The sweetest sound in Ontario politics has been
that of whistle-blowing, but the Liberal government is doing its
best to silence it. This has been shown in the aptly named
“bullygate.” Cyndy DeGuist, an official at The Hospital for Sick
Children, said government underfunding could harm services to
patients.
 |
| name="valign" top > ERIC DOWD |
She was fired by the hospital and Health Minister
George Smitherman is suspected of having had a hand in it.
The incident inevitably will discourage others
from speaking up. This will be a loss because residents have become
more willing to blow the whistle on inadequacies in public services
after decades of being reluctant to take a public stand.
Recent examples include an informant who blew the
whistle on a meat-packing plant during the last days of the
preceding Progressive Conservative government. The informant said
the plant was slaughtering and processing market cattle that had
died before reaching its abattoir.
The Tories were accused of failing to protect
residents. This became a major issue in last year’s election and
helped defeat them. It led to stricter regulations throughout the
industry and a judge ruled the informant’s identity must be
protected.
An anonymous caller notified the province that,
long after tainted water killed seven people at Walkerton, a
private laboratory still was not complying with upgraded provincial
regulations on testing water. The province charged the lab.
Two public-spirited nurses exposed physical abuse
of an elderly patient in a nursing home. This incident helped push
the province into more surprise inspections, more funding for
staff, and a promise to make sure all homes have councils
representing residents and their families.
But others who blew whistles have been punished.
A citizens’ group was given $70,000 a year by a provincial agency
to help the environment. It raised concerns about Conservative
plans to allow housing on a moraine north of Toronto. The agency,
supposed to be arm’s-length from politicians, warned it would cut
funding unless the group desisted and, when it continued, ended its
grant.
A lawyer and president of a human rights
organization felt a warm glow when the province sent a letter
advising she had been appointed to the Order of Ontario, its
highest honour, for services of great distinction.
But she received another letter saying it was a
mistake. She concluded she must have offended the Tory government
when she spoke up, accusing it of failing to protect
English-speaking residents against language discrimination in
Ottawa.
 |
| name="valign" top > SMITHERMAN |
An administrative assistant at a cancer centre
was fired after she attended a news conference called by a Tory
health minister, to announce more money for treatment. She asked
the minister a question in which she suggested waiting lists for
surgery were long.
Reporters interviewed her, and she said the long
waits place extra stress on patients. But the centre said she was
not supposed to talk to media and hurt its image.
In “bullygate,” Smitherman and the hospital have
denied he demanded DeGiusti be fired.
The hospital may have got rid of its official
hoping to placate the testy politician who controls its
funds.
The Liberals in opposition used to praise
whistle-blowers because they benefitted from them, but in
government, the first time one opposes them, they are happy to see
her shut up.
Eric Dowd is a veteran member of the Queen’s
Park press gallery.
