Members of the COMPAS/FP panel of CEO’s and business leaders were asked about whistleblowing in the current legal setting of increased protection for whistleblowers in both Canada and the United States. Whistleblowers in Canada have special protection in respect of environmental and health & safety matters. Meanwhile, the emulation of Sarbanes-Oxley in Canada has led to a requirement for public companies to have confidential whistleblower hotlines.

The following are the key findings from this week’s business leader survey sponsored by BDO Dunwoody LLP and the Canadian Chamber of Commerce:

Governments have a far greater need than corporations to encourage and protect whistleblowers;

• The main areas of wrong doing in public companies are fraud against the company and environmental wrongdoing, not fraud against government or wrong doing in health and safety;
  
  
• Confidential whistle blower hotlines operated by third parties are more effective than hotlines operated by individual public companies themselves;
  
  
• Most panel members oppose Canada’s adopting U.S.-style provisions to allow whistleblowers to share in the profit from the savings achieved by their revelations because of the risk of encouraging false allegations; and
  
  
• Members of the panel believe almost unanimously that laws should be modified to make it easier for whistleblowers in business and, especially in government, to sue their employers for both wages and damages in the event of retaliation over whistleblowers’ revelations of wrong-doing.
  

View / Download complete poll in PDF