Canada needs better whistleblower protection, experts say [Video]

The case of a Winnipeg psychologist in the midst of a conduct review by the Psychological Association of Manitoba has caught the attention of the Whistleblowing Canada Research Society, who says too often, professionals who stand up or speak out find themselves in hot water with their regulators.

“We don’t protect whistleblowers in our country. The legislation we do have covers only federal civil servants for the most part, which is about maybe two per cent of the workforce. So that means for 98 per cent of the workforce there’s no legislation,” says Pamela Forward, an Ottawa-based workplace mediator, researcher and founding director of Whistleblowing Canada.

Jackie Garrick with Whistleblowers of America, meanwhile, says on top of no protection, there’s often retaliation.

“The toxic tactics of retaliation,” Garrick says. “Things like gaslighting, mobbing, marginalizing, sounding, devaluing, double-binding and counter-accusing and bullying.”

It’s not only from a boss or an authority but often from peers, Garrick and Forward say.

Several …