BC Freedom of Information and Privacy Association
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Meet Sylvie Therrien, Whistleblower Extraordinaire
We are very pleased to welcome award-winning whistleblower Sylvie Therrien as our guest speaker at FIPA’s 2014 Annual General Meeting.
In a culture where roadblocks to freedom of information are becoming all the more common, whistleblowing is an essential part of keeping government transparent and holding decision-makers accountable. Whistleblowers have recently come under threat in BC’s proposed Animal Health Act, Bill 19, which imposes a lifetime gag on a large number of people involved in monitoring animal health, threatening them with jail time and fines.
The importance of being able to blow the whistle, and of protecting those who do, is something Sylvie Therrien has very special knowledge of. She is a former Integrity Services Investigator for Employment Insurance for Services Canada, who leaked documents showing that the Harper Government was trying to find ‘savings’ from the EI funds by creating quotas for EI fraud. Each investigator was required to identify $485,000 in Employment Insurance fraud per year. However these quotas could only be met by manipulating the facts and looking for ways to deny benefits.
After raising her concerns with her superiors to no avail, she went to the media to publicly denounce a system which was operating against the public interest. Ms. Therrien was suspended without pay in May 2013, and was dismissed in October.
Ms Therrien recently received the 2014 National Golden Whistle Award from POGG Canada and Canadians for Accountability. The award is presented annually to honour an individual for integrity, courage, resolve in the service of peace, order and good government.
The AGM will be held on Wednesday April 23, 2014 at 7pm
Venue: YWCA, 4th floor, 535 Hornby Street, Vancouver [map]
Doors open at 6:30 pm for registration and membership renewal. For more information, or to submit a form of proxy, call 604-739-9788. To renew your membership through our secure online form, click here: https://www.gifttool.com/donations/Donate?ID=1552&AID=40
Categories
FIPA
We are very pleased to welcome award-winning whistleblower Sylvie Therrien as our guest speaker at FIPA’s 2014 Annual General Meeting.
In a culture where roadblocks to freedom of information are becoming all the more common, whistleblowing is an essential part of keeping government transparent and holding decision-makers accountable. Whistleblowers have recently come under threat in BC’s proposed Animal Health Act, Bill 19, which imposes a lifetime gag on a large number of people involved in monitoring animal health, threatening them with jail time and fines.
The importance of being able to blow the whistle, and of protecting those who do, is something Sylvie Therrien has very special knowledge of. She is a former Integrity Services Investigator for Employment Insurance for Services Canada, who leaked documents showing that the Harper Government was trying to find ‘savings’ from the EI funds by creating quotas for EI fraud. Each investigator was required to identify $485,000 in Employment Insurance fraud per year. However these quotas could only be met by manipulating the facts and looking for ways to deny benefits.
After raising her concerns with her superiors to no avail, she went to the media to publicly denounce a system which was operating against the public interest. Ms. Therrien was suspended without pay in May 2013, and was dismissed in October.
Ms Therrien recently received the 2014 National Golden Whistle Award from POGG Canada and Canadians for Accountability. The award is presented annually to honour an individual for integrity, courage, resolve in the service of peace, order and good government.
The AGM will be held on Wednesday April 23, 2014 at 7pm
Venue: YWCA, 4th floor, 535 Hornby Street, Vancouver [map]
Doors open at 6:30 pm for registration and membership renewal. For more information, or to submit a form of proxy, call 604-739-9788. To renew your membership through our secure online form, click here: https://www.gifttool.com/donations/Donate?ID=1552&AID=40
Categories
FIPA