Journal

This page is being revised with the addition of links to documents currently provided on the Petition page. See the facts exposing the wrongful dismissal and wrongful denial of arbitration in the Petition for arbitration to proceed.

Preamble

This journal was started in October 2004, after a meeting where a co-worker yelled at me and blamed me for making an error a week prior, which I did not make. I asked for an apology but the antagonism increased; therefore, I began writing about many odd incidents since starting to work at BC Stats.

Here you will find a chronicle of the many events describing the discrimination and wrongful dismissal I was subjected to by the Ministry of Labour and Citizens' Services and the denial of arbitration, as well as descriptions of the many improvements I made to the methods and models as per my job description.


A Summary of Details of Discrimination and Constructive Dismissal
January 2002 : Started working for BC Stats to be provincial expert in migration.

The job included keeping track of information about events that may influence migration to the municipal level throughout the province and to the micro health areas in Vancouver.

I developed a Likely Impact Quantification and Identification System (LIQUIDS),to store information from any source in a database that could be used with a Geographic Information System (GIS).

This program replaced the previous paper oriented process of photocopying newspaper articles, highlighting the estimated number of jobs to be gained or lost with a felt pen, hole punching and storing these in a binder.

2002 Programmer hired to make conversion from APL to MSAccess

An expert programmer, Keith Morris, was hired with the expressed purpose to move the data stored in APL into the new government standard database for pcs, MS Access. The long time employee, Dave O’Neil, who became manager of the population section in 2004, used his position to stop the change over. When Keith retired he told me he had failed in his job for not having succeeded in migrating BC Stat’s data from APL to MSAccess.

Fall 2002 : I fixed the estimates model.

I was told by Don McRae to arbitrarily remove outliers in an attempt to reduce the error (over 6%) between the census results for the province and the population estimation model used by BC Stats for post censal estimates.

Statisticians consider the arbitrary removal of outliers from a full dataset (not a sample of a population, this was the full population dataset) to be unacceptable. This non-statistical method, used to change results in order to fit a theory, is disparagingly referred to as "data mining". Indeed, Don McRae told Frank Ip and me that this was "data mining". Over a 2 ½ month period, amongst my other work, Don McRae told me which outliers to remove. I was to remove the outliers that Mr. McRae told me to remove and then I was told to rerun the model. Don has a Masters Degree in Public Administration.

The "data mining" exercise was a waste of time since it only worked when Surrey was removed. Don McRae said that Surrey was "too big to kick out".

Outliers in a regression with all the data can highlight important changes, and should not be removed with out reason.

While following orders, I began to develop and test hypothesis in an attempt to figure out whether the assumption that all Local Health Areas in the province were experiencing a reduction in the number of people per household, or whether the change in the number of people per household was random spatially.

The model used the change in electrical hook ups to estimate change in population.

This assumes that the number of people per household, or more specifically per meter, was the same throughout the province. It could be that the number of people per meter throughout the province, was random or that there were significant differences.

It is well known by social scientists specializing in human population geography that there is an overall trend to fewer people per household in recent years. But what if this was not true and we (statisticians) were making a type 1 error, to say that something is true when it isn't.

My hypothesis was that the change in the number of people per meter was not the same throughout province; a null hypothesis. I wanted to see if there was any significant difference.

I found that instead of there being fewer people per household throughout the provincial Local Health Areas over the years, some areas had an increase. I created a map of the provincial LHAs with standard deviations and Surrey stood out as being over 4 standard deviations from the norm. Outliers are important to keep in a full data set.

My manager, Ruth McDougal, asked everyone in the Population Section to try and figure out what was going on in an effort to reduce the error

Dave O'Neil guessed that there was a difference between urban and rural areas, and Frank Ip suggested a technical solution. I suggested looking at the change in the number of people per meter.

Both Dave O'Neil and Frank Ip's solutions did not reduce the error.

When the estimates model was adjusted to handle the variation in the change in the number of people per meter, the error was reduced from 6% to 2%.

I recommended further testing before going ahead with the model change but because so much time had been wasted trying to kick out outliers, it was implemented.

Ruth thanked me for reducing the error and said that Don McRae thought I had done a good job.

Unfortunately, to meet timelines another sub-standard method was imposed. Dave O'Neil advocated splitting the municipalities into two groups. Splitting data has it's own problems especially when used in an extrapolation (for the years to come).

These changes were implemented but no paper was written to explain the changes to clients. Over the next several years before being fired I asked for this paper to be written and published but this was never done.

Also, I found out later, that there was a problem when the municipalities had been joined initially. See outlier.

Also, another untested method was imposed by Don McRae, where one group of municipalities were given compound growth at the expense of the other split group. I showed Don and Ruth why this should not be done, but it was imposed nonetheless. I pointed out that in two years this method would increase the error substantially which was indeed the case and two years later this method was dropped.

Fall 2002 : Telephone landline hookups to be used in Population Estimates

We were told by Don McRae that we needed to use Telus telephone hook-ups, along with hydro hook-ups, as an indicator for population change because it "looked better to have more than one indicator". I asked for the paper on the testing of the use of Telus data be made available to the analysts and to the public as well, but this was never done.

There are two major problems with using Telus data as the second indicator: 1) co-linearity which over states the confidence in explaining the variation in the dependant variable (in this case it is population change) because the indicators (hydro and telus landline hook-ups) are too similar and are essentially measuring the same thing - new dwellings, particularly single family dwellings. Statisticians require that the independent indicators be ... independent, and 2) people may be opting for cell phones, particularly in high density areas.

March to June 2003 : Census population estimates for Aboriginals.

There was considerable discussion throughout BC Stats regarding the census population estimates for Aboriginals. The number of Aboriginals had increased substantially over the 1996 census estimates. StatsCan changed it's policy prior to the 2001 census to allow respondents to fill out the Aboriginal ancestry question themselves (question 18) rather than this being filled out by the enumerator. I mentioned that I consider myself mixed blood. Dave O’Neil said that he thought that the increase was due to people having seen "Dances with Wolves" or that they were "looking for a hand out". I suggested that many mixed bloods are independent and self reliant and that previous censuses had under estimated the number of mixed bloods in Canada. Also, I had filled in a government wide survey conducted by BC Stats stating I have mixed European and Aboriginal ancestry.

Summer 2003 : Director displays aggressive behaviour.

Don McRae yelled "YOU IDIOT! at me loud enough to be heard by my co-workers down the hall. I had just told Don that I had talked to an analyst about the anti-dumping charge discussed in a report. Don was upset that I called the analyst because he said that I was not supposed to see the report that he had given me to read. He later explained that it was probably alright for me to have talked to the analyst.

September 2003 : BC Stat’s poor database management.

The database storage system in BC Stats was very disjointed. For example, in my first year, was told to go to the data library to get a paper copy of the Major Projects Inventory(MPI). After showing the librarian permission for me to get a copy. For several days, I typed the information into a MS Access database.

A year later, I found out from a programmer in BC Stats, that she received the MPI as a MS Access file and this file was used to generate the paper publication.

December 2003 : Finish Regional Index narratives.

After many months of late evenings, I finally finished the Regional Index narratives. The gathering and organization of the data for the Regional Index took seventy five percent of the time to do this project. I have spoken to many people about the structure of databases and have come up with a structure that will accommodate any dataset used by BC Stats. With help from the LIQUIDS database, the Regional Index could be revised easily and regularly. All that is needed now is a program that will write the code to create queriable webpages directly accessing our public datasets and therefore allow our users to query datasets themselves. Therefore, I began to design e-statsBC.

Spring 2004: Publication without feature article.

Dave O’Neil asked me to help with the Liquor Board maps as Pat Blumel was away. This took several evenings but these maps were not used. The morning after I finished the maps, the migration release was published without a feature article. See July/October 2004 : Abridged discussion paper not welcome.

I immediately went to talk to Don McRae to advocate having a schedule posted so that we do not miss a publication date again. I suggested using portions of the paper I wrote about the migration of families and particularly of females between 18 and 40 years of age. I submitted this to Dave O'Neil, but he never forwarded it to Don McRae.

May 2004: Pat Blumel turns off a program on my computer.

Pat Blumel turned off a program on my computer without asking. I had just stepped out of my office for a minute and as I returned she stormed out of my office and scolded me for having a file open on the shared drive. She knew I had that file open because I had been talking to her about the problems with that shapefile just that morning. She said that she was showing the new employee, Jennifer Hansen, files on the shared drive. There was no reason to be showing the new employee the file that I was trying to fix.

Spring 2004: "Cheap wine causes Indian’s problems" - D. O’Neil

In the managers office, Dave O’Neil explained to Jennifer Hansen and I his view of the reason Native Indians have problems. He said that he agreed with his friend Greg, who had done his Masters thesis on the subject which concluded that their problems stemmed from their enjoyment of [a cheap brand name wine].

I also heard Dave O’Neil laughingly repeat this statement to a friend in the Ministry of Health over the phone.

Also, Dave O’Neil described how he had once worked with an Aboriginal, whom, he said, was impossible to work with and therefore encouraged to move on. See August 2005.

Summer 2004 : BC Hydro executive asked for Vancouver Island Population Projections confidence interval

The controversy regarding electrical power generation on the island required an examination of the BC Stats population projections. A BC Hydro executive called and Don McRae told him to speak with Dave O’Neil who told him to speak with me. He asked how reliable the numbers generated twenty years ago were and requested a comparison with the current estimates.

I asked Dave and he ran numbers in APL and said that difference between the population projection done twenty years ago and the current estimates for Vancouver Island was 12 people.

I called to reply that the population projection was out by 12 people, but the BC Hydro executive could not believe this.

The joke going around was that BC Stats was going to send out a SWAT team to find the 12 people to ensure that the people fit the administration rather than the administration fitting the people.

The population projection numbers are used by many people but unfortunately the reliability is not discussed openly. An independent group should be given an opportunity to examine the methods. Statistics Canada is much more realistic and does provide margins of error and revisions.

Return to the List of Methods and Modeling Deficiencies

Spring and Summer 2004 : 1st dynamic webpage for Population Estimates

Ruth had supported my request to improve the data management and I was able to hire a student to come up with a dynamic webpage for the population estimates. It took him (Grant Palin) until August several months to get the code written and it worked. This system is now used by the Ministry of Health for the population estimates found in the Health Data Warehouse.

July/October 2004 : Abridged discussion paper not welcome.

Because no paper had been submitted for the spring migration release, I wrote an abridged version of the larger paper about migration of reproducing females and families and submitted it to Dave O’Neil. It sat on Dave O’Neil’s desk for many weeks and after many requests for it's return, I received it with no edits at all. Dave O’Neil said it was fine and I passed it on to the Director. A couple of days later, Dave O’Neil told me that the Director thought the paper was poorly written and that it should have had age specific fertility rates in it. I told Dave O’Neil that it did have age specific fertility rates in it but heard nothing more and there was no feature article published for the release. I resubmitted the same paper a year later (see September, 2005 : Article published that had been rejected a year previous) when Dave O’Neil was away and it was accepted.

I went to talk to Don McRae again about the feature article and he said it was "water under the bridge". Nonetheless, I insisted that the paper be published and that every effort be made to ensure that this never happen again.

