Public Enemy No. 1: The Police Whistleblower
Kelly Donovan is a Canadian police whistleblower, who chose to speak out in 2016 about the way police were (or were not) investigating themselves for domestic violence. She faced immediate reprisal for speaking out, and resigned in 2017. Kelly made it her mission to change Canada's laws to protect future police whistleblowers. To try to silence her, the police service has continued to retaliate against her since her resignation. Stay tuned to find out why the police have spent over half a million dollars to try to silence her.
The price of inadequate whistleblower laws
Kelly was unsuccessful in her attempt to force the human rights tribunal to hear her multiple requests to dismiss the police service's case against her.
The sad state of Canadian whistleblower laws
Out of 60 countries, Canada has the worst whistleblower protection laws. Kelly takes listeners through a recent case that only came to light because of the persistence of a police whistleblower.
We can all get behind truth
Kelly explains issues she had identified in the legal profession, and why things have to change so that self-represented litigants are not marginalized.
Did not buy my silence
It's one thing to agree to be silences by an NDA, but Kelly explains that she had always refused to be silenced by the police service, yet they continue to try to enforce an agreement against her, claiming that when she speaks publicly, she is violating an agreement.
Surveilled, persecuted and abandonned
Kelly reminds listeners what started all of this and made her Public Enemy No. 1. Learn why most police associations don't help women who make a "blue on blue" complaint, and what almost pushed Kelly over the edge at Christmas, 2022.
It was all a bad dream
In this episode, Kelly provides more detail about the two human rights cases, and goes back to the Court of Appeal for the second time.
Second kick at the can
While the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario cases slowed to a halt, Kelly pushed on with her civil lawsuit, in hopes to have her day in court against the police service and police chief.
Whistleblower retaliation
Kelly resigned from policing in June, 2017, but because was advocating for protection for police whistleblowers, she continued to face retaliation at the hands of her former police service.
Where it all began
In this introductory episode, Kelly Donovan explains why protecting police whistleblowers is so important and she shares her story of what happened to her when she chose to report to the police services board what she believed were abuses of power when police investigate themselves for domestic violence.
Episode 1 - Where it all began
In this introductory episode, Kelly Donovan explains why protecting police whistleblowers is so important and she shares her story of what happened to her when she chose to report to the police services board what she believed were abuses of power when police investigate themselves for domestic violence.This is the first episode of a series of podcasts spanning Kelly's career as a police officer working for the Waterloo Regional Police Service in Ontario, Canada, and the whistleblower retaliation she still faces today (2023) despite resigning from policing in 2017.Follow the series for the full story.
