Ottawa/Fraser Valley – The Office of the Public Sector Integrity Commissioner released a case report on Tuesday March 19 that Correctional Service Canada (CSC) committed wrongdoing pursuant to the Public Servants Disclosure Protection Act. Specifically, CSC committed gross mismanagement when they failed to take timely and adequate action to locate and repair a leak at the Matsqui Complex, allowing chemically treated water to leach into surrounding soil for nearly four years.
Harriet Solloway, Public Sector Integrity Commissioner of Canada tabled her first case report. It relates to a finding of wrongdoing at Correctional Service Canada.
Following a disclosure from a whistleblower, my Office launched an investigation into an allegation that CSC management committed wrongdoing when they did not adequately or promptly respond to a serious leak from the pipes of the District Heating System at the Matsqui Complex, in British Columbia.
In 2017, a CSC engineer notified management that monitoring equipment was indicating that there was a leak in the piping at the Matsqui Complex. The engineer recommended that the only course of action to find the leak would be to excavate the pipes and apply pressure. Excavation work did indeed begin but had to be suspended in the winter due to the ground freezing. In the spring of 2018, despite the engineer’s recommendation, excavation work did not resume.
Over the years, CSC management undertook attempts to locate the leak, but refused to commit to the full excavation of the system as had been recommended by the engineer. Eventually, management stopped believing the leak was worsening, and went so far as to suggest that the monitoring equipment was not “scientific enough”. This assertion was made by managers who did not possess the engineering expertise to make such determinations.
By 2021, the leak had become so serious that engineers at the Central Heating Plant needed to run cold-water pumps 24 hours a day to ensure the minimum amount of water required for the system to function. Adding cold water to the boiler posed a mounting risk of explosion, causing an engineer to recommend an immediate shutdown. When that expert advice was not followed by management, the engineer filed a Notification of Occupational Health and Safety Complaint due to unsafe conditions. Later that day, an engineer shut off the water in the piping loop of the Matsqui Institution against the direction of CSC management, and work resumed. Due to the need for this shutdown, the Matsqui Institution had no hot water and no heating for three days.
Finally, in May 2021, full excavation of the system began. Many leaks were located and repaired. But by that time, millions of litres of chemically treated hot water had leached into the soil near an aquifer, agricultural lands, and salmon habitats. My Office found that CSC did not test the soil for the correct chemical until 2020, and as a result, we cannot determine whether or not there was any environmental impact.
This report highlights the importance of management accountability and responsibility. Many individuals in positions of responsibility were aware of the leak and failed to take sufficient action to mitigate impacts over a period of nearly four years.
A core value in the federal public sector includes, among others, stewardship. The Values and Ethics Code for the Federal Public Sector defines stewardship as the responsible and careful use of public resources, both for the short term and long term. This would include proper maintenance and repair of government assets, such as heating systems.
In reviewing the evidence, it becomes clear that CSC management did not take adequate and timely remedial action, demonstrating serious errors impacting safety and potentially harming the environment—not reflecting responsible stewardship of government funds and assets.
Accordingly, I find that CSC management committed gross mismanagement in their handling of the leak at the Matsqui Complex.
