Report urges appointment of ombudsperson to probe problems with government’s pandemic response
This translation has been automatically generated and has not been verified for accuracy.A group of whistle-blower advocates is calling on the federal government to appoint a special COVID-19 ombudsperson to probe pandemic-related problems, including possible fraud in Ottawa’s stimulus spending and the mistreatment of residents in long-term care facilities.
The advisory board for the Centre for Free Expression includes experts in civil liberties, media law and journalists, including The Globe and Mail’s editor-in-chief David Walmsley. Speaking specifically about the many problems in long-term care facilities, where residents and staff have been overwhelmed with infections, Mr. Boucher said there was “pretty much nothing” in law that would help a potential whistle-blower sound the alarm without putting them at risk of retaliation, such as the termination of their employment.
The CCAG report also recommends a number of changes in law, including placing an onus on employers who fire whistle-blowers to prove that the move was not retaliatory, and another that would include exceptions for whistle-blowers to defamation claims.
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