Most recommendations implemented by B.C. after Health firings

VICTORIA — B.C.’s government has implemented the majority of 41 recommendations that were made in a report last year on the firings of eight workers who were involved in a drug policy investigation for the Health Ministry.

Ombudsperson Jay Chalke says he’s heartened by the progress made on his recommendations, which includes offering apologies and providing payments to the people involved.

The report, called “Misfire,” found that seven workers and a contract employee were fired six years ago due to a flawed and rushed investigation.

It said they did not deserve the personal, financial and professional harm they suffered.

Co-op research student Roderick MacIsaac died by suicide about four months after he was fired, but Chalke said in last year’s report that most of the grounds cited for his dismissal “were unsupported by the evidence and not true.”

It was alleged MacIsaac jeopardized privacy and the reputation of the ministry as he and others worked on a drug research program in 2012.

Chalke says there are still four outstanding recommendations and his office is reviewing four others, but new whistleblower legislation has been passed and there are independent reviews of government dismissal practices.

He says the office of the ombudsperson will publish a further assessment of the implementation of its recommendations after the government releases its next progress report in April.