What is Wrongdoing?

The Public Servants Disclosure Protection Act is intended to address wrongdoing of a magnitude that could shake public confidence in the public service’s integrity. The act defines wrongdoing as:

• a contravention of any act of Parliament, any act of a provincial legislature, or any regulations made under any such act, other than a contravention of section 19 of the Public Servants Disclosure Protection Act
• a misuse of public funds or a public asset
• a gross mismanagement in the public sector
• an act or omission that creates a substantial and specific danger to the life, health, or safety of persons or to the environment, other than a danger that is inherent in the performance of the duties or functions of a public servant,
• a serious breach of a code of conduct
• knowingly directing or counselling a person to commit any of the above wrongdoing

When deciding whether to investigate possible wrongdoing, we will consider the following factors. Please note that they may not all need to be met in order to establish wrongdoing.

Misuse of Public Funds or a Public Asset

A misuse of public funds includes:

• expenditures that are made without proper authorization or that are unlawful or contrary to applicable legislation, regulations, policies, or procedures
• purchases that are wastefully unnecessary and that are not in keeping with the organization’s business or operational needs

A misuse of a public asset includes:

• making inappropriate or unauthorized use of government property
• a failure to safeguard such assets

Gross Mismanagement in the Public Sector

In respect of gross mismanagement, we will consider:

• matters of significant importance
• serious errors that are not debatable among reasonable people
• more-than-trivial wrongdoing or negligence
• management action or inaction that creates a substantial risk of significant adverse impact on the ability of an organization, office, or unit to carry out its mandate
• management action or inaction that poses a serious threat to the public’s confidence in the public service’s integrity and that does not primarily concern a personal matter, such as individual harassment complaints or individual workplace grievances
• the deliberate nature of the wrongdoing
• the systemic nature of the wrongdoing

An Act or Omission that Creates a Substantial and Specific Danger to the Life, Health, or Safety of Persons or to the Environment, Other than a Danger that is Inherent in the Performance of the Duties or Functions of a Public Servant

This type of wrongdoing concerns a serious situation. The qualifiers “substantial” and “specific” denote that less serious situations, where the possibility of creating a danger was somewhat remote, would not be qualified as “wrongdoing” under the act. “Danger” means an exposure or liability to injury, pain, harm, or loss.

Serious Breach of a Code of Conduct

For this type of wrongdoing, we will consider whether:

• the breach represents a significant departure from generally accepted practices within the federal public sector
• the impact or potential impact of the breach on the organization's employees, its clients, and the public trust is significant
• the alleged wrongdoer occupies a position that is of a high level of seniority or trust within the organization
• there are serious errors that are not debatable among reasonable people
• the breach of the applicable code(s) of conduct is systemic or endemic
• the breaches of the applicable code(s) of conduct are repetitive or they have occurred over a significant period of time
• there is a significant degree of willfulness or recklessness related to the breach of the applicable code(s) of conduct
• the breach poses a serious threat to the public’s confidence in the public service’s integrity and does not primarily concern a personal matter such as individual harassment complaints or individual workplace grievances