The experience was exhausting, life changing, and, ultimately, failed to change anything in the organization in which I worked. My story begins in the Canadian Armed Forces, where I was a naval officer until the force reduction plan in the early 1990s. I spent a few years travelling and teaching in Europe before returning to Canada in 2000. After a brief stint at the National Library and Archives, I ended up at Transport Canada. After the 9/11 attacks, Transport Canada had to move quickly to

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... elop marine transportation security regulations. We met the goal, and along the way I was promoted to Chief of my unit. Once in charge, however, I became aware of what I viewed as misconduct on the part of my superiors. This included favouritism in the treatment of some employees, accepting gifts from industry lobbyists, and a failure to enforce the regulations. A colleague and I reported this to internal authorities, but no action was taken. I then escalated the issue to external authorities in late 2006.