OTTAWA – They are the faceless thousands and, until recently, the voiceless.

Federