UPDATED, with video -- Rights & Democracy: How much has changed?



Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon announced a new leader on Monday for Rights & Democracy, a government-funded human rights organization now in turmoil after disputes between board members and staff: former Quebec MNA and Canadian Alliance candidate Gérard Latulippe.

In the strange and fear-ridden atmosphere that must prevail now at the Montreal office of Rights & Democracy, what with a private investigator on site and a forensic audit going on, the recently appointed R&D chair and six new board members have been clear about what they expect.

They want accountability and oversight, they say. They want the forensic audit because "financial reviews have turned up transactions that require the attention of forensic auditors."

But now some are questioning the financial accountability of the new management of R&D (since the three most senior staff members of R&D have been suspended with pay.)

First, there's the unknown cost of hiring a private investigator (SIRCO),  forensic auditors (Samson Belair/Deloitte & Touche) and a private communications firm (Prima Communication).

Moreover, a director general was recently hired, a position that didn't exist before at Rights & Democracy. But Montreal businessman Charles Auger left after four days.

Also, the law firm of Borden Ladner Gervais has been hired, although it's not clear what its mandate is.

And a board member, Marco Navarro-Genie, has been engaged as a consultant, even though such an appointment may be a conflict of interest.

In the latest development today, PSAC, the public service union that represents some of R&D's employees, says the employees are enduring a "witch hunt".

Employees are being subjected to religious profiling and intimidation, the union says. This refers to a remark attributed to the interim president of Rights & Democracy, Jacques Gauthier, who asked why there were no Jewish people employed at the Montreal office.

Watch PSAC president John Gordon's interview with Evan Solomon on Power & Politics.

RELATED: Is criticism of Rights & Democracy's grants to Palestinian organizations at odds with past actions of the Harper government?