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Whistle-blower's case against Wall now with privacy commissioner

Health care worker's privacy breached, but Premier's office off the hook

The controversy over a health care employee who complained, and then got suspended from work, is now in the hands of the privacy commissioner.

Peter Bowden came to the legislature last month to complain about conditions at a Saskatoon seniors home where he works. Bowden was later suspended with pay. He believes he was disciplined for blowing the whistle.

In an e-mail, the government said Bowden had been disciplined for incidents related to patient care and harassment of other staff and residents. Now, the privacy commissioner will decide if that broke any rules.

NDP concerns

The whole incident has upset NDP Opposition Leader Cam Broten, who says the case goes all the way to the premier's office.

"They are trying to say what they did was actually in the public interest. No way. What Mr. Wall did was in his political interest," said Broten, referring to Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall.

"Mr. Wall is directing his chief of operations and communications to intentionally leak confidential employment information to the media," Broten said.

Seniors care has been a hot topic of debate in the legislature of the past number of months. Peter Bowden is the first health care worker to come forward and publicly voice his concerns to the media.

"The only care aide that comes to the legislature as a whistle-blower raising concerns and that's the person that Mr. Wall is tracking and has the CEO of the Health Region watching," said Broten.

Promise kept, says government

The government maintains it has done nothing wrong. Premier Brad Wall has said he made a promise in the legislature to Bowden that he would not be disciplined for speaking out. Wall has said that is why he followed up with Bowden's case.

On Thursday, Minister of Health Dustin Duncan restated the government's position.

"We have very limited ways in this type of scenario to in fact explain to the public that the commitment that the premier made had not been broken and that the suspension with pay was not related to what he was here for," Duncan said.