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| Investigation
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14. (1) The Commissioner shall investigate
a notice accepted under section 13 and,
subject to subsection (2), shall prepare a
written report of findings and
recommendations.
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| Report not
required
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(2) The Commissioner is not required to
prepare a report if the Commissioner is
satisfied that
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(a) the employee ought to first exhaust
review procedures otherwise available;
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(b) the matter could more appropriately be
dealt with, initially or completely, by means
of a procedure provided for under a law in
force in Canada other than this Act; or
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(c) the length of time that has elapsed
between when the wrongful act or omission
that is the subject-matter of the notice
occurred and the date when the notice was
filed is such that a report would not serve a
useful purpose.
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| Report to
employee
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(3) Where the Commissioner has made a
determination under subsection (2), the
Commissioner shall, in writing and on a
timely basis, advise the employee who gave
notice under subsection (1) of that
determination.
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| Report to
minister
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(4) The Commissioner shall provide the
minister responsible for the employee against
whom an allegation has been made, on a
timely basis and in no case later than one year
after the Commissioner receives the notice,
with a copy of the report under subsection (1).
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| Minister's
response
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15. (1) A minister who receives a report
under subsection 14(4) shall consider the
matter and respond to the Commissioner.
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| Content of
response
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(2) The response of a minister under
subsection (1) shall advise of any action the
minister has taken or proposes to take to deal
with the Commissioner's report, or that the
minister proposes to take no action.
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| Further
responses
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(3) A minister who, for the purposes of this
section, advises of any action proposed to be
taken shall give such further responses as
seem appropriate to the Commissioner until
such time as the minister advises that the
matter has been dealt with.
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| Emergency
public report
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16. (1) The Commissioner may require the
President of the Treasury Board to cause an
emergency report prepared by the
Commissioner to be made to Parliament on
the next day that either House sits if, in the
Commissioner's opinion, it is in the public
interest to do so.
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| Content of
report
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(2) A report prepared by the Commissioner
for the purposes of subsection (1) shall
describe the substance of a report made to a
minister under subsection 14(4) and the
minister's response or lack thereof under
section 15.
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| Annual report
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17. (1) The Public Service Commission
shall include in the annual report to
Parliament made pursuant to section 47 of the
Public Service Employment Act a statement of
activity under this Act prepared by the
Commissioner that includes
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(a) a description of the Commissioner's
activities under section 8;
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(b) the number of notices received pursuant
to section 9;
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(c) the number of notices rejected pursuant
to section 12;
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(d) the number of notices accepted pursuant
to section 13;
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(e) the number of accepted notices that are
still under investigation pursuant to
subsection 14(1);
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(f) the number of accepted notices that were
reported to ministers pursuant to subsection
14(4);
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(g) the number of reports to ministers
pursuant to section 14 in respect of which
action satisfactory to the Commissioner has
been taken;
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(h) the number of reports to ministers
pursuant to section 14 in respect of which
action satisfactory to the Commissioner has
not been taken;
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(i) an abstract of the substance of all reports
to ministers pursuant to section 14 and the
responses of ministers pursuant to section
15; and
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(j) where the Commissioner is of the
opinion that the public interest would be
best served, the substance of an individual
report made to a minister pursuant to
section 14 and the response or lack thereof
of a minister pursuant to section 15.
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| Annual report
|
(2) The Public Service Commission may
include in the annual report to Parliament
made pursuant to section 47 of the Public
Service Employment Act an analysis of the
administration and operation of this Act and
any recommendations with respect to it.
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| False
information
|
18. (1) No person shall give false
information to the Commissioner or to any
person acting on behalf or under the direction
of the Commissioner while the Commissioner
or person is engaged in the performance or
exercise of the Commissioner's duties or
powers under this Act.
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| Bad faith
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(2) No employee shall give a notice under
subsection 9(1) in bad faith.
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| No
disciplinary
action
|
19. (1) No person shall take disciplinary
action against an employee because
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(a) the employee, acting in good faith and
on the basis of reasonable belief, has
disclosed or stated an intention to disclose
to the Commissioner that a person working
for the Public Service or in the Public
Service workplace has committed a
wrongful act or omission;
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(b) the employee, acting in good faith and
on the basis of reasonable belief, has
refused or stated an intention to refuse to
commit an act or omission contrary to this
Act;
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(c) the employee, acting in good faith and
on the basis of reasonable belief, has done
or stated an intention of doing anything that
is required to be done in order to comply
with this Act; or
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(d) the person believes that the employee
will do anything referred to in paragraph
(a), (b) or (c).
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| Definition of
``disciplinary
action''
|
(2) In subsection (1), ``disciplinary action''
means any action that adversely affects the
employee or any term or condition of the
employee's employment, and includes
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(d) suspension or dismissal;
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(e) denial of meaningful work or demotion;
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(f) denial of a benefit of employment; or
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(g) an action that is otherwise
disadvantageous to the employee.
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| Rebuttable
presumption
|
(3) A person who takes disciplinary action
contrary to this section within two years after
an employee gives a notice to the
Commissioner under subsection 9(1) shall be
presumed, in the absence of a preponderance
of evidence to the contrary, to have taken the
disciplinary action against the employee
because the employee gave the notice.
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| Disclosure
prohibited
|
20. (1) Except as authorized by this Act or
any other law in force in Canada, no person
shall disclose to any other person the existence
or nature of a notice given under to subsection
9(1) in such a way as to identify the employee
who made it.
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| Exception
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(2) Subsection (1) does not apply where a
notice was given in breach of subsection 9(4)
or was not given in good faith and on the basis
of reasonable belief.
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| Offences and
punishment
|
21. A person who contravenes a provision
of subsection 9(4), section 18 or subsection
19(1) or 20(1) is guilty of an offence and liable
on summary conviction to a fine not
exceeding $10,000.
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| Recourse
available
|
22. (1) An employee against whom
disciplinary action is taken contrary to section
19 is entitled to use every recourse available
to the employee under the law, including
grievance proceedings provided for under an
Act of Parliament or otherwise.
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| Recourse not
lost
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(2) An employee may seek recourse as
described in subsection (1) whether or not
proceedings based upon the same allegations
of fact are or may be brought under section 21.
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| Benefit of
presumption
|
(3) An employee is entitled in all recourse
proceedings referred to in subsection (1) to the
benefit of the presumption in subsection
19(3).
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| Transitional
|
(4) Where grievance proceedings are
pending on the coming into force of this Act,
the proceedings shall be dealt with and
disposed of as if this Act had not been enacted.
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