La protection des lanceurs d’alerte au Canada et au Québec : un état des lieux

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to examine how the law governs the disclosure process and protects whistleblowers in Canada and Quebec against reprisal measures in private and public sector organizations. The first part, with a more conceptual content, attempts to distinguish the types of alert behaviour, their legitimacy and their usefulness socially and organization wise. The second part, that is more legal in content, paints a picture of the different legal frameworks that have been adopted over the years in Canada and Quebec to encourage and protect whistleblowers. These frameworks are often vague and differ depending on whether the disclosure is under federal or provincial jurisdiction, whether it applies to the public or private sector, and depending on the type of information disclosed. In terms of whistleblowing, it should be remembered that, even if the protection of whistleblowers has been increased in several respects over the years, this protection could still be improved, because there are certain weaknesses and the effectiveness of the law in this area is often undermined.