Crown Corporations

At this time, only parent Crown corporations are covered under the Public Servants Disclosure Protection Act. Some of the sources of vulnerability of Crown corporations are described in the second chapter of our 2008-09 Annual Report. One of their main sources of risk seems to lie in governance.

The Office developed a short list of questions to which it would seek to have answered if it were called in to investigate an alleged wrongdoing in a Crown corporation:

Essential questions for the Board

  1. Does your governance structure enable early identification of possible wrongdoing?
  2. Do you have an effective internal disclosure system that meets the requirements of the Act and one that creates trust and confidence?
  3. Have you recently re-examined your risk identification and management strategies? 
  4. Do you have effective external review mechanisms, such as an Audit Committee, to identify and respond to emerging risks? Are they operational and independent?
  5. Does your Board of Directors fully understand and carry out its oversight role? 
  6. Have you established and implemented contracting policies and procedures, including a review/vetting process?
  7. Has there been an audit, for example by the Office of the Auditor General? If so, have you adequately responded to any recommendations?
  8. Does your Board of Directors understand its ‘duty of care', i.e. its obligation to exercise the care, diligence and skill required of them?


Meetings and presentations

Staff in our Office are available to meet with your organization to make presentations or hold discussions related to disclosure of wrongdoing and protection against reprisals. Contact us for more information.


Useful links

We encourage you to consult the following sections: