Current witness protections sufficient in sales tactics inquiry: CRTC

The CRTC has declined a request from the Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) to offer protection against litigation to current and former employees who offer submissions to the regulator’s investigation of telecom sale practises. It said in a letter Friday there are other options that would be sufficient to protect people offering sensitive information about the country’s service providers, citing its confidential submission tools and the option to make segments of the public hearing in-camera, meaning witness testimony would remain secret. As the regulator continues to accept evidence from employees in an investigation of telecom industry sales practises, in a letter dated July 17, PIAC said it was its view “that such evidence undoubtedly should be accorded privilege against use as evidence in other judicial or related proceedings.” According to John Lawford, executive director of PIAC, people who aren’t familiar with the CRTC’s submission system won’t understand how to indicate they’re sending confidential information. Additionally, requesting confidentiality does not grant witnesses an unlimited defence against future carrier inquiries. “It's up to the companies — if they want to claim they want to look at that — to say ‘hey I want to see who it is,’ because they can still challenge confidentiality,” said Lawford in a telephone interview. Because of that, PIAC said in its reply to the commission Monday, the advocacy group will inform any former or current employee considering submitting to the process, “that their evidence is not protected from potential legal repercussions such as actions for breach of confidence and breach of contract in relation to confidentiality agreements with the .” Lawford also highlighted a weakness of the CRTC’s approach: any information deemed as requiring confidentiality would be hidden from the public’s view during the proceedings. But that’s not an effective way to restore confidence in the actions of Canadian telecom service providers, he said. “I mean the whole point of having people come to tell their story fearlessly, whistleblower-like, is to have a very public airing of this issue so that the public has confidence in the industry again,” said Lawford. Earlier this year, PIAC slammed the CRTC for declining to look into complaints of telecom sales tactics. The regulator was then ordered to do so by the federal government.

Current witness protections sufficient in sales tactics inquiry: CRTC

Brief | July 30, 2018

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Current witness protections sufficient in sales tactics inquiry: CRTC

Brief | July 30, 2018

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