“Systemic abuse relies on silence,” an individual wrote Monday to Patti McLeod, the Yukon Party’s Health and Social Services critic.

But breaking that silence presents its own set of challenges, as the conversation surrounding CBC reports of abuse in Yukon government group homes has demonstrated.

“We have received a document from a concerned whistle-blower regarding the allegations of abuse within government-run group homes,” McLeod told the legislative assembly Tuesday. The Star has seen a copy of this document.

In it, the writer urges McLeod to continue questioning what they describe as inaction from departmental officials who were aware of issues in the government group home system, and the “covering up” of those issues.

“I would identify myself but as I am sure you are aware I would be disciplined – despite what the government says.”

Both Health and Social Services Minister Pauline Frost and Richard Mostyn, the minister responsible for the Public Service Commission, have encouraged staff who have knowledge or concerns about problems in the government group home system to speak out.

“There is no punitive material here,” Mostyn told the legislature Monday.

“We want our children to be safe, and we have to know that the information is reaching the right ears.

“We have legislation in place to protect workers on this file. That legislation is relatively new, and there is a culture within the Yukon that we have to break through, but I know that my colleagues on these benches are modelling that behaviour and are expressly saying, “Please, bring your concerns to our attention and we will deal with them,’” Mostyn said.

But Diane McLeod-McKay, the Public Interest Disclosure Commissioner, has spoken out.

If a government employee indeed wants to make a disclosure of wrongdoing, she emphasized, he or she must follow a specific process for the Public Interest Disclosure of Wrongdoing Act (PIDWA) protections to apply.

“Reading the news reports, listening to the legislative assembly every day, and because of the information that was going out there, I felt it was important that employees understood how these protections work,” McLeod-McKay told the Star Monday.

“There was discussion of the whistleblower legislation and the protections, but all the context was not correct.

“In order to actually have that protection, you’ve got to follow the rules in the act for making the disclosure.

“That’s if you’re disclosing wrongdoing, other than that, there’s nothing in this piece of legislation that would protect anybody,” McLeod-McKay said.

Under PIDWA, a “wrongdoing” is defined as:

a) A contravention of an Act, a regulation made under an Act, an Act of Parliament, or a regulation made under an Act of Parliament;

(b) An act or omission that creates a substantial and specific danger (i) to the life, health or safety of individuals, other than a danger that is inherent in the performance of the duties or functions of an employee, or (ii) to the environment;

(c) Gross mismanagement of public funds or a public asset;

Knowingly directing or counselling an individual to commit a wrongdoing described in any of paragraphs (a) to (c).

A wrongdoing must be disclosed in one of three ways for PIDWA reprisal protections to apply: to an employee’s immediate supervisor, to his or her deputy minister, or to the Public Interest Disclosure Commissioner.

Understanding the process around PIDWA disclosure and associated protection is particularly important as the Yukon Child and Youth Advocate begins a systemic review of child and youth experience in the government group home system, McLeod-McKay pointed out.

Frost spoke to local media about the review after question period Monday.

“It’s really essentially that we have people engaging, and staff engaging. It’s the only way that we can make things better,” the minister said.

Section 27 of the Child and Youth Advocate Act offers protection to people who share information with the advocate, she pointed out.

It mandates that someone cannot “discharge, suspend, discipline, penalize, or otherwise discriminate against” someone else for doing so.

However, the protection this act offers is different from what’s available to someone who discloses a wrongdoing under PIDWA, McLeod-McKay pointed out.

Contravening section 27 of the Child and Youth Advocate Act can result in a fine up to $10,000 or imprisonment up to six months or both.

But under PIDWA, reprisal protections include referral to an arbitrator with order-making power.

If, for example, the Public Interest Disclosure Commissioner found that someone’s employment was terminated as a result of their disclosing a wrongdoing, she could refer the matter to an arbitrator who could order his or her reinstatement, McLeod-McKay said.

“Can the minister explain how staff will be able to participate in a review by the Child and Youth Advocate when the Public Interest Disclosure Commissioner has been clear that they risk losing the protection of the whistle-blower legislation?” NDP leader Liz Hanson asked in the legislative assembly Monday.

Neither Frost nor Mostyn specifically addressed the disconnect between the two pieces of legislation in their responses.

McLeod-McKay said it’s something the government might want to consider in the future.

In the meantime, she’s spoken with Annette King, the Child and Youth Advocate, to discuss how employees seeking to make disclosures related to group homes could be informed or referred to the correct avenue for doing so, depending on the circumstances.

In a Monday letter to Frost, King announced she would be formally launching an independent systemic review, and developing a framework for the review in the coming weeks.

The Department of Health and Social Services declined the Star’s request for an interview about group homes.