August 2004 : Initiated e-statsBC

After his summer job of writing the code for the population estimates dynamic webpage, Grant told me that in the next semester he would be doing a large project for school with other students. That same day I received an email from Grant’s college with form requesting projects for the students. I let the instructor know of my interest in having another project done. I proposed that BC Stats get students to write a program that will create a graphic output of queried data. This would build on the program written to create the dynamic webpage of the population estimates. It is approved and accepted by the college.

October 2004 : Co-worker with history of antagonism yells at me at a section meeting.

Pat Blumel, who has had a history of being antagonistic towards me, yelled at me at a section meeting (October 7, 2004). There had been a problem with the recent migration release and she waited almost a week to accuse me of negligence in front of all the section members. Even after she was told that I had not made the error she still made an effort to find faults and was correct, I think, in announcing that I was not aware of the ‘corporate culture around here’. Perhaps, she was referring to a culture of utilizing a hierarchy to promote and maintain incompetence.

November 2004: Manager arranges meeting so that co-worker can chastise me.

After printing off a color map of BC showing a spatial interpolation of the change in the number of births by local health areas and micro health areas, I was again chastised. This map showed that suburbs near densely populated areas had increases (around Kelowna, Victoria, and Vancouver) while the rest of the province showed declines. What stood out was Surrey (four standard deviations from the norm). Surrey had been the municipality that stood out in the population estimation model. I showed how the change in number of births might tell us something about the change in the number of people per household and that it would be beneficial to test births as an indicator for the post-censal population estimates.

Dave O’Neil said that there was no validity in creating the spatial interpolation map of the change in number of births, nor in using births as an indicator of population change. He said that Don McRae had tested it and found that it did not explain the variation in population. The bells should have gone off at this statement.

I have shown this map to many analysts and it is greeted with interest while the members of the Population Section were not interested.

As a result, I was no longer allowed to use the color printer at all, even though these were work related maps. Indeed, Pat Blumel while upset with me for using the color printer, allowed it to be moved back to Frank’s office so that he could print personal photos.

December 2004 : e-statsBC program is successful.

Finally after two years of incremental development, three students complete writing a program designed to make any dataset queriable via the internet with table and graph output options. This program reduces the amount of time it takes to make a queriable website from months to minutes. This process of making data available over the intranet or internet is estimated to be 250 to 350 time faster than the current error prone and time consuming cut and paste process.

December 2004 : rewrite of the monthly interprovincial migration procedure is successful.

I have been successful in rewriting the routine that generates the monthly interprovincial migration estimates from the Child tax benefits data. These numbers have been out by as much as 2500 migrants for many years before my arrival. After two more quarters of data are released (Summer 2005), indeed the results are exactly the same as the numbers that are put out by StatsCan.

February 2005 : Manager calls me in to chastise me for asking a co-worker to ask rather than tell me that there will be a meeting in my office.

After the holidays, I was surprised that no one was interested in the results of the e-statsBC project and decided to not push it but wait for an opportunity to avail itself. This did not take long as there is a lot of work done to put data on the internet. In early February (February 1, 2005) I heard Jennifer cussing (politely) about the time and effort that it was taking to create a webpage of fertility data. I went to her office and asked what was up and offered to show her how this could be done with the new program. She went to ask Dave and also spoke with Richard (Information Technology guy) and came back with conflicting stories about the usefulness of the program. She said that "no one knows what is going on around here". I told her that the program would work and could do the job and to send over the data and I would show her. Indeed, it did work wonderfully. It took seven minutes to do because there was an error in the dataset. With no errors, it takes less than a minute to walk through the wizard that writes the code (.asp) that creates the queriable webpage with a labeled graph option, and with an option to download a .csv. As mentioned, this program is approximately 250 to 350 times faster than the old method. However, instead of cheers something odd happened again.

Jennifer Hansen (who regularly goes out for coffee with Dave O’Neil, Frank Ip and Pat Blumel), told me that there would be a meeting in my office the next day. The next day in the morning, I asked what time the meeting was scheduled for. Jennifer replied "I told you that the meeting would be at 3:00!". I said to her that she should ask me if it is alright to have a meeting in my office.

Later that morning, Dave O’Neil called me into his office, asked me to close the door and told me that I was to never tell another co-worker what to do. I responded that I'll say what I think is fair and that Dave O’Neil reprimanding me for asking people to ask is unfair. Once again, instead of being positive, negativity ruled the day.

A day or two later, Jennnifer coughed on my food. She came in my office/cubicle and put her hand on my chair and bent down in front of me to look at my monitor...I was looking at the back of her head. She asked what I was doing, then looked down at my coffee and muffin and deliberately coughed. I exclaimed "You coughed on my food"! She justified her actions by saying that "It’s alright, I don’t like that kind of food anyway" then promptly left. I was so astounded by this childish behaviour, I just got another muffin and coffee.

Comment: I must say here that I thought that by focusing on the work and on finding positive ways to behave that we could find a way to show how positive solutions are real and they do work; however, negativity is alive and well and living in the Ministry of Labour and Citizens' Services.

Unfortunetly, my successes made others increasingly antagonistic. I found out that the quality of the work did not matter at all, indeed, clients could be given unreliable information knowingly, but that did not matter as much as posturing, position and pension.

The lack of commitment and poor communications techniques simply harden my resolve to continue to improve the reliability of information used by citizens' to make decisions, including addressing the use of statistical methods in statistical agencies.

February 2005 : e-statsBC is taken to the next step.

Nonetheless, the director just happened to be walking by my office while I was showing several people the results of the e-statsBC program and so he was able to see how well it worked and the tremendous time savings it offered. He ear-marked more than enough money (up to $20,000) to take it to the next stage (February 2, 2005).

March 2005 : Employee Performance and Development Plan (EPDP)

I had been requesting an Employee Performance and Development Plan (EPDP) from the manager since he took over from Ruth in 2003. With pressure from HR and the Director, all managers were told to go over their EPDP with their employees. I wanted to get this done because I wanted to be clear about what was expected of me and to plan for courses that I could take as well as what activities could be performed to improve the quality and the timeliness of my work. At no time were any problems raised by the manager, and my EPDP (submitted in February 2005) was accepted and put on file. In fact, I thought I had been doing a good job.

A curious dialogue was initiated by the manager who wanted me to change the format of my EPDP. He wanted me to cut and paste my write up into a form that the BCPSA circulated for EPDPs. I pointed out that the form was not tailored for my type of work, it was more for front line workers who deal directly with the public, and the BCPSA had stated that the form was an example and that other formats tailored to the job were acceptable. I added that this format was accepted by Ruth. Oddly, in December 2005, Dave O’Neil demanded that I use the example format.

March 2005 : Manager threatens me with a formal reprimand.

After explaining that I thought it would be a good idea to support the acquisition of ‘Place of Work’ data from StatsCan because this is an important indicator of social and economic integration, Pat Blumel rolled her eyes, pointed at me and said that I should go to the data services library to look at a dataset that she thought it was important for me to see saying "you're suppose to be the expert on migration aren't you!?!?" (the emphasis was on suppose).

I explained how the dataset she wanted me to go look at had weaknesses and that I had spoken with the Director about how we might be better able to get more up-to-date intraprovincial data, when she raised her voice and pointed at me again and told me to go look at that dataset. I pointed out that she was not my boss, and that if she did not believe what I said about the dataset, she should go talk to the Director.

After the meeting, Dave O’Neil angrily called me into his office to reprimand me again. Dave O’Neil said that he would not make this a formal reprimand because he did not have the time. I said that I had done nothing wrong. Dave O’Neil said that my statement had been a personal attack. I explained that it most certainly was not a personal attack nor could possibly be considered a personal attack by a reasonable person. Dave O’Neil eventually agreed.

March 7, 2005 : the manager threatens formal reprimand

Dave O'Neil called me into his office tells me again to close the door and issues me two pamphlets regarding human interaction. I briefly scanned the pamphlets and considered them to be inapplicable, for example, I did not have personal problems with my family that were effecting my work.

He said that he would make this formal but he just does not have the time and it would be too much paper work.

March 8, 2005 : I requested meeting with manager and shop steward.

The next day, I asked that Marvin Paxman, the shop steward be present at a meeting with Dave O’Neil to discuss how to go forward. Dave O’Neil said at the beginning of the meeting that he had hoped that this would not become formal.

I explained how the co-worker, Pat Blumel, had been angry with me over the years. Dave O’Neil said that she was just like that. He said that she was a frustrated manager, and that she was having problems at home. He also explained how she had her position and pay reviewed and that she was greatly undervalued.

I made it clear that while she may be going through this and that, she was not my boss and should not pretend to be and that by telling her so and suggesting that she speak to the Director could not reasonably be considered a personal attack.

I presented a brief paper which was given to Dave and Marvin about how it was important that we focus on 'positive' communications techniques, and that we all had a role in working towards creating a positive work environment. (see Constructivemeetings.doc)

We went through the points in the paper and agreed in the end to focus on positive solutions.

I also proposed that I would like to sign up for the following courses

  • Effectively Working Through Team Issues and Problems
  • Difficult People and How To Deal with Them
  • Effective Problem Solving & Conflict Resolution with Customers/Clients

The manager did not agree to provide courses.

It became clear later on that while I thought that an honest effort would be made to work towards creating a positive work environment, that instead, the manager was engaged in a behind the scenes, ‘informal’ effort to discredit me, both as an employee and as a team member. I did not know that I being setup for dismissal until round five was over, and when I asked for help, the fighting against me intensified.

I should mention also that during many of the meetings where Dave O’Neil told me to close the door when he would chastise me, he would pull out a long metal ruler and slap his hand with it. Eventually, I asked what he was doing with the ruler, and was he planning to give me the strap? He said he was not planning to strap me.

March 2005 : Manager points me to the wrong dataset on which to base an article.

As mentioned, this is a very busy time. Not only was I working on the population projections run, I was desperately trying to resolve the differences between StatsCan migration estimates which are used as a base for the migration projection assumptions and the numbers generated by Dave O’Neil. I was also coordinating the efforts of the contractors who were working on the next stage of the e-statsBC program, and I was also working on another article for the quarterly migration release.

I asked Dave O’Neil which dataset to use as it was he who generated the numbers and he said to use mig0412 (March 16, 2005). After having written the article based on this dataset, I gave it to Dave O’Neil for checking who passed it on to the Director. The Director returned the paper because all the numbers were wrong. Dave O’Neil wanted me to see the returned paper and flipped through each page pointing to the errors (March 29, 2005). Every mistake was slashed out in red; most of every page had heavily marked with red lines and large red X’s. I said that you (Dave O’Neil) had told me to use mig0412 as the source for the numbers. Dave O’Neil then told me that I should have used the comp0412 dataset. Dave O’Neil never volunteered that he was responsible for having told me to use the wrong dataset.

I requested a meeting with the Director and the Manager where I suggested improvements in order to ensure that the correct dataset is used and also requested that the column headings be labeled correctly, specifically the use of Net Migration was inaccurate. Both the Director and the manager smiled and nodded. The Director said that maybe the labels would be changed.

This reaction of inaction about ways to try and make sure that large red X's were kept to a minimum made me very cautious about ensuring the integrity of the data that I was being given. I did not trust what I was getting at all and would have to scrutinize the sources thoroughly before going ahead. As it turned out, I would have to sit in the managers office until the correct datasets were found, many times. Most often they could not be found by the manager, likely due to the poor data management system.

April 2005 : Calculation errors can not be explained.

I mention this difficulty because it points again to fumbling between Dave O’Neil and myself regarding data sets. During the projection run, Dave O’Neil wanted me to figure out the ratio of male to female migrants (April 13, 2005). He said to calculate it by using total population, against births and deaths by sex to come up with a total number of males and female migrants historically. Since I had been asking for migration by age since starting to work for BC Stats and since I would have to use disaggregated data, I kept the age as well as sex numbers in the calculation and did a sum of the ages for each sex and found that the total did not add up to the total figure found in the database (APL).

I spoke to Dave about this many times to figure out what was going on with the numbers. He suggested that I look at other datasets, none of which worked and finally after many days of working on this he said that I should have used ‘death separation’ in the calculation (April 21, 2005). I replied that I had never heard of this before. He pointed to a binder in his office shelves and said that it was all explained there. Since it had taken so long with no good results and time was pressing I said that we should use last years ratios until this could be figured out properly. I spoke to Jennifer about ‘death separation’ and she said that she was unfamiliar with what they were as well.

April 2005 : communications test

During a course I took on consulting, there was an exercise for all attendees requiring people to partner by twos. Each pair were to sit across from each other and with a barrier in place to block vision, we were asked to communicate without words from one and accomplish the construction of a pattern known by the other. My partner and I were the only ones to accomplish the task which was done in one third the time required. Afterward, I explained to the class that I completely trusted my partner to be replicating what I was explaining; therefore I knew when she did not replicate what I thought I had explained, I realized that I had to change my approach. I then focused on shapes instead of colors. It was interesting that as the instructors increased the tension by demanding results soon, anger and frustration began to increase amongst the attendees. The increase in tension did not affect me, at all, because I was already determined to figure out the problem; therefore, I focused on the topic at hand rather than on anything else.

May 2005: Ministry of Finance changes population projection

After many runs of various models, I found that the migration projection numbers were too low, by about 7,000 people. Over a three week period, I asked the manager many times where the 7,000 migrants were and why the migration numbers were too low.

This is a growth year, therefore net migration should be increasingly positive. Instead, there was a drop in the numbers. This meant that since the BC total was going to be down, all the sub-provincial areas would also see a dip in net migration resulting in lower population numbers.

I also had asked the manager many times to be involved in the BC level projections so that I could see the results and not have to waste time trying to figure out why the numbers were wrong, but alas, this never happened.

Eventually, when Don McRae was in the managers office I asked again.

Don McRae asked Dave O’Neil about what the Ministry of Finance had sent back.

Dave O’Neil opened an excel file and low and behold there was a column labeled AddFactor. Beside the first year of the projection under the column labeled AddFactor was the number -7000 with no explanation. Don McRae said that the Ministry of Finance likely lowered the numbers in order to look good. Interprovincial migration would still be positive but if it was lower than the models showed, they would not look bad, but if the numbers were higher than expected they would look good.

Migration is many things to many people. To the Population Section it is a "garbage can" (Frank Ip). To Don McRae if numbers are up, BC Stats "looks good". To the Ministry of Finance it is also an appearance variable that they can toy with at their pleasure, (being the Finance Ministry and all). To Dave O'Neil it is what nomads and Indians do and is too close to the dirt to be of interest. To planners in the Ministry of Health it is interesting and could be important and to the parents of children in elementary schools, these numbers could mean the difference between openings and closures. For example the Comox School District announced closures in 2007. I was asked by some concerned parents about the numbers. I was able to state with a high degree of confidence that the numbers exagerated the decline and that in fact the enrolment would likely not drop as low as forecast ... which was the case.

Spring 2005 : Section manager tells Pat Blumel that there is to be no more work done on the Regional Index.

Sometime in the spring/summer at one of the last population section meetings, Dave O’Neil had one last thing to say and looked at Pat Blumel and said that there was to be no more work done on the Regional Index. Pat Blumel nodded approvingly. I had worked very hard on this "labour of love" (as the manager of the data services section calls my work on this project). I found it very odd that the section manager should tell Pat Blumel about the termination of my work on the Regional Index rather than to me. How could public servants approve of stopping this wonderful service for the people of BC with tens of thousands of hits a month. Strange.

There is a theory in social science that goes something like this: bureaucrats stifle innovation. There is another one that goes like this: bureaucrats try to maintain their positions at the expense of the public...sort of like the clergy in France. I found that all the bad things one hears about government can be found in the Ministry of Labour and Citizens' Services. Nonetheless, I have worked with many excellent very honorable people throughout government.

May 2005: Dependency ratios calculations misinterpreted

As the deadline approached for the completion of the P.E.O.P.L.E. project (annual population projections), I had asked a co-worker (Jennifer Hansen) about a statement in the projections paragraph that claimed that for an area there would be 8 dependants out of every 10 people by the year 2031. That would mean that there would only be 2 out of 10 people between the ages of 15 and 65. I could not believe that this could possibly be true and went and asked Jennifer how this was calculated and if this statement was true.

She could not explain to me how the figure was calculated but assured me that the statement was true. She said that if the ratio of the number of dependants (both children and elderly) added up to .8 that meant that 8 out of ten people were dependants, and that only 2 out of 10 people would be of working age. Because time was short and she is suppose to be the expert in this, I accepted her decision.

I wrote similar statements about the number of working people versus dependants into approximately 50 paragraphs randomly throughout the ~240 areas projection paragraphs. However, I eventually found an area where when you add the children to the elderly dependency ratios you would get over ten out of ten. This was obviously wrong and I went to Jennifer about this and she suggested that the inaccuracy had to do with rounding errors.

I found this hard to believe nonetheless, because that would mean that there were no people of working age. I therefore went about figuring out how the calculation was made and found that the ratio meant for every 8 dependants there would be 10 people of working age. Therefore, if the ratio added up to be slightly over 10 then there would be slightly over 10 dependants for every 10 people of working age.

I explained this to Jennifer so that she understood how the calculations were made and proceeded with finishing the write ups with the corrected meaning, choosing to fix the wrong statements after. This mistake cost me at least over one days work both in the time spent trying to figure out the correct meaning as well as searching for the wrong statements (this was particularly time consuming as they were dispersed throughout the areas basically requiring that I check every paragraph again) as well as the time to rewrite the sentences.

I told Dave about the rewrite and the correct interpretation of the numbers and the extra time it was taking because of the mistake.

Also, I should add here, that on Monday May 30, 2005 just one day before our scheduled completion date, Dave came to my office and asked that I change the projection for North Thompson because a known expert in the field had called our estimates into question. Dave said that it would only take a minute to change the numbers and that I should do so.

I explained that it would take much more than a minute and that it would impact the rest of the teams work ( processes would have to be repeated). This exercise cost us over a half day of extra work in addition to my requirement to fix Jennifer’s incorrect statement which I had not yet finished.

May June, 2005 : I refuse to change the migration numbers.

BC Stats makes a practice of sending it’s population projection (forecast) to the GVRD for review. It is not sent to other Regional Districts.

Also, it is my understanding that the GVRD generates it’s own population projection figures using a private consultant.

This practice is not used by Statistics Canada. For example, Statistics Canada does not send it’s population projections to only one province for review. Nor would Statistics Canada aim to please the province it sends its projections to.

A representative from the GVRD phoned to say the population projections for Richmond and Burnaby were too low. We had a conference call where the manager Dave O’Neil, Jennifer Hansen, and I were speaking to the GVRD representative. We were told that Richmond and Burnaby had low population estimates to 2004.

This was due to the use of Telus data, which showed a relative decline in hook-ups likely due to the increased use of cell phones and because the Ministry of Finance lowered the migration numbers outside of the model.

Therefore, the population projection for 2005 started below what was expected by the GVRD representative. The number of people needed for Richmond and Burnaby was thought to be approximately 8,000.

Later at another meeting, Jennifer Hansen asked that I move more people into Richmond and Burnaby. I pointed out that the population projection could not be used to correct deficiencies in the population estimates.

At another meeting, Jennifer and Dave O’Neil told me to take people out of Comox/Courtenay and Kelowna (or any high growth areas) and put them into Richmond and Burnaby.

I refused saying that it was the estimates procedure that needed to be changed. I suggested that a spatial analysis would be helpful in improving the estimates model, as well as exploring the use of other indicators such as change in number of births which I had shown with the spatial interpolation map (November 2004) to be important.

I explained that the total migration for the GVRD for 2004 was estimated by BC Stats at 8,000 people while Statistics Canada was showing 24,000, again this difference was larger due to the use of telephone hookups used as an indicator of population change.

Unfortunately, the lower numbers for migration to the province by approximately 7,000 people, imposed by the Ministry of Finance meant that migration would be lower than last year, therefore all regions would receive fewer people.

Since Frank was away, I requested to check his computer to see if Telus data had been used on Richmond and Burnaby thus driving down the population numbers. I reported to the manager that it appeared that Telus Data had been used.

June 1, 2005 : Another co-worker yells at me and again the manager supports this unprofessional behaviour.

Jennifer had asked Keith (programmer) how long it would take to fix pstats (a program that joins .pdfs - estatsBC could do this in less than a minute and was already working). He said that he did not know and that it could take 3 minutes or three days to fix it, depending on what is causing the problem.

She then ask me when I would be finished my portion of a project (June 1, 2005). I said by the end of the day (2 more hours) and asked how her portion was coming along. She asked many more times about when I would be finished even though I had already said, but, she would not say how she was doing. She became very upset and began yelling even though I had said many times that I felt comfortable about finishing by days end. I was astounded by her becoming upset. I had done 2 of 3 parts to her 1 of 3 parts, and I was fixing a mistake she had made (See Projection Paragraph) at the time.

June 2, 2005 :

The next day, Dave O’Neil could not make it into the office so he called Pat Blumel, to have her tell me that I had to get a particular job done that day.

June 7th, 2005 : I am told that I am at the bottom of the Population Section hierarchy.

After the weekend I went to Dave O’Neil’s office to talk about the co-worker yelling at me and about Dave O’Neil calling Pat Blumel to come and tell me that another task had to be done by the end of the day. I said it looks like I answer to Jennifer, who answers to Pat Blumel who answers to Dave O’Neil.

I pointed out that the yelling by my co-workers towards myself appears to have been instigated by the Dave O’Neil. He became upset and called Marvin Paxman, the shop steward, in. Dave O’Neil told us that Jennifer had been given responsibility over my work. I was surprised and replied that no one had told me. I asked what if the Director had wanted me to do something? Dave O’Neil replied, if the Director, Don McRae, wanted me to do an emergency task he would have to first go through himself, the manager, and my co-worker, Jennifer, first.

I requested that this arrangement be made clear before hand rather than me finding out in this manner, and that in fact since my co-worker and I have the same classification and that I have been here longer, that we should be treated as equals. I also pointed out that Dave O’Neil, the manager, should be the manager as my less experienced co-worker may not be familiar with best practices of a manager.

