From: AlanBaggett@volcanomail.com   
      
   More than 1000 Canada Revenue Agency employees disciplined for misconduct over   
   past four years :CRA SOTW    
        
   Top reason for disciplinary action is failure to protect taxpayers'   
   information    
        
   Elizabeth Thompson • CBC News    
      
   The Canada Revenue Agency has disciplined more than 1,000 employees for   
   professional misconduct over the past four years — on average one case every   
   working day.    
      
   According to numbers obtained by CBC News, some tabled in Parliament and   
   others provided by the agency, there were 550 cases of misconduct between   
   April 1, 2016 and March 27, 2018. There were another 521 cases between April   
   2014 and March 2016 for a    
   total of 1,071.    
      
   A breakdown of the cases between 2016 and 2018 reveals that failure to protect   
   the agency's — and taxpayers' — information was the top reason employees   
   were suspended, reprimanded or even fired. That accounted for 222 incidents or   
   40 per cent of    
   misconduct identified by the agency.    
      
   The second most common offence fell into the category of "failure to protect   
   CRA's reputation." That can include anything from being in a conflict of   
   interest or committing a crime to tweeting out the wrong thing or yelling at a   
   taxpayer, according to    
   the agency's code of integrity and professional conduct.    
      
   Between 2016 and 2018, 139 incidents or 25 per cent of the cases of misconduct   
   fell into that category.    
      
   "Failure to foster a healthy and respectful workplace," which includes a wide   
   range of behaviour from harassment and discrimination to doing drugs at work   
   or smoking in restricted areas, was the third most common infraction with 81   
   incidents (14.7 per    
   cent).    
      
   There were 58 cases of "Failure to protect and manage public funds," which   
   includes mismanagement, fraud, bribery and using insider knowledge and 50   
   cases of "failing to protect CRA's assets and property."    
      
   The penalty, in many cases, was steep.    
      
   Over the course of the four years, 301 employees (28 per cent) were handed the   
   most severe category of punishment ranging from a 20-day suspension to losing   
   their jobs.    
      
   The punishment for 255 employees (23.8 per cent) ranged from a written   
   reprimand to a suspension of up to 10 days. Another 218 employees (20.3 per   
   cent) got the minimum punishment of an oral reprimand up to a five-day   
   suspension while 221 employees (20.6    
   per cent) received suspensions ranging between five and 30 days.    
      
   CRA getting tougher on misconduct, union says    
   Marc Brière, president of the 25,000-member Union of Taxation Employees, said   
   the CRA has gotten tougher on misconduct in recent years.    
      
   "If you talk about unauthorized access, the big chances are that people are   
   losing their jobs or minimum a huge, a very large suspension — even if it's   
   a minor unauthorized access."    
      
   Brière said employees could also be investigated by the RCMP and end up in   
   jail.    
      
   Despite the fact the union regularly reminds members that they could face   
   serious penalties for misconduct, Brière said there have been cases of   
   members of his union being fired.    
      
   "It does happen. When you've got (more than) 40,000 employees in an   
   organization there's always people who are making mistakes and they're paying   
   the price."    
      
   However, he said cases of serious misconduct — such as accessing taxpayer   
   files without authorization — have been going down among the members of his   
   union.    
      
   CRA using new technology to flag activities    
   CRA spokesperson Etienne Biram said the agency takes cases of employee   
   misconduct seriously and it has stepped up its internal controls in recent   
   years. In addition to making the rules clearer to employees and improving its   
   ability to investigate    
   allegations of misconduct in a timely way, the CRA has strengthened its   
   monitoring and detection technology "which enables it to proactively flag   
   activities that appear inconsistent with employees assigned workloads and   
   duties."    
      
   While there have been 1,071 cases of misconduct over four years, agency   
   officials point out that with 44,000 employees, it worked out to less than one   
   per cent of its workforce each year.    
      
   Conservative revenue critic Pat Kelly said the number of employees disciplined   
   was higher than he expected. He would like a parliamentary committee to take a   
   closer look at the incidents of misconduct.    
      
   "It would be beneficial, I think, to have officials explain that and break   
   that down and give us better answers," he said.    
      
   Kelly, who had asked for the information tabled in Parliament, said he was   
   disappointed the CRA didn't provide more information about the case of the B.C   
   couple Tony and Helen Samaroo.    
      
   A court found the couple was maliciously prosecuted by CRA employees and   
   awarded them $1.7 million. The CRA is appealing.    
      
   NDP revenue critic Pierre-Luc Dusseault said the numbers show the system   
   appears to be catching cases of misconduct, but he is concerned that there are   
   so many cases.    
      
   "It is very disturbing to know that so much discipline has to take place at   
   the Canada Revenue Agency," he said, adding he hoped the number of cases would   
   drop over time.    
      
   Dusseault said it is also disturbing to learn that so many of the cases   
   involve the privacy of taxpayers' confidential information.    
      
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