individual organizational codes will translate those values into specific organizational expectations. In this way, employees should be able to see how high-level values translate into expected behaviours relevant to their specific organizational mandate and culture.

Once established, these codes of conduct will provide a normative foundation for ethical culture in the federal public sector. They will reflect the values that have long defined public service in Canada and will also provide the public sector with a statement of the values and expected behaviours that must be embodied in public sector work.

The 2010–11 Public Service Renewal Action Plan states that the Chief Human Resources Officer will finalize the Values and Ethics Code for the Public Sector by fall 2010 and that deputy heads will develop and implement their organizational codes by March 31, 2011. The establishment of this Code, and the corresponding work that organizations perform on their internal codes of conduct, will provide all public sector organizations with a valuable opportunity to engage their employees in discussions about public sector values and the elements that support an ethical organizational culture.

Ultimately, values and ethics are not separate functions or responsibilities independent from other aspects of the work of public servants; they form the foundation of everything we do. For this reason, OCHRO and Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat remain committed to the promotion of public sector values and to supporting the PSDPA.