Dans l’antichambre de la décision politique : les travaux de la commission parlementaire québécoise de 2016 sur la protection juridique des lanceurs d’alerte

Abstract

This article draws on a master’s research project that examines, from the standpoint of the public’s right to know, the options open to Quebec legislators before the Act to facilitate the disclosure of wrongdoings relating to public bodies was passed in 2016. The framework is Neveu’s (2015) political sociology of public problems. Proposals made during the hearings pointed to a broader conception of whistleblowing than the one the Act adopted. The debates revealed a tension between advocates of free expression grounded in the public interest and defenders of a duty of loyalty that keeps public administration outside public debate. The divide between civil society and officeholders was sharpest over what could legitimately be disclosed and through which channels. The Act is a first step toward protecting whistleblowers, but the public’s right to know remains a marginal concern.