Whistleblower watchdog says office back on track

The interim integrity commissioner says he's doubled the number of investigations the office takes on and he'll know by the fall whether he's going to reopen cases dismissed by his predecessor, who left her post suddenlyin the middle of an investigation by the auditor general.

In the first annual reportof the Office of the Public Sector Integrity Commissionersince Christiane Ouimet stepped down, Mario Dion admits he arrived in a year that wasn't normal.

"The sudden retirement of my predecessor in October 2010, followed by the tabling of the Auditor General's Report in December of that year, were two events that had a profound impact on the members of the team and on the reputation of the young office," Dion wrote.

Ouimet found no cases of wrongdoing in the 228 complaints her office received over the 3 years she was in the role.

A Deloitte followup audit commissioned by Dion when he took over the job of the cases Ouimet dismissed, showed 114 problems spread over 70 of the 221 files reviewed.

But despite the turmoil, Dion reported the past year was the busiest since the office opened four years ago. Investigations are up 125 per cent, he reports, with 11 cases currently under investigation.

The office received 72 disclosures of wrongdoing in 2010-11, up 29 per cent from the previous year, and 25 complaints of reprisal, up 56 per cent.

Dion has also filled a number of empty jobs and reports that he expects the office's inquiries and investigations unit to more than double in staff in 2011-12.

Ouimet's actions inappropriate: Fraser

In her report last December, former auditor general Sheila Fraser concluded that Ouimet's "behaviour and actions do not pass the test of public scrutiny and are inappropriate and unacceptable for a public servant most notably for the agent of Parliament specifically charged with the responsibility of upholding integrity in the public sector and of protecting public servants from reprisal."

Fraser concluded Ouimet acted inappropriately with staff in her office, retaliated against people she thought filed complaints about her, and didn't do her job.

Ouimet had been hired as commissioner on a seven-year contract, with a salary range of $182,750 to $215,000. She served three of those seven years.

Ouimet's Oct. 14, 2010 departure agreement shows she got a separation allowance of $354,000, equal to 18 months salary, $53,100 in forgone benefits, pension and other claims, and another 28 weeks of salary, worth $127,000, plus her remaining vacation leave.

That works out to about $534,100.