I also pointed to the importance of projects being laid out clearly so that team members (everyone in the Population Section) know what is expected of each other. I requested that he call me and not Pat Blumel about my tasks schedule. I also requested that we have pre and post production meetings so that all the tasks would be clearly laid out with time lines. I suggested that the Population Section would benefit from the Project Management Courses which I found to be very well done.

June 2005 : Another co-worker yells at me.

Even though I have had so much success in improving systems, writing the narratives for the Regional Index, correcting the monthly interprovincial migration numbers etc. another co-worker Frank Ip yells at me. This time it is because I turned on (off?) the lights. I was yelled at, being told that I "should go home" and that I "should not be doing this kind of work anyway" and other very unpleasant statements. Jennifer looked on in astonishment but then covered her mouth and started snickering as she walked away. I was again astonished at the incredibly unprofessional behaviour amongst my co-workers.

Also, the members of the population section, including the manager have been going to coffee together without inviting me. Indeed, during the summer I had asked my co-workers on many different occasions about going to coffee. Often, on the same day that they said no, they would go out together without inviting me (not that I want to discuss the latest episode of Survivor anyway). On two occasions, I found that every one was gone and assumed that they had gone to coffee but had not found me to invite me. When I got to coffee shop on both occasions the others immediately got up and left saying they were done.

July 2005 : My name not mentioned for referral

During the summer, Dave O’Neil posted a notice on his auto reply email because he would be away, pointing inquiries to each of the other members of the Population Section except myself. Seeing this done each time he was away I asked that my name be included for migration inquiries.

July 2005 : Request help from BCPSA regarding creating a positive work environment.

Because the e-statsBC project was so successful, and because I heard that the government was making an effort to recognize innovations, I searched the BCPSA website and found that there were two types of innovations recognized.

I found that there was recognition not only for creating an innovation but also for creating a work place that encourages innovation. I emailed Innovations Inventory asking how does one create this type of work environment.

The lawyer contracted by the Ministry of Labour and Citizens' Services said (June 22, 2007) something to the effect that seeking help in this manner, "going through the back door" proved that I am a despicable person. Bizarre....and also somewhat disgusting. No wonder the Deputy Minister could say that I had abandoned arbitration by suggesting "constructive solutions".

July 2005 : Criticism for bringing population estimates into a GIS and making maps with too many colors.

I was asked to ground truth the results of the population estimates for the Provincial Electoral Districts (PEDs). I was given a paper copy of a table of the estimated total population for the PEDs for the years from 1996 to 2005.

I have been asking that ground truthing not be done using a paper copy but rather by using GIS. We have very capable computer programs that can create the information we want in seconds. This approach increases productivity and reduces error at the same time.

I was told by Dave O'Neil to refer to a color map of PEDs with places names in a legend found on the internet so that I could see where the place names on the paper copy of the table were on the map. After he left, I found that the colors on the map on the internet were repeated making it difficult to be sure which PED was which. I went to speak with Dave O'Neil about getting electronic versions, but he was out as was the cartographer, Pat Blumel....in fact I was the only person in the section again.

I searched and found the excel file for the paper copy of the table and found the shapefile for the PEDs. It took me a few hours to clean up the table as there were mistakes again (regularly there are mistakes in the Geographic component of the tables : names and/or numbers are wrong. Nonetheless, by mid afternoon, I had some very interesting results to show Dave and Jennifer. However, instead of begin greeted with interest, Dave O’Neil again became critical and focused not on the results but rather on the colors used. (see PED criticism).

I got Keith Morris to write a macro for the GIS so that the results could be generated automatically and anyone could push the button ( this took five minutes). I showed it to Jennifer saying that it solves the problem with the current method (which was wrong). Jennifer said that "there are always problems" and that I should "get over it, right Dave." Dave did not answer but walked away. I found out later that Jennifer was given responsibility over this project as well.

A couple of days after this project was finished, I told Dave O’Neil that I can not help but offer solutions to reduce our errors as well as providing ways of improving our theories, methods, models and processes. Dave O’Neil shook his head to adamantly signal that this approach to analysis is not wanted.

July 2005 : Keith from IT asks me about GIS routines.

Keith Morris (July 28, 2005) asked me if I knew of any way to find the x and y coordinates for nodes in roads as he was doing a project for Pat Blumel and Dave O’Neil where he thought this approach would really help. I sent him several scripts that could be used with our GIS program. I am amazed that there is such poor dialogue in our section and that I am not invited to participate in discussion regarding Geography with Dave O’Neil and Pat Blumel, nor have I been involved in methods and modeling while the rest of the section is. Instead, I have a better dialogue with people outside of our section.

August 2005: Meeting with Don McRae, BC Stats Director.

At a meeting with the Director, I said that things were very odd in the section (August 3, 2005). I felt that the antagonism was due to my automating the systems and for making improvements. I also mentioned that I know when I am doing things well because I get yelled at. Don McRae said that he has "seen this sort of thing before" and that he knows "it is tough" but that I should "keep doing what [I] am doing." He suggested that I "persevere or move on". I asked if it would be alright to propose improvements and was told that would be fine. I also mentioned that I thought it would be very helpful if the population section had pre and post production meetings so that there would be an emphasis on the project rather than on anything else.

I also asked about the history of the position because there seems to be some difficulty with the internal organization in particular with regard to the structure. I described how it felt as though I was being treated as though I were at the bottom of a hierarchy and that I was not to be involved in the methods and modeling but rather simply to do what I was told to do. Don McRae gave me a brief history of the reclassification of the position saying that it had been a long and hard fight but that eventually it had been reclassified up from an RO 18 to an Econ 24 after the union appealed. I said that Dave O’Neil had told me that the position should not have been reclassified because it was reclassified with Dan Schrier in mind and that I am no Dan Schrier. Don McRae said that "the position is an Econ 24 whether Dan Schrier is in it or not". He also clarified that Jennifer has the same classification but is at a lower grid as she has been here for a shorter time period. But he said that he would not get involved in how Dave O’Neil was managing the section.

August 2005 : No interest in new data source.

Because I was asked about whether I took certain major developments into consideration in my projection of migration for a particular area, I looked again for detailed postal code boundary maps on the internet (August 11, 2005). I found that there were new and improved maps available that show the Local Carrier Walk (LCW) areas. (the internet is such a helpful, and improving, tool). These maps show which side of the street belongs to which LCW code and there are also estimates of the number of houses and apartments visited by each Carrier. Since this information could be particularly helpful to us, I sent an email to the rest of the population section with the link. However, this too was not met with interest. Mistakenly, Pat Blumel replied that she has the hard copies of this information. She also pointed out that this was her job. I spoke with Dave O’Neil about this and was able to show him the steps to the maps of interest and he suggested that it could be pursued. I also went to speak to Pat Blumel to say that I mean no offence by pointing these things out as they are of interest to all.

August / September 2005 : Population Projection meetings.

Thankfully, Dave O’Neil, Jennifer Hansen, and myself started to have meetings in preparation for the next Population Projection run. Unfortunately, these meetings did not focus on how to improve the process but rather focused on hierarchy. My tasks were not included in the planning and instead these meetings were used as a way of discrediting me as a team player and in October 2005, I was accused of making Jennifer feel unsafe at these meetings

See Projection Paragraph

August 2005 : First contact with Carol Gore from HR.

I was very interested in finding a way to recognize the contribution made to the successful development of the estatsBC project. This led me to look into finding resources about how to create a positive work environment which would (I thought), if not encourage, at least reduce the bad reaction to innovation.

I was pointed to Carol Gore from Human Resources by Erika Taylor from Corporate Initiatives and Solutions. I asked Carol Gore via email (August 18, 2005), about resources that might be available for creating a positive work environment (See First Contact with BCPSA). Carol Gore pointed out that the manager, who she later named, (I had been trying to be anonymous and discrete) had to be involved. Carol Gore stressed the fact that the manager has an important role in creating a positive work environment. I initially stood back (fearing an escalation in hostilities as had hitherto been the pattern) but knew that something had to be done and agreed to speak with the section manager about team effectiveness training for the group.

September 2005 : I also attempted to find resources from the union side.

I sought out Marvin Paxman for a meeting to let him know what was going on, but he did not respond to my phone call or email. I also went to his office and asked him personally to get in touch with me when he had time which did not happen.

I met with the staff representative, Cathy McCallum, from the BCGEU (September 14, 2005) as I was told by Marvin last June that this person would be helpful. I asked the staff rep to invite the shop steward to the meeting scheduled with Carol Gore and the section manager. The shop steward did not attend but he had spoken to the staff rep. Incidentally, Cathy McCallum asked me to sign up for the shop stewards course as they are always interested in involving members whether they are stewards or not.

September, 2005 : The manager says that Team Effectiveness Training would only make things worse.

When I spoke to Dave O’Neil about team effectiveness training before meeting with HR, Dave O’Neil had said that these courses would only make things worse. I still do not understand the logic of this statement. But Dave O’Neil was right - he made sure that my request only made things worse. I met with Carol Gore (September 15, 2005) describing the difficulties in the population section. I expressed my concern about the current section manager particularly that he had a history of reprimanding me when I asked to be treated equitably.

September, 2005 : Article published that had been rejected a year previous.

Because Carol Gore had stressed the importance of the manager in influencing the work environment, I began to prepare to tell her what has been going on in the section. As I began to list the difficulties, I remembered that the manager had not edited a paper (feature article) submitted for a regular publication a year previous. Indeed, it appeared to me that there may have been an effort made to make it look as though I was not good at my job and that my paper not being published was used as an example.

The article showed an important difference within the province regarding population change which highlighted the importance of including change in number of births as an indicator. Surrey had an increase in the number of births, four standard deviations out. This remarkable difference, I suggested should be considered in the estimates procedure, as it might help explain the increase in the number of people per household in Surrey. If so, we would not have to cut the data to run the post-censal population estimates.

When I made this suggestion during the previous year it only made the manager more antagonistic towards me. It was as though my suggestions caused him aggravation and he was determined to isolate and exclude me.

September 28, 2005 : article accepted.

I printed the article and asked others throughout BCStats to give me their comments. Everyone said that they thought it was interesting. The Director had a few edits as well and the paper was published . This paper could have, and should have, gone out with the quarterly release one year previous; however, that edition never had a feature article. I must say here that I was again astounded by the behaviour of the manager. I had assumed that we were all interested in our products and services first and everything else was secondary. After this event, it became clear that meeting our commitments to our clients for our products and services was not paramount but rather what was more important was to establish a hierarchy where I was to be placed at the bottom and not included in discussions regarding methods and modeling. As a professional analyst, I became certain that the dysfunctionality in the section needed to be addressed.

October 2005 : Dave O’Neil does not want Team Effectiveness Training.

Since there had been a history of antagonism and dysfunctionality in the population section of BC Stats, I asked for help in working towards creating a positive work environment (see First Contact with BCPSA). The meeting with the manager and Carol Gore and the staff rep from the BCGEU was held on October 13, 2005.

Before the meeting, Dave O’Neil told the BCGEU rep, Cathy McCallum that he had been a shop steward for many years before becoming excluded and had represented union concerns regarding Article 29 - how innovation would not displace current employees (except those who are innovative).

