Whistleblowing in the private and public sectors, should Canada adopt a modified form of the American whistleblowing legislation?

Abstract

Presently, there is very limited federal legislation in Canada that will protect whistleblowers from retaliation when they expose unethical, illegal and illegitimate activities in organizations. The purpose of this thesis is to argue that Canada needs to adopt a modified form of the American whistleblowing legislation, in both the private and public sectors, in order to provide the whistleblower with an incentive towards reporting the unethical, illegal and/or illegitimate activities of a person or an organization. This thesis shows that there is a need for whistleblowing legislation in Canada. It is in the public's best interest for wrongdoing to be exposed and then terminated in both the public and private sectors. Ontario's legislative experience in proposing whistleblowing protection legislation based on the American legislation provides valuable insight into issues that must be addressed when proposing this legislation. It is argued that Canada should use the American whistleblowing protection legislation as a model for developing legislation within the Canadian context. A proposed modified form of the American whistleblowing protection legislation is developed for the public and private sectors. This proposed legislation supports and encourages the disclosure of wrongdoing through the process of whistleblowing by providing both protection and an incentive for whistleblowers. Furthermore, it is argued that a major media-laden political scandal will have to occur in the Canadian federal government for this legislation to be passed.