Defunct provincial agency faced whistleblower complaint about financial problems

A woman who blew the whistle on what she says are serious financial problems at a recently-dissolved provincial government agency says she has suffered reprisals for speaking out.

Patricia Scott, former finance manager of the East Side Road Authority, said she paid a price for bringing up financial irregularities at the provincial agency even though there is a law that's meant to prevent such reprisals.

"I want my record cleared," Scott said.

"Would I advise a person that sees wrong to report it? Not from what I've been through," Scott said.

"They can't fire you for making a complaint...they'll just find another way."

Scott's contract with the provincial government agency expired at the end of March and it wasn't renewed. That was before the general election in April that saw the Pallister government elected on promises that included folding the East Side Road Authority (ESRA) into the provincial infrastructure department.

• East Side Road Authority CEO Ernie Gilroy replaced by bureaucrat

ESRA was created in 2009 with a mandate to build an all-weather road on the east side of Lake Winnipeg.

Scott had been hired as finance manager in 2012 for a four-year term and was overseeing a department with seven accountants. She said shortly after she began working for ESRA, she started hearing about financial irregularities.

Subsequently she started raising her own concerns to management.

Whistleblower Pat Scott describes her ordeal with ESRA after a workplace injury

8 years ago

Duration 1:42

A woman who blew the whistle on what she says are serious financial problems at a recently-dissolved provincial government agency says she has suffered reprisals for speaking out.

Then in March 2015 she filed a whistleblower complaint with the provincial ombudsman. The ombudsman's office then transferred the file to the provincial auditor, whose office is still investigating.

"I'm bound by my confidentiality agreement at work, that I can't mention any of the financial problems. But what I can say is that there were financial problems, and I did make a whistleblower complaint," she said.

"I would characterize them as being of a serious nature," she said. "It wouldn't have passed audit anywhere."

Physical attack

In addition to blowing the whistle, Scott said her situation was further complicated because she was physically attacked and injured during a meeting in her office at work in January 2015. A co-worker was charged with assault causing bodily harm and will go to trial next September.

Scott said she does not believe the attack in her office was connected to the financial issues she had been raising.

"It has nothing to do with it at all."

But she believes that she was punished by upper management because of her whistleblower complaint and because she filed an injury report from the alleged assault.

She later filed a police complaint and sought medical care.

She said she was diagnosed with injuries to her wrist, her rotator cuffand her neck. She said she had a cast on her arm.

"I was really traumatized," she said.

"I want people to know that these things happen in the world. Even in a boring finance department, they happen. And there aren't the supports for the people that they happen to."

Scott filed a workers compensation claim and was on leave for several months.

An investigation report said the other employee in the incident did not return to the workplace after that day in January 2015.

Scott eventually went back to work in late July, but rather than remaining in her old job, she was soon moved to a secondment in the provincial finance department.

"The way that I was removed of my duties with no explanation, just removed, they treated me wrong there," Scott said. In addition, she said a merit pay increase wasn't forthcoming.

While she was on leave, she said management began to tell her there had been problems with her own job performance.

"I got a letter telling me that there were outstanding performance issues that had come to light while I was off work," Scott said, adding she had difficulty obtaining specifics.

'Performance issues' alleged

After her contract had ended, Scott received an April 8, 2016 letter from ESRA management outlining the performance issues.

It made seven points, including alleged mistakes in the process of selecting an auditor, and failing to ensure accurate funding estimates to the province which resulted in a shortfall in operating funds to ESRA.

Scott refutes the allegations and says she has documentation to defend her position on each one. She points out she had a clean personnel record prior to going on leave and adds that in December 2014 she'd received support and praise for her work.

A complaint of unfair treatment at ESRA that Scott had submitted to former NDP cabinet ministers Steve Ashton and Eric Robinson last September was eventually reviewed by investigators with Treasury Board Secretariat and the Civil Service Commission.

The February 2016 investigation report said, "Ms Scott feels very strongly that the performance issues raised are only for the purposes of removing her unjustly from the workplace," but it noted that the issues are untested.

The report recommended Scott's employment contract not be renewed "given that the fundamental employment relationship appears to be irreparably damaged."

"There is also little doubt that the way in which the situation was managed contributed to the damaged relationship," the report concluded.

It also said, "There was not sufficient information to conclude that any laws were broken or that any workplace policies were violated."

The merit of Scott's whistleblower complaint is being evaluated by the office of the provincial auditor along with another unrelated audit of ESRA that was already in progress.

Audit report due soon

Provincial auditor Norm Ricard said both reports could be ready for release around the end of July.

He said he was weighing whether it was still worth proceeding with the audits once the government decided to dissolve ESRA and transfer its role to the provincial infrastructure department.

"There's no doubt in my mind that the draft report even though the organization is gone will still be valuable to the government in terms of deciding how to move forward," Ricard said.

The former CEO of ESRA, Ernie Gilroy, declined to comment.

Eric Robinson, the former NDP minister who was responsible for ESRA, said he recalled referring Scott's complaint about how she was treated to Gilroy since it involved personnel issues.

Robinson told CBC News he doesn't think the audits will turn up any major problems.

"I can say with confidence the ESRA and their folks took extra measure to make sure good financial accounting measures were taken," said Robinson.

In March, ESRA offered a settlement to Scott. She turned it down.

"I think they wanted me to back off, sign the paper, and they'll never hear from me again," Scott said.

Manitoba's Public Interest Disclosure (Whistleblower Protection)Act says someone who blows the whistle and believes he or she has been subject to reprisal can make a complaint to the Manitoba Labour Board. Scott said she hasn't done that but she's considering it.

Got a tip for the CBC News I-Team? Email iteam@cbc.ca or call the confidential tip line at 204-788-3744.