At the meeting, I used this opportunity to point to the importance of having a team effectiveness facilitator who would be good at helping us improve our communications. As well, I pointed out the structural change that had occurred in the section prior to my taking the position in January 2002. I described some of the many problems in the section with examples of the yelling and of having been threatened with a formal reprimand by the manager for asking to be treated as an equal.

Dave O’Neil became agitated and upset and said that he knew "where I was taking this". Instead of seeing the benefits of team effectiveness training, Dave O’Neil said that I had a mental problem (see emails to Don McRae)and this made it impossible for me to work with others. He said that the others would no longer meet with me since they had tried but failed to be able to work with me.

When I told of how Dave O’Neil had threatened to reprimand me (March 2005), he loudly denied the fact saying that he had too much respect for the work that the union does to do something like that. He was so upset that the meeting was aborted and I was not able to complete my statement. In fact, where I was "taking this" was to say at the end of my statement that I realize that I may not the easiest person to work with for some people as I am very active and involved and like to help improve the quality of the work while reducing time and cost. However, I felt that if we agreed on team effectiveness training courses along with an awareness of structural adjustments, that we could turn problems into solutions.

Immediately after the meeting with HR, I waited for the staff rep for forty five minutes. Since such a long time had passed, I asked the person at the front desk if Cathy McCallum was still meeting with Carol Gore. She went to see and came back saying that Cathy McCallum was visiting a friend in another office and would be at least five minutes. I found this strange because she had told me that Friday was her last day with the BCGEU and that she had an interview scheduled after our meeting with Carol Gore.

When she came out, I walked with her and asked what she thought of the meeting. She described it as a disaster. She told me that she agreed with Dave O’Neil that I was passive aggressive.

I returned to the office and spoke with the shop steward, Marvin Paxman, expressing my concern that Dave O’Neil was very angry and that it looks like I will be the subject of attacks. Marvin told me that he had instructed the staff representative to listen to what Dave O’Neil had to say as he is a ‘good man’ and that he had been a shop steward for many years himself. When I went to my office, Dave O’Neil was loudly explaining to Jennifer Hansen in his office how he rebuked my statements regarding the problems in the section.

October 14, 2005 : e-statsBC program restricted

I asked the manager whether I could ask for input from analysts throughout BC Stats who asked to have input into how the e-statsBC program was to function. He denied this request. This only angered him more. I heard him say to Jennifer that "all it does is makes charts". I found his reaction to be astounding and bizarre. On many occasions, Dave O’Neil pointed me to the wrong datasets. I would regularly find errors and would be told to look at another dataset. This problem was exasperated because an arithmetic program (APL) was being used as a database. APL does not allow the viewer to see a table but rather various cryptic codes must be used to try and find out what is in the database. The e-statsBC system for organizing and storing data, based on government standards, provided a vast improvement. Dave O’Neil was known to be an advocate of APL for database management and I contend that he considered the e-statsBC program to be a threat to APL. The Director had told us all that we were to migrate to MSAccess as we were getting out of APL. I proved that this conversion was beneficial and would solve the problem of being pointed to the wrong dataset. Nonetheless, Dave O’Neil’s manner was that of being superior to having to deal with the mundane tasks of searching databases at the same time stopping the migration to an improved government standard for databases.

October 2005 : Dave O’Neil actively solicited stories to discredit me.

Over the next few weeks, tensions rose dramatically. There was even mention of people feeling unsafe. I went to Jennifer to assure her that I would rather quit than make anyone feel unsafe (October 18, 2005). She said "thanks". Later that day, I mentioned to the shop steward that I was considering quitting, because there was so much animosity in the section. Marvin Paxman said that he thought this would be a positive solution to the difficulties. On Friday (October 21, 2005), I spoke with Don McRae about the situation, and stated that while there are difficulties in the section that there is still hope for making things better. In particular, I pointed to the problems in communications. Also I told him what I had said to Jennifer about quitting.

The next week (October 25, 2005) in the kitchen with no one else around, Marvin asked when I was going to quit because ‘the others’ wanted to know. I said that I would leave only after the difficulties were clearly described so that people knew what had been going on in the section. I also said that it is not right to be bullied out of my position. I pointed out that I had asked for team effectiveness training. Instead, it appeared to me that the goal was not to work together to create a positive work environment as stated in the mission statement but rather it was to have me quit. At a meeting a couple of days later (October 27, 2005), Marvin said that it was not my role to ask for team effectiveness training and that I was to do what was best for Warren Munroe. I said that what would be best is if I could go to work in a positive work environment. I sent Marvin this link which I also sent to Don McRae on November 3, 2005.

Also, incredibly, the shop steward made a point of telling me that my co-workers have a right to a safe workplace, just as I have a right to a safe workplace. I explained that it was they who have been doing the yelling and that it appears that they are colluding against me as they have been excluding me from meetings and from going out with them for coffee. Marvin said that perhaps I am not included because they feel unsafe. I found this to be astounding. Also that day Marvin Paxman suggested I write a letter about the problems in the section to Don McRae and to cc it to the BCGEU as the other members of the section would be doing so.

On October 31, 2005 :

I heard Frank say to Dave O’Neil (Frank was standing in the door way of the manager’s office) that he would not write a letter to McRae, but that Dave O’Neil could use a story (I did not hear what this story was) if he wanted.

November 2005 : Stanford Prison Experiment

I described to Marvin Paxman (shop steward) how it felt as though I was to be treated as though I was at the bottom of a hierarchy in the Population Section. I was to do what I was told and have no say in the planning, methods, or modeling. I was to do manual and menial tasks with less and less responsibility. Marvin agreed that this sounded like it made sense from what he has heard. I felt as though I were the prisoner in the Stanford University Prison Experiment while my co-workers were given the role of prison guards.

November 2005 : Request to have my name mentioned for referral

As mentioned earlier in July 2005, during the summer, Dave O’Neil posted a notice on his auto reply email because he would be away, pointing inquiries to each of the other members of the Population Section except myself. Seeing this done each time he was away I asked that my name be included for migration inquiries.

November 2005 : Geography is wrong again.

In checking the annual population estimates, once again there were errors in the geography when I dropped the data into the GIS (November 22, 2005). I spent two hours figuring out how to correct the mistakes before Frank Ip came in and asked how thing were going. I told him about the mistakes in the geography (there were some municipalities missing, some repeated, and some area codes were wrong) and that I thought that I had corrected almost all the mistakes. Frank said that it was not necessary to be fancy with the estimate checking using the GIS.

He said "Don't waste your time on the geography, just look at the areas and tell me what needs to be changed". I replied that the geography and the area are the same thing and there is nothing fancy about using a GIS, in fact it is faster and highlights errors in the data tables. Frank became adamant and I also became adamant. He stormed out but later returned asking which geographic codes and names etc. needed correction. This kind of arguing, I think, is just fine because it is about the work and not personal; however, it does highlight the lack of interest in adopting new ways (including GIS) to improve quality and reduce time and errors.

November 3, 2005 : Letter sent to Director regarding some of the problems in the section.

I sent an email to Don McRae (November 3, 2005), describing some of the problems in the Population Section and suggest possible solutions including a link to a conflict management course (http://www.viha.ca/conflict_management/). I received no reply about the course.

November 2005 : Director no longer wants me to bring the monthly interprovincial number to him directly.

I am told by Don McRae that the numbers must go to the manager first even if the manager is away. This is a change from when I was suppose to bring the numbers to the Director as soon as they were processed. In 2004, I had been asked to reduce the error in the numbers which had been occurring long before I started with BC Stats. I rewrote the routines and now the procedure results in numbers that match those in Stats Can’s quarterly release. Instead of errors in the order of 2500 migrants, the numbers are either exactly the same as Stat Can’s or very close. I rounded at the end while StatsCan's routine rounded at the beginning.

November 2005 : example of BCGEU withdrawal of support

A course with the BCGEU for shop stewards and people interested in providing support to shop stewards comes up (November 21, 2005). I asked permission to take days off and this was accepted. When the manager found out that the courses were regarding shop steward training, he refused permission and accused me of lying in order to take the course. I said that I was asked to take the course in September by Cathy McCallum. I had told her that I was not a shop steward and she knew this of course but gave me papers and instructed me on how to fill them out which I did in her presence in her office at BCGEU head quarters. She now denies that she advocated that I take the course. Dave O’Neil told me that he has been "playing this game for a long time."

November 2005 : change in job tasks

Instead of going to the course, the manager told me to format Frank’s outputs for the internet. I expressed my surprise because we were told that each person was responsible for their own outputs. I requested again to do the estimates myself from beginning to end, but this was denied. I suggested that the process could be handled with the e-statsBC program, but this was not to be used. In fact, the manager made it clear that I was not to be involved in any systems development and that any programs that I had written were to be used for my purposes only, even though my EPDP states otherwise.

December 1, 2005 : Plea for help leads to the start of the grievance procedure.

As soon as I was told by the manager that e-statsBC would only be used by myself and that I had no input into how the section and BCStats handle data, I complained to the Director that the hostility towards me continued.

I sent another email to the Director, Don McRae, clearly pointing to the importance of the section manager’s involvement in having created a negative work environment.

December 2, 2005 : Director tells me to grieve but not to claim human rights violation

The Director told me to become acquainted with Article 32.15, (abuse of managerial authority) and gave me two days to provide a written summary. I asked for an extension because there was a lot to say, which was granted , and asked that this proceed as a human rights complaint which was not granted.

I had pointed out that the manager said that I have a mental disorder. Don McRae asked if I had a mental disorder. I stated no. I was told that a human rights complaint then would not be appropriate. Carol Gore stated that the 32.15 was essentially the same.

December 6, 2005 : Work place skills courses

Email (same as last email link) with work place skills link sent to Don McRae, Marvin Paxmen, and Carol Gore

December 12, 2005 : No effort will be made to resolve the concern.

The investigation into my allegations of harassment found that since there was no misuse of managerial powers no effort will be made to resolve my concerns. There is a suggestion that there may be team effectiveness training but this is not certain (December 12, 2005).

December 2005 : Finding numbers with two hours to deadline.

Around this time, we had a migration report to release and the manager sent me a copy of the report saying that he changed all but two of the numbers and none of the text and that he needed this finished by the time he returned in two hours. He did not state which two numbers were not changed nor did he provide the dataset that he was working from. When Dave O’Neil returned, I told him that I spoke to many people about his request and that I needed some information. Either Mr. O'Neil was just an unorganized person, or he was purposefully making work difficult.

January 2006 : Innovation recognition forms sent to me.

In an effort to have the contributions of the people involved in making the e-statsBC project a success, I requested and received forms from the people who recognize innovations. Our success was considered an ideal example of innovation which should be recognized and rewarded.

January 2006 : Cheryl Jones (BCGEU) will ask for Team Effectiveness training

Cheryl Jones called and recommended that I not pursue the grievance to the Deputy Minister and that my grievance had to be more specific. She suggested that the employer be given the opportunity to arrange team effectiveness training. She suggested that I think about it (going ahead with the grievance) for a couple of days. I stated that I would be going ahead with the grievance if there were no resolution. This led to an in-depth conversion about the circumstances. She highlighted that some of the main document was general and frivolous. I replied that I had included most everything that had occurred since arriving here and that portions could be removed but also mentioned that the exercise had been a good in order to get things written out.

I pointed out that given the history of dysfunctionality in the population section, the manager’s reaction to my request for team effectiveness training and his subsequent efforts made to discredit me were a misuse of managerial authority. We both agreed that yelling is not acceptable. Cheryl agreed that my goal of being able to work in a positive work environment was legitimate.

However, she would not require the employer to confirm in writing that team effectiveness training courses (or courses aimed at creating a positive work environment) would be made available to all the members of the population section including the manager before the 30 day time limit.

I agree that if a concrete truthful and honest commitment were agreed upon, that I would not proceed with the grievance. However, if the courses do not help and there is continued animosity, the grievance would be advanced to the next step. See Exhibit 17

January 2006 : example of team work

Jennifer was speaking with Pat Blumel about a request for information about the Comox Valley LHA. As there is no LHA by that name, they were trying to figure out what area the request might be for. After several minutes of discussion, I piped up saying that perhaps the place name referred to the School District (SD) as the SD and the LHA are the same areas but use different names. Immediately thereafter, Pat Blumel abruptly left Jennifer’s office, not saying anything. Jennifer and I checked out that indeed they are the same area. As usual there was no thanks. My feeling is that Jennifer does not thank me for helping because that would not sit well with Pat Blumel or Dave O’Neil.

January 2006 : The Director wanted Regional migration numbers.

The Director came to my office and asked for certain migration numbers. I was able to query the request right away and produced the numbers in the manner he requested. I was able to show him how easy it was to query the numbers and said that the database could be made available to everyone in BCStats to query via the intranet. There are many users of the data and instead of having to ask me for the numbers they need, anyone could easily query dataset now. In fact all of BCStats data could be made available via the intranet and the internet easily. This new system could be used by everyone in BCStats, therefore, I too would be able to query topics that I use in the migration analysis without asking for special requests from people in other sections. Indeed, there is a great deal of time wasted and error invited into exchanging data use the current method. The Director said "I don’t do data" therefore he had no need to query data. Jennifer later said to Pat and Frank, "Did you hear McRae tell Munroe that he does not do data?"

January 23, 2006 : example of BCGEU involvement.

Ron Storm (BCGEU staff rep) calls saying he had read everything that I had sent but that it was all superficial and general. I asked if he had the 32 page document. He found it and asked that I call him back in a few days after he had a chance to read it. I asked that he call me when he was finished. He said that he did not need me telling him how to do his job and that he would not work on my case.

January 25, 2006 : Positive work environment please

Cheryl Jones recognizes that I would like to be able to go to work in a positive work environment. She is willing to send a letter to this effect to the director.

January 27, 2006 : Positive work environment please

I asked Cheryl Jones if we had a commitment from management for team effectiveness training or at least some assurance that there would be an effort to help create a positive work environment. Apparently, nothing had been done by the BCGEU to ensure an agreement because the computers were down.

January 30, 2006 : Extension denied and grievance submitted

Since this is the deadline for the grievance, I asked Cheryl Jones if there had been a commitment made by management to help work towards creating a positive work environment. Cheryl Jones said she will not send a letter supporting a request for a positive work environment if I go ahead with the grievance. I tell her I will drop the grievance if there is a commitment to team effectiveness training for the section. Since there seemed to be a misunderstanding between us, I asked for another extension in order to come to an understanding. This is denied by Cheryl Jones. Since there was no commitment to courses, I submitted the grievance under article 32.15 to Deputy Minister with a cover letter in order to meet the deadline.

February to April 2006 : Efforts to work towards creating a positive work environment lead to my suspension and dismissal

February 6, 2006 : Dave O’Neil returns from vacation.

I contend that between this date and the day he fired me (February 15, 2006) he found out that I was trying get the e-statsBC team recognized for innovation.

February 7, 2006 : No need for courses.

I ask Dave O’Neil about team effectiveness training courses and for a meeting with the rest of the section. Dave says "there will be no courses as there is no need for them."

February 9, 2006 : No interest in courses.

The rest of the people in the population section are not interested in courses. I ask the director about the courses but he is out.

February 10, 2006 : I offer to drop grievance for courses.

I wrote an email to Don McRae advocating opportunities for improved work environments.

The director tells me that there will be no courses until the outcome of the grievance. I offer to drop the grievance in favor of team effectiveness training. This is said to not be do able.

February 13, 2006 : I ask director for a transfer

and state that team effectiveness training courses or mediation is necessary before I will meet with the rest of the section. I explain that the harassment has been both overt and subtle, i.e. Jennifer snickering. I find out that Dave O’Neil had gone to Human Resources about me in March 2005.

February 14, 2006 : I emailed the director about the importance of courses or mediation

and that I can not continue to work in an intimidating antagonistic work environment. It is important that trust be rebuilt and we can not continue as though nothing is wrong.

February 15, 2006 : Staged firing.

I emailed Don McRae the importance of professional standards in statistics with quotations from Ivan Fellegi's paper regarding the role and responsibilities of a statistical organization, including the section on government agencies remaining independent from government influence.

Dave O’Neil ordered me to meet with him and Jennifer Hansen to work on the Population Projections. Dave O’Neil had stated that I had made this person feel "unsafe" at previous meetings; therefore I refused to meet until mediation was offered. Dave O’Neil called in the shop steward.

With Marvin (shop steward) present, Dave told me to close my window, leave my computer on, gather my belongings, turn in my security pass, and leave the building.

I would like to point out here that the BCGEU staff rep continually states that I left the building, not that I was told to leave. Also it was said that I said something about "nagging" - this is false. When Dave came to my office, I was opening my window. He said "close the window." I asked in disbelief "you want me to close the window? Why?" The manager responded "Close the window". I said that I wanted some fresh air and asked if he was "micro managing me?" I asked this because the manager had said at the meeting on October 13, 2005 with human resources that he is "not the kind of manager who micro manages" his staff. I find this statement curious because there are many examples of how the manager micro manages me; for example having me change all the colors on the map that I refer to (no one else) even though the exercise was completely futile and took away much needed time. I refused to close the window where upon I was told to leave the building. This is another example of how incredibly antagonistic the manager was towards me. Marvin and I were under the impression that I had been fired. While I was in the locker room Marvin came to see me and said "good news, you had not been fired and that the manager did not have the power to fire you." See Exhibit 23b: February 16, 2006, Notes from FOI package regarding dismissal on February 15, 2006.

February 21, 2006 : Mediation and transfer denied.

Meeting with director, manager, and Carol Gore (HR) and Marvin Paxman (shop steward). I offer to drop the grievance in favor of mediation or courses, I asked again for a transfer, or an opportunity to participate in a committee with the goal to address problems at the earliest possible opportunity instead of allowing problems to escalate.

I was offered family services by Don McRae. I explained, I do not feel such a program will address the problems adequately ( what does a family counselor know about statistics, and I am the one being yelled at for no reason and I am not yelling).

February 24, 2006 : Deputy Minister finds that everything is fine

Deputy Minister, Gordon Macatee, finds that the non-statistical methods used to create the Provincial Electoral District Population estimates and forecasts, and other services to other clients, and the yelling are acceptable.

February 28, 2006 : I was suspended for three weeks,

the last week without pay, and told to return to work on March 7, 2006 and to do what management tells me to do or I would be fired/dismissed for insubordination.

March 6, 2006 : I sent a letter to the director asking for a positive work environment.

March 9, 2006 : BCGEU will not help

I spoke with Marvin about grieving the suspension. I was told that it could take 9 to 12 months to resolve. I said that I could not return to work until the negative work environment was addressed and asked if there was financial assistance available to people in this circumstance. Marvin called back after checking with Cheryl Jones (BCGEU staff rep) to say that there is no assistance available and that I had to get back to work as I would be dismissed with just cause and not ineligible for employment insurance. Given the circumstances I move my family back to Qualicum Beach.

March 09, 2006

Copy of letter :from Director of BC Stats, Don McRae, regarding counselling to address employees with documented sub standard performance; however, there was no documented problems with performance. Nonetheless, Mr. McRae believes the Population Analyst who is providing results oriented soluions is having problems with his family, therefore, he does not allow mediation, work place skills courses but rather counselling for what Mr. McRae believes. BC Stats is not a statistical agency as much as it is a perception agency.

March 10?, 2006 : Shop steward will forward my case.

Marvin called to say that the union would do everything in its power to help.

March - April, 2006:

the BCGEU staff representative Cheryl Jones steps in to stop the shop steward’s action to proceed stating that the petitioner had walked off the job. Ms Jones repeatedly ignored the fact that the petitioner had been ordered off the job and that he had been accused of making a co-worker feel unsafe and that he repeatedly requested mediation. Instead, Ms Jones lays blame on petitioner.

March 20, 2006 :

letter to BCGEU to grieve personal harassment and suspensions.

" If I had known that the position I filled would be the subject of abuse, including yelling, and that this abuse would be supported by management, I would not have taken the job."

March 20, 2006 :

letter copy of letter from Director of BC Stats, Don McRae, ordering return to work

March 22, 2006 : Director breaks master agreement by phoning me at home and threatens to have me fired.

The Director phoned me at home. He said that if I did not get to work he would recommend that I be dismissed. I told him to put this in writing. Because I did not want anyone phoning my home to threaten me, where my children might answer the phone and speak to a person like Mr. McRae, I told Mr. McRae to use the postal service and to NEVERphone my house again.

March 31, 2006 : Management has role in creating the negative work place environment

I sent a letter to the director pointing to the need for management to accept it’s role in creating and maintaining a negative work environment as the first step towards working towards creating a positive work environment. I also make it clear that I will not stop working to ensure that others never have to endure the same conditions that were created for me.

April 6, 2006

copy of letter from BCGEU will not proceed after shop steward assured the petitioner of union support.

April 11, 2006 : Dismissed for insubordination.

I maintain that this was a wrongful dismissal. I did not find out about the firing until April 28, 2006.

April 24, 2006 : Record of Employment ...

arrives at my home and shows dismissal for just cause.

April 28, 2006 : Deputy Minister breaks master agreement by contacting me.

I get a notice to pick up a registered letter dated April 11, 2006, from the Deputy Minister informing me of the dismissal. I signed for this at the post office right away. The agreement states that I have 30 days from becoming aware of the dismissal to grieve.

May 1, 2006 : letter to BCGEU disputing "just cause".

I sent a letter to Cheryl Jones of the BCGEU to grieve dismissal.

"I find it odd that the deputy minister should refer to the article 32:15 action as having relevance to the my refusal to attend antagonistic meetings and the subsequent suspension without pay and being ordered to return to work. I was told both by Don McRae, the director of BC Stats, and yourself that the 32:15 action was clearly separate from assistance in addressing the obvious problems in the section through team effectiveness training. However, when the time came in early February to start the team effectiveness training program, assistance was refused. I was told that this was because of the 32:15 action. Why was I not told that if I wrote to the deputy minister of the antagonism directed towards me by the manager that assistance would be delayed and possibly refused if the deputy found that the 32:15 had been adequately addressed by the director in December 2005."

May 10, 2006 :

I sent a copy of the May 1, 2006 letter to Cheryl Jones of the BCGEU to grieve dismissal to the Deputy Minister.

May 18, 2006 :

I sent another letter to Cheryl Jones of the BCGEU stating that I have not received a reply to the petitioner’s request to grieve the ‘just cause’ dismissal

May 23, 2006 : letter to

copy of email between PSA representatives highlighting effort to deny arbitration.

May 25, 2006 : Discrimination.

I sent a copy of letter to Deputy Minister with copy of May 24, 2006 letter to BCGEU describing the possibility of discrimination. A year and a half later, Vince Ready denies me arbitration for informing the Deputy Minister with these letters from May 2006.

May 31, 2006 (1),

copy of letter: from BCGEU received June 6, 2006 claiming that the petitioner did not get his grievance in on time, and requiring him to get a Doctor’s note in by June 7, 2006 explaining physical reasons for the petitioner’s tardiness. Contrary to the claim, there is no grievance form included. Also many of the dates are obviously incorrect as is much of the information. This is an example of the level of competance acceptable to the BCGEU.

May 31, 2006 (2),

copy of letter from BCGEU received June 6, 2006 that was submitted to person hired by BCPSA and BCGEU to determine whether adbitration be allowed to continue (June 22, 2007). The fact that a grievance was underway when dismissed was purposefully removed. Arbitration was not allowed to proceed.

June 6, 2006 : One day to get letter in from Doctor.

Received letter form Cheryl Jones saying that the only way that arbitration would proceed is if I get a letter in to her from my doctor by June 7, 2006, describing why I did not get the grievance in on time. She again purposefully ignores my letters of May 2 and May 10 2006. Also, she ignores that fact that I had been asking for help to address the harassment. She claims that I just left the building and ignores that I was told to leave after my requests for mediation were refused.

June 2006 : I find out about going to the Labour Relations Board.

During this time I found out from Employment insurance that I am supposed to go to the Labour Relations Board. I began writing to the BCGEU President at this time as well.

July 2006 : Employment Insurance investigator told that I was escorted out of the building by the manager

The EI representative informed me that during her investigation she was told that I was escorted from the building. She sounded as though she thought that I was at fault. This continually increasing antagonism by the Ministry was meant to aggrevate the situation.

I sent a cover letter with a grievance form to the LRB with the $100 fee.

July 19, 2006 : For the first time since starting the grievance in March 2005, the BCGEU sends a grievance form.

I received a form to fill out from the BCGEU. Disgusted by the implication that I was at fault and needed to be escorted from the building I reply immediately.

July 2006 : The LRB

...informed me that I am to exhaust all appeals through the BCGEU before submitting a complaint of unfair representation.

July 29, 2006 : grievance recognized.

I received a copy of a receipt type of form from the BCGEU regarding New File/Formal Arbitration Dated July 20, 2006, but there is no explanation at all.

August 2006 : Population Analyst Job Posted

Letter sent to the President of the BCGEU and the Deputy Minister about the grievance and ask what is going on.

September 13, 2006 : Email I sent to the Minister of Labour & Citizens’ Services regarding Human Behaviour Experiments.

I heard about a documentry series on CBC which described situations similar to the BC Stats Population Section work environment, so I informed the Minister about my experience and the series.

September 15, 2006 : Deputy Minister states that by speaking of "constructive solutions" I have abandoned arbitration.

I received a letter from the new Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Labour & Citizens’ Services Wannamaker (dated September 13, 2006, saying that by me speaking of constructive solutions my arbitration hearing would be abounded.

September 19, 2006 : Why am I not surprised by the Deputy's remark.

I replied to the Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Labour & Citizens’ Services Wannamaker that I did not abandon the arbitration process.

October 2006 : Human Rights complaint started.

I sent many letters asking what is going on but no reply. I prepare to make a human rights complaint.

November 22, 2006 : BCGEU justifies their inaction.

Received letter from BCGEU dated November 9, 2006, in reply to my letter dated October 5, 2006, justifying their position to date. Again they are trying to get out of addressing bullying in the work place and my request for team effective training. They will pass on the case to their Advocacy Department in Burnaby. Still nothing regarding my letters on November 8th , and 9th.

December 5, 2006 : Human Rights complaint submitted

Submission regarding discrimination and constructive dismissal case to the BC Human Rights Tribunal;

December 27, 2006:letter from BC HR Tribunal, Chair MacNaughton decided not to accept my complaint dated December 18, 2006.
December 29, 2006: letter to BC HR Tribunal MacNaughton appealing decision.
January 2007: Human Rights letter to Bill Sutherland - lawyer under retainer

I sent a letter to Bill Sutherland with a copy of my complaint of discrimination of grounds covered by the Human Rights code.

January 2007: Human Rights hearing denied

My request for an investigation into the discrimination and constructive dismissal was denied. Curiously, there was no mention from the tribunal about my description of derogatory statements made toward people with mixed and Aboriginal ancestry. I asked about why she had mentioned all grounds except for Ancestry. I was told that she reviewed the case and to make a submission to the BC Supreme Court.

Also, in January 2007, the BCGEU says that I can trust them now,

the BCGEU sent out a representative, Jan O'Brien, who said that I could now trust her and the BCGEU to present my case fairly. This did not happen and again the BCGEU dropped my case at crucial junctures in an attempt to get me to drop the case.

I later learn that they are using nefarious methods to continue their unfair representation. Collusion between the BCGEU and BCPSA and Vince Ready and LRB are likely.

February to May 2007:

I wrote many letters the BCGEU with copies to the LRB asking what is going on with my case with no replies.

February 24, 2007

- letter to Jan O’Brien, cc to LRB "imposition of a hierarchical system was used to set up an employee as the fall guy for the problems in the section"

April 20, 2007 -

letter to Jan O’Brien, cc to LRB "this is BCGEU’s and the Employer’s process, not mine. I had asked the BCGEU and the Employer for help in advocating team effectiveness training but instead I was set up to be fired for just cause and denied timely arbitration."

May 17, 2007 -

letter to Jan O’Brien, cc to LRB "I admitted being Métis/mixed blood when filling out a government survey regarding employment equity issues. It appears that this information may have been used against me."

May 30, 2007 -

letter to Jan O’Brien, cc to LRB "[BCGEU rep] stated that my letters disputing the dismissal for just cause (May 2, 2006, May 11, 2006, May 18, 2006, May 25, 2006) were not valid."

why did it take the BCGEU 3 months to send the grievance form?

June 8, 2007 - meeting in Nanaimo with J O’Brien

Jan O'Brien said that the BCGEU "dropped the ball", and that I did get my grievance in on time, and admitted that I did not try to negotiate a deal with the Deputy Minister, and said that the Deputy Minister had sent me letters, and the Director phoned me at home which should not have happened.

Nonetheless, she asked me several times to drop the case. She described me as a square peg trying to fit into a round hole. She said that the Union could get the Employer to make my work record "look good" and that BCGEU could get me moving expenses (Jan suggested $4,000).

I maintained that I wanted an arbitrator to hear my case. Later, I found out that Jan O'Brien was the Vice Chair for the LRB before sliding over to the BCGEU.

June 22, 2007: hearing into whether by telling the BCGEU and the Deputy Minister about discrimination I will be denied natural justice.

Just before this meeting, Jan O'Brien said that the Ministry of Labour and Citizen's Services was changing the complaint against me.

They were dropping the timeliness issue and focusing on the letters that I sent to the Deputy Minister. These were copies of the letters I sent to the BCGEU in May 2006, within the thirty (30) day time limit.

It was obvious that the Ministry of Labour and Citizen's Services could not focus on both issues because on one hand the Ministry claimed that I did not dispute my dismissal on time and on the other the Ministry claimed I should not have sent a copy to the Deputy Minister. Both assertions were ridiculous and an obvious effort to get out of addressing the master agreement which states that the spirit is to improve the public service. My case had simply become an exercise where the Ministry would ensure that all complaints would go to the BCGEU and not to the Deputy Minister. The Master Agreement clearly states that a griever may, not shall, go through the Union when presenting a case to the Deputy Minister.

Jan O'Brien seemed very nervous and asked me again to drop the case.

At this meeting with Vince Ready, I was not given the opportunity to speak. Instead, this hearing was staged in order to continue the harassment directed towards me.

The Ministries’ contracted lawyer, Marli Rusen, of Heenan Blaikie LLP, Barristers & Solicitors, Victoria, BC stated that my efforts to inform the Deputy Minister on time with copies of the letters sent to the BCGEU about my dispute were an attempt to negotiate outside of the proper process. (Why then was my letter to the Deputy Minister in January 2006 considered acceptable and I was not reprimanded for this?)

The lawyer went on to threaten me with financial loses if I continued my efforts for a fair hearing.

She blamed me for having a "clear vision". Bizarre! Perhaps public servants are not to have clear vision? It was easy to have a clear vision because the stated goal was to provide reliable information, and we were to use statistical methods.

I was also blamed for other things like "giggling" (my voice is rather deep; therefore, I can legitimately be accused of chuckling) and being elated when projects were successful (crime of crimes in the Ministry). She also stated that my requests for mediation were considered to be a "game of chicken". (bizarre).

Also, she claimed that two females complained that I made them nervous????? (after I had asked for mediation, team effectiveness training courses etc. I guess that they were nervous that I was speaking out about the harassment and the non-statistical methods.) Ms. Rusen described in detail how the back of a female co-workers neck (the same co-worker who had coughed on my food) would tingled when I entered my office (bizarre).

I was also accused of refusing to do what I was told by the manager. This is true. I did refuse 1) to change the population numbers to cover up errors and the use of non-statistical methods, and 2) to attend a meeting with the co-worker who had accused me of making her feel unsafe at previous meetings until this accusation was addressed. See Projection Paragraph

Also, the hired lawyer stated that I was not good at my job. (This is contrary to my Employee Performance and Development Plan. Why had I not been told about these problems and why were solutions avoided?).

I contend that Don McRae and Dave O’Neil have been using the paper based on a corrupted dataset as a way to try and convince others that I was bad at my job (see March 2005 : Manager points me to the wrong dataset on which to base an article).

I was not allowed to speak at this meeting; however, Jan O'Brien, who was a Vice-Chair for the LRB, told Mr. Ready that Mr. Munroe is a construction worker who returned to university late in life to get a Masters degree in Geography...and that was it.

At a break, in the hall, I suggested to Mrs. O'Brien that she raise the discrimination issues but she did not. When we returned the meeting was suddenly over and Mr. Ready left.

Also, it is important to realize that Vince Ready is not an independent arbitrator since he was chosen from a pre-agreed upon list of people who the BCGEU and the BCPSA can call upon thus compromising his independence.He might not be included on this short list if he investigated further as the labour code requires in cases of discrimination.

June 23 and 25, 2007: I request that the decision be postponed until important information is provided

I called O'Brien, the LRB and my lawyer Bill Southward about stopping the proceeding.

I stated that Mr. Ready should have been told that I made my first submission to the Deputy Minister information in January 2006 and was not corrected. Also, I informed Deputy Minister in May 10, 2006 in order to meet timeline and because I suspected that the collusion between the BCGEU and Employer would result in the BCGEU not filing the grievance on time.

Also, my letters sent in May 2006, were legitimate and were required in order to meet the thirty day deadline.

In August, I informed the new Deputy that the job was posted but that there was an outstanding grievance made on July 20, 2006.

I responded to the Deputy clearly stating that I was not deviating from the agreement by saying constructive resolution. Also management had broken the agreement when Don McRae, the Director, had phoned me at home to tell me to get back to work and accept the working conditions or he would get me fired.

I informed Jan O’Brien that I refused to do what the manager told me to do on another occasion. I explained that I had refused to take people out of high growth areas and put them into the GVRD.

O'Brien, the LRB, and my lawyer Bill Southward all said to wait for the decision, and that it should be in soon.

See emails to and from Jan O'Brien

July, August, and September: I asked many times about the status of my case.
October 2, 2007: Ready decides to not allow arbitration.

After 100 days, instead of the 60 days required by the Master Agreement, Mr. Ready decides that I did abandon arbitration by sending copies of my request to grieve the dismissal for insubordination to the Deputy Minister, which is my right and obligation under the Master Agreement.

Jan O’Brien phoned to say that the Arbitrator will not hear my case, and that she would have the decision emailed.

October 09, 2007: Jan O'Brian cannot be trusted

Jan O'Brian states that the BCGEU will not appeal. She witches me luck with the rest of my life.

From: O'Brien, Jan [Jan.O'Brien@bcgeu.ca] Sent: Tuesday, October 09, 2007 8:11 AM To: The Munroes Subject: Out of Office AutoReply: Section 99, and Section 12 I will be away from the office on October 5, 2007. I will respond to my e-mail when I return on October 9, 2007. In the meantime, you may contact the advocacy coordinator Catherine Sullivan at catherine.sullivan@bcgeu.ca if you have an urgent matter.From: O'Brien, Jan [Jan.O'Brien@bcgeu.ca] Sent: Tuesday, October 02, 2007 11:01 AM To: The Munroes Subject: Arbitration Award Attachments: 32160 BCPSA BCGEU _Warren Munroe_.pdf Warren, as discussed, here is the arbitrator's decision on the preliminary objection by the employer. I will send you a letter explaining why the Union will not be appealing this arbitration decision. I wish you well in your new endeavours. Jan O'Brien Staff Representative

I spoke with the LRB information officer Guy Pocklington, over the phone regarding submitting a complaint of unfair representation and a request for a review of the decision by the dependent Arbitrator. He told me that since the BCGEU made the last faulty action in June, I was over the time limit and suggested that if I were to make a request asking nicely, the LRB might consider a review of the BCGEU's representation.

October 19, 2007: Request Arbitration and Natural Justice sent to the LRB

I was given 15 days to make a submission to the LRB, but with the long weekend I was not able to get in touch with my lawyer right away and was down to 9 working days. I had other pressing projects to complete by the 15th. I requested an extension which was granted. I also requested the documents that were provided to Mr. Ready by the BCPSA but the contract lawyer would not co-operate.

December 4, 2007: Don McRae is on CBC radio talking about Migration census release

The host of BC Almanac mistakenly states that BC Stats and Statistics Canada work closely together on the census migration numbers. There is mention of BC being attractive as well as tolerant.

December 5, 2007: Letter to CBC about the Migration census release

I sent a letter to CBC clarifying that BC Stats does not work closely with Statistics Canada on the census release.

January, 2008: BC Civil Liberties

emails receive no response.

February, 2008: No time limit

lrb rep says that there is no time limit on response

March, 2008: Going Public

I go public with a webpage. In order to raise awareness about how population numbers are created, I contact several newspapers particularly those in the Courtenay area because of the school closures.

I also email to Scott Fraser and the NDP Labour and NDP Citizens' Services critics

April, 2008: Going Public

continued refining webpage and sending out links

email sent to bc hydro, and Minister of Labour and Citizens' Services

May, 2008: Going Public

email sent to bc hydro

email sent to Ivan Fellegi of Statcan

email sent to Royal Statistical Society

received email from Ministry of Labour and Citizens' Services (mlcs) Minister Olga Illich ensuring impartiality.

June, 2008: LRB will send decision soon
July 2, 2008: LRB denies natural justice

LRB decision dated June 22, 2008, mistakenly states that I grieved the dismissal on July 19 thereby avoiding acknowledgement that the letters in May 2006 constituted a grievance.

the LRB gives me 15 days to come up with substantive reasons. I found out later that Minister Olga Illich resigned on June 23, 2008.

July 17, 2008: Letter to LRB stating I will correct errors and omissions

I replied by letter to the LRB stating that I will address this when I have time. I pointed out that I have a right (may go thru the BCGEU, not shall) to inform Deputy discrimination not justifiable and my requests for mediation not met with good will.

August 11, 2008: LRB tells me to pay $200

During a concrete pour, I received a phone call from the information officer whose instructions have lead me to this stage. I do not trust anyone in the lRB, nor the BCGEU,and request help from my lawyer.

September, October, November 2008: Open letter to lawyers

I sent letters to as many lawyers (over 30) as possible as my lawyer does not want to continue (start?).. he really has done nothing useful. Since describing the possibility of a human rights violation he has gone from being supportive to suggesting that i look like a whiner.(bizarre). He said he'd look at the decision ($2500) and tell me whether there was a way to proceed, even though he said he looked at it and he thinks that I have reached the end of the road and should seek other non-legal ways.

Another lawyer asked if i were a gay black Muslim female. I mentioned my mixed aboriginal ancestry, to which he replied "good luck" and hung up.

November, December 2008, January 2009: Prepare submission for BC Supreme Court

Clean up BC Human Right Tribunal submission. Continue trying to find a lawyer.

March 2009: FOI requests

Request transcripts from Oct 13, 2005 meeting with Carol Gore, the manager, the BCGEU rep and myself, the transcripts from the meeting with the dependent arbitrator, book of documents from BCPSA to the dependent arbitrator who ruled that he did not need to hear the real matters in dispute in violation of the Labour Code (which states that the arbitrator can not rewrite the code).

June 20 - 25, 2009: letters to LRB and BCHRTletters from LRB and BCHRT

From: information@wminfomatics.com Sent: June 3, 2009 11:39 AM

To: Aleem Bharmal Subject: discrimination labour law racial slurs mental/behaviour problem dismissal Hello Aleen, I was told by my former Employer (BC Stats, Min of Labour and Citizens' Services), (supported by the BCPSA and accepted by the BCGEU), that I could not utilize a discrimination / harassment procedure to address accusations that I have a mental / behavioural problem, (that, apparently, made it impossible for people to work with me, making two female co-workers feared for their safety), unless I could prove that I have a mental / behavioural disorder. Does a person who is accused of having a mental / behavioural disorder have to prove that they have a mental / behavioural disorder to utilize discrimination proceedings? To use another example: Does a person who is accused, harassed and dismissed, for being considered a homosexual have to prove that they are a homosexual to utilize discrimination proceedings? Has there been a ruling on this? Warren

From: "Aleem Bharmal" Sent: Wednesday, June 03, 2009 5:16 PM To: information@wminfomatics.com

Subject: RE: discrimination labour law racial slurs mental/behaviour problem dismissal No, you can succeed if you can prove you were discriminated against based on a "perceived" disability - this principle has also been applied to those being harrassed for being perceived as gay (see School District No. 44 (North Vancouver) v. Jubran, 2005 BCCA 201 at para 43 & 44)). Aleem Bharmal, Executive Director, Community Legal Assistance Society 300 - 1140 West Pender Street, Vancouver, BC V6E 4G1

August September 2009: read more acts

Prepare letter to the Ministers of Labour and Citizens' Services.

September 24, 2009: Letter

September 30, 2009: Letter

October 23, 2009: Package arrives from Freedom of Information, dated October 7, 2009

This package of contained a great deal of information that I had not been aware of. In particluar, there were many correspondances between PSA reps highlighting their efforts to make sure that I not be allowed a fair hearing. Also, for the first time ever, I found out what Don McRae was telling the PSA about me. Why did he not tell me? I contend that he did not tell me nor allow me an opportunity to correct his statement because he knew he was not telling the truth, but rather simply trying to coverup the substandard work being done by BC Stats.

For example, in December 2005, I asked if the results of Mr. McRa's investigation would be put in writing. He said they would not.

I found out that what Don McRae said was indeed put in writing and indeed, the decision to fire me was based on what he said and indeed I did not have a chance to address the accusation Don McRae made without me knowing. See the write up on how BC Stats did the $50,000 contract for ElectionsBC.

September 2009 to March 2010: Many letters sent to the Minister of Labour and the Minister of Citizens' Services

April 9, 2010

Letter to Ministers as well as to the NDP Labour critic, the NDP Citizens' Services critic, BC Hydro, Elections BC, and Statistics Canada.

BC Hydro, said...

Thank you for your inquiry, your business is important to us. Core hours of business are Monday to Friday 8am to 4pm. Enquiries received by 8am Monday to Friday will be responded to by 8am the following business day or within 24 hours. For enquiries received after 4pm Friday, please allow two business days for a response.

September 29, 2011, letter sent via email to Elizabeth Denham, Office of the Information and Privacy

regarding advise given to Don McRae, Executive Director of BC Stats, by Michelle Charbonneau (PSA) the day before I (an employee, the BC Stats Population Analyst who had raised concerns about population numbers being changed outside of the statistical models), was ordered to leave his office and "escorted" out of the BC Stats building.

November 10, 2011, still no reply.

In October 2010, I became involved in the public consultation process regarding the recommendation to close the only public secondary school in the Town of Qualicum Beach. The report recommending the closure referred to readers to BC Stats for the population estimate methods. The web link provided led to the 1998 General Estimation System (GES). I inquiried to BC Stats why the GES had not been revised to show the changes to the methods that occurred between 2001 and 2010. BC Stats new Executive Director replied stating that revisions would be available 2011 August or so. The 2011 revision of the population estimation methods explained the methods had changed in the year 2000 I contacted the Ministry responsible, Labour and Citizens' Services asking why incorrect methods had been provided (for over 10 years). An Assistant Deputy replied that BC Stats methods are better than Statistics Canada's (STC) quoting a STC report. I requested the report title / reference but received no reply. I went through FOI and was told that the reference would not be made available.

The report, "The Equalization Program and the Property Tax Base: Feasibility Study Conducted by Statistics Canada", February 28, 2005, p. 63 Conclusions of Finance Canada received June 18, 2012 revealed BC Stats officials provided false information to StatCan as well as citizens concerned about school closures.

"BC Stats produces its CSD-level population estimates using regression methods with specific symptomatic indicators (number of residential electrical connections and Old Age Security (OAS) recipients). For more details on the methodology, see Generalized Estimation System (GES), Small Area Population Estimation Methodology published by BC Stats in 1998 and available on their website.

Now I know why I was removed from the contacts list and all responsiblity and subjected to egregious displays of bad behaviour including aggressive yelling. I was in a position where I would discover BC Stats official's false reporting to Statistics Canada.

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