Whistleblower Protection

The Centre for Free Expression (CFE) announced today that eight leading experts have agreed to join a new CFE working group on whistleblower protection in the Canadian private sector.

CFE Intervener Factum in the Ontario Court of Appeal This case concerns the Government of Ontario law, Security from Trespass and Protecting Food Safety Act, 2020, and associated Regulation whose stated purpose is to prevent trespass, protect animal safety, protect biosecurity of the food supply chain, protect those working with animals and prevent the adverse economic effects that these risks can create. The CFE intervention addresses how the Act and Regulation penalize employees who are prospective whistleblowers engaging in expressive activity in pursuit of truth and social discourse. The Act and Regulation also compel employee expression by mandating and controlling the timing of whistleblower disclosure. And although the Regulation purports to provide an exception for whistleblowers, it is so narrow as to be illusory.

TORONTO—The Centre for Free Expression, BC Civil Liberties Association, and Animal Justice are pleased with an Ontario Court of Appeal decision that reaffirms legislatures cannot entirely shield executive decisions from judicial review.

By Ian Bron

In its tenth report analyzing adequacy of provincial whistleblower protection laws in Canada, the Centre for Free Expression (CFE) finds that, although Alberta’s legislation [Public Interest Disclosure (Whistleblower Protection) Act] has more best practices than any other major jurisdiction in Canada, it still has significant shortcomings which fatally undermine a proper whistleblower protection regime.