Canadian Lawyer

w w w . C A N A D I A N L a w y e r m a g . c o m J u l y 2 0 1 4 7 RegIonal wRap-up AtlAntic WhIStlEblOWERS get peace of mind in nL p ublic servants in Newfoundland and Labrador now have legisla- tive protection when they blow the whistle. An Act Respecting Public Interest Disclosure has replaced fear of a slap on the wrist with peace of mind. That comfort level had been miss- ing, Steve Kent, minister responsible for the Office of Public Engagement in St. John's, tells Canadian Lawyer. "This legislation ensures that employees who use the whistleblower legislation in good faith are protected from acts of reprisal." Unlike other provincial jurisdictions with whistleblower legislation, Bill 1, which came into effect July 1, estab- lishes a single disclosure process for employees to speak up about a serious and significant wrongdoing. The Office of the Citizens' Representative, which falls under the House of Assembly and is independent of both the political pro- cess and government administration, has been given the legal responsibil- ity for receiving and investigating those disclosures. "The Office of the Citizens' Representative will do everything to ensure the name of the public servant is protected," says Kent. Despite its unique and singular reporting focus, Newfoundland and Labrador's legislation — the seventh of its kind in the country — borrowed significantly from other jurisdictions. "We've been watching closely what is happening across the country," says Kent. The legislation, which applies to employees within government depart- ments as well as those employed with government boards, corporations, authorities, and agencies, also gives the Labour Relations Board the power to hear complaints filed by employees who believe a reprisal or retaliation has been taken against them because they blew the whistle. In its new capacity, the board can also award remedies, including reinstatement, for reprisals against whistleblowers. The impetus for the new legislation did not come from public servants but from within government. There was no outcry for this legislation, says Kent. "The legislation is consistent with our commit- ment as a government to be transparent." That transparency includes a requirement for the citizen's rep- resentative to table an annual report that includes the number of inquiries received; the number of disclosures received and acted on; and the number of investigations launched. — DoNALee MouLtoN donalee@quantumcommunications.ca N.S. court Staff traiNed to help Self-repS a training program launched in Nova Scotia to help court workers help self-represented litigants may find its way across the country. The Nova Scotia legal advice/legal information pilot pro- gram, a joint effort of the Department of Justice and the National Self-Rep- resented Litigants Project, focused on helping court staff delineate the often- grey line between legal information and legal advice. The former far outweighs the lat- ter, trainer John Greacen, a former director of the Administrative Office of the Courts of New Mexico, said in The Society Record, a semi-annual publication of the Nova Scotia Bar- risters' Society. "All of us who were involved in planning for and provid- ing the training hope that it succeeded in giving the participants . . . a clear understanding that the vast amount of information they may give to the public dwarfs the small areas of legal advice they may not provide." The one-day training program, offered to court staff as well as other organizations including Victim Ser- vices and Nova Scotia Legal Aid, is currently being transformed into an online module for DOJ court workers unable to attend the training. There is also a possibility the program may be adopted across the country, accord- ing to Julie Macfarlane, a University of Windsor law professor and SLR researcher. — DM

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