Minister disputes claim of muzzling doctors, but may review policies
SASKATOON A leaked memorandum may prompt an overhaul of whistleblower protections for Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) employees.
The one-page document, dubbed a “hush memo” by the Saskatchewan NDP, told doctors to be “mindful” of what they put in meeting minutes that could be obtained by freedom of information (FOI) requests.
Such requests for documents can be submitted by anyone.
“If you do not want to see it in the newspaper, then do not include it in the meeting minutes,” the memo concluded.
The NDP says the memo was an attempt to muzzle whistleblowers and is calling for provincial whistleblower protections to be expanded to SHA employees.
“They (the government) shouldn't be looking into it. They should just do it,” NDP justice critic Nicole Sarauer said Thursday.
“It's pretty clear this is needed in the province,” she continued.
In question period on Wednesday, Health Minister Jim Reiter scoffed at suggestions from NDP Opposition Leader Ryan Meili that SHA employees could be punished for whistle-blowing, calling it “fearmongering.”
However, on Thursday Reiter said the recent amalgamation of the 12 former health authorities into one body could necessitate a “quick review” of whistle-blowing policies.
“In my mind, unless there's a compelling reason not to, I don't see why we wouldn't add them to the provincial legislation,” Reiter said.
The memo said communications from doctors — to media, the College of Physicians and Surgeons or the ministry — without SHA consent do not meet “communication standards” and are creating “discordant messaging.”
Following an SHA board meeting on Wednesday, Chief Medical Officer Susan Shaw acknowledged to reporters that the letter “could have been written more gracefully.”
She has since penned a second one clarifying that the SHA “does not have a policy, nor has the SHA ever had any intent to restrict staff or physicians from exercising their right to free speech.”
She defended the initial memo's intent, which she said was a reminder to follow communication procedure to avoid what the original memo called “discordant messaging.”
“I don't think what's been discussed elsewhere is consistent with how it's been interpreted internally,” Shaw told reporters on Wednesday, without explicitly naming the official Opposition.
Reiter and Shaw both said the memo was meant to keep patients' personal information out of meeting minutes, where they believe it could be accessed through FOI requests.
However, experts say the concern is misplaced and that the memo's goal appeared to be limiting access to public information.
Sean Holman, an assistant professor of journalism at Calgary's Mount Royal University studying the history of Canadian FOI laws, noted that such information is almost always redacted before anything is disclosed.
He added that it's not the role of employees to determine what should and shouldn't be disclosed.
“It is not good public governance,” Holman said. “You can't run an agency if you don't write things down.” Ken Rubin, an investigative researcher in Ottawa with 50 years of experience studying privacy and FOI, said it was “not the kind of memo any kind of public body should be sending, particularly to people whose vocation is health care.”
Holman said it's an example in a greater trend of institutions frustrating the public's right to know.
“What they call 'discordant messaging ' — in other words, that's just the truth. No one should be afraid of the truth,” Holman said.
The office of the provincial Information and Privacy Commissioner, an independent agency, was not available to comment by press time.