The Yukon government is not prioritizing procedure development that would guide disclosures of wrongdoing and the handling of these disclosures within its departments – procedures that the Public Interest Disclosure Commissioner says are “very important” in making sure whistleblowers are protected.

Instead, the government’s focus is on breaking down the “culture of fear” around whistleblowing in the civil service, Richard Mostyn, the minister responsible for the Public Service Commission, told reporters Monday.

The government is also focused on encouraging more people to use the wrongdoing disclosure legislation, which has been underutilized since it came into force in 2015, Mostyn said.

In her 2017 annual report, Public Interest Disclosure Commissioner Diane McLeod-McKay observed that she is “not aware of any work undertaken” by Yukon government departments and corporations to inform their staff about the Public Interest Disclosure of Wrongdoing Act (PIDWA).

Further, she noted that she’s only aware of one public entity currently drafting disclosure procedures.

Departmental deputy ministers and the presidents or CEOs of government corporations can elect to establish these procedures.

They would have to include the designation of a senior official to receive and manage employee disclosures of wrongdoing and procedures around the confidentiality of that information, as well as investigations and reporting on their outcomes, among other elements.

NDP Leader Liz Hanson questioned the government Monday about why departments are not implementing disclosure procedures.

Mostyn told the house, “I have spoken at length about the processes that people can use to go forward. I have spoken with the Public Interest Disclosure Commissioner recently. These processes are going to get beefed up under our watch.”

However, he told reporters following question period that he’s looking to encourage uptake on existing legislation, noting disclosures under PIDWA have until now been very few and far between.

“You can develop policy and everything else, but policy isn’t going to change the culture within the civil service.”

Mostyn confirmed that at this point, he doesn’t think individual departments need to develop disclosure procedures because PIDWA provisions are sufficient.

“The mechanisms are there, they’re in the legislation already. We just have to use them.”

And this Liberal government is encouraging people to do so, and have instructed their deputy ministers to project this message to staff – a departure from what has been practice until now, Mostyn said.

“I want this process tested, and developed,” he explained.

“Once we start testing that, we’re going to find things that aren’t working that well, in which case we’re going to have to start fixing these things.”

McLeod-McKay sees it differently.

“I think having policies and procedures in place are actually what guides the decision-making of the public service, and without those, they’re not going to know how to deal with those things when they come forward,” she told the Star this morning.

Knowledge about how to properly disclose wrongdoing as well as how to receive and manage a disclosure would be fostered through the implementation of departmental procedures, according to McLeod-McKay, particularly when it comes to whistleblower protection.

“A key part of this legislation is the protection of individuals who bring forward disclosures of wrongdoing. Without those procedures in place, there’s a risk that there could be a breach of that confidentiality because the right controls aren’t developed to protect the individual as part of that process.”

When the PIDWA legislation comes up for review, the commissioner is planning to advocate to make these procedures a legislated requirement, rather than voluntary as they are now, for that very reason.

Mostyn, for his part, said he has “every confidence” in the civil service to handle disclosures “with integrity, and properly.”

“We are now providing that political direction, and I’m sure they will find their legs.”