Records show Global Affairs Canada (GAC) reprimanded 56 employees for wrongdoing last year, according to Blacklock’s Reporter. “We have heard that fear of reprisal and a belief that complaints do not make a difference are consistently the top reasons why employees do not report bad behaviour when they are a victim of it or when they witness it,” said GAC in a report. “Our ultimate goal is to foster a culture of zero tolerance for bad behaviour of any kind.”Proven allegations ranged from bid-rigging to nepotism. GAC deputy ministers complained of “a widening gap in the confidence you have in the way the department promotes values and ethics, prevents harassment in the workplace and addresses instances of misconduct and wrongdoing when they occur.”One unidentified GAC manager was fired for fraud. “The employee used their position to facilitate the awarding of contracts and engaged in bid-rigging with a view to benefit family members,” said GAC. “The employee also tried to purchase a Crown-owned property using privileged information.”Other incidents included sexual harassment, bullying, psychological violence, nepotism, cronyism, lying, misrepresentation to obtain paid leave, snooping through personnel files and improper use of a government-issued vehicle. One unnamed employee was found to have run a personal business during work hours. While there were no fraudulent activities or established theft of time, it said the employee failed to disclose these personal activities to management as required. This incident prompted the employee to receive a reprimand. GAC said the measures taken “depended on the facts of each case and whether there were aggravating or extenuating circumstances.” These measures ranged from written or verbal reprimands to temporary suspensions or terminations. “Some cases led to a note to the employee’s security file,” it said. “Other more serious cases led to the revocation of the employees’ reliability status and thus their termination.”This report comes after the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) said in September it fired 120 workers for taking Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) payments they were unentitled to.READ MORE: CRA fires 120 employees for taking CERB, 600 under investigationSince June, the CRA had fired 20 workers over inappropriate CERB claims, with about 600 being investigated for taking it. However, 30 CRA workers were eligible for it and were not fired. “Out of the approximately 600 cases, we can report that 120 individuals are no longer with the CRA as a result of this internal review,” said CRA spokesperson Nina Ioussoupova.
