Richard J. Brennan
Ottawa Bureau

OTTAWA—Christiane Ouimet, Canada's first federal watchdog responsible for protecting whistleblowers, not only failed to do her job, but was also an abusive boss who swore at her employees and carried out vendettas against staff even after they left.

That blunt assessment of the former public sector integrity commissioner was provided Thursday by Auditor General Sheila Fraser, who said she found it "very disappointing" that an officer of Parliament would behave this way, particularly one whose job it was to protect public servants from reprisals.

Ouimet, nominated by Prime Minister Stephen Harper for the job in 2007, suddenly resigned in October, four years before the end of her term. She left in the midst of an investigation by Fraser, who was probing three complaints to her office about Ouimet's conduct.