Brandon adopts the Whistleblower Protection Act

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This article was published 01/12/2018 (2527 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Brandon will join the province’s largest city in adopting new changes to the Whistleblower Protection Act, which are set to come into effect today.

Standing alongside his provincial counterparts at City Hall on Friday, Mayor Rick Chrest welcomed the legislation and said it was important for a city as “progressive and forthright” as Brandon to be among the first to get involved in the legislation.

The city has had a whistleblower policy in place since 2011, but council chose to opt into the new protections during a meeting in October.

Brandon joins the City of Winnipeg as being among the first and largest municipalities to embrace the legislation.

“It just provides a greater level of transparency on behalf of that particular local municipality and their council, and through to the public,” Chrest said.

The provincial government passed legislation earlier this year authorizing the Manitoba Ombudsman to receive and investigate reprisal complaints and make recommendations regarding acts or threats of reprisal.

Municipalities can opt in or craft their own whistleblower bylaws. The act also extends protections to school divisions and districts and their employees.

An investigator will be required to protect the identities of all those involved, along with their right to procedural fairness, and whistleblowers cannot be identified, either in civil courts or administrative tribunals. The act will be reviewed every five years.

Brandon West Progressive Conservative MLA Reg Helwer pointed to a 2014 review of the act, which recommended that the ombudsman address allegations of reprisal and said it is incumbent in a free and open society that public employees feel they can come forward to report any wrongdoings.

Helwer, who is the legislative assistant to the minister of finance, said he was happy that Brandon chose to opt in, and he asked that other municipalities consider joining, as well.

“It’s our duty to protect employees who step forward and speak up, and that’s exactly what we’ve done.”

In a statement, Finance Minister Scott Fielding said the government has taken action to ensure greater accountability and transparency across multiple levels of government.

“These changes establish a stronger ethical environment with better protections from reprisal for Manitobans who make disclosures. We thank Winnipeg and Brandon for their leadership in opting into this framework.”

The latest changes were developed in consultation with the offices of the Auditor General and Manitoba Ombudsman.

Brandon East PC MLA Len Isleifson said the province is the first jurisdiction in the country to expand the scope of the legislation to include local governments.

“Our communities are all built on the strength of the individuals that are in them,” he said, “and they need to feel that they have a municipal government and a provincial government behind them that protects them from day to day and gives them that option.”

Chrest said having a standard template with “more teeth” than an individual bylaw made sense, not only so other municipalities could adopt the legislation, but to provide a level of consistency for public servants who may move between local governments.

Manitoba was the first province to introduce standalone whistleblower-protection legislation after The Public Interest Disclosure (Whistleblower Protection) Act came into effect in 2007.

The changes to the act also come as the province plans to make respectful-conduct training mandatory for all members of council within the first six months of being elected or re-elected.

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