The case of a Winnipeg psychologist in the midst of a conduct review by the Psychological Association of Manitoba has caught the attention of the Whistleblowing Canada Research Society, who says too often, professionals who stand up or speak out find themselves in hot water with their regulators.
“We don’t protect whistleblowers in our country. The legislation we do have covers only federal civil servants for the most part, which is about maybe two per cent of the workforce. So that means for 98 per cent of the workforce there’s no legislation,” says Pamela Forward, an Ottawa-based workplace mediator, researcher and founding director of Whistleblowing Canada.
Jackie Garrick with Whistleblowers of America, meanwhile, says on top of no protection, there’s often retaliation.
“The toxic tactics of retaliation,” Garrick says. “Things like gaslighting, mobbing, marginalizing, sounding, devaluing, double-binding and counter-accusing and bullying.”
It’s not only from a boss or an authority but often from peers, Garrick and Forward say.
Several patients told Global News they believe their clinical psychologist is being targeted in part because she has diagnosed dozens of RCMP and military personnel with post-traumatic stress disorder, which their employers dispute.
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“There’s a shortage of currently-serving members of the RCMP and military and they need those people to (stay in) their jobs,” one patient said.
They say there’s pressure to get personnel back in high-risk, high-stress jobs.
“I was hit by a mortar in Afghanistan,” said one PTSD patient. “I have suffered very traumatic events, so how can I be misdiagnosed?”
None of the doctor’s patients can be identified as it could identify the clinical psychologist involved, contrary to a publication ban.
Additionally, they say they witnessed a systematic effort to discredit and undermine the psychologist not long after she was a whistleblower in 2017 when she complained to the RCMP’s Civilian Complaints and Review Commission about bullying and privacy and billing issues.
The complaints commission found many of her concerns were valid.
In a statement, the RCMP said, “the health and safety of employees is a top priority and essential to public safety,” and they have “zero tolerance for the outdated attitude that mental health injuries are not real.”
The Psychological Association of Manitoba won’t comment while the conduct review is ongoing.
Meanwhile, a nurse who was fined $26,000 by the Saskatchewan Registered Nurses Association, after making a social media post critical of her grandfather’s health care in 2015, says professionals often stay quiet because they see that standing up or speaking out has consequences.
Hers was a five-year battle.
“It’s quite a process to go through and so my my heart goes out to anybody that’s in the middle of it because it is a very stressful situation,” Strom says.
The Saskatchewan Court of Appeal threw out her fine and she continues to work as a registered nurse in Saskatchewan.
“There are still lots of struggles with respect to people feeling safe to be able to speak up and speak out,” she says.
The conduct hearing against the Winnipeg psychologist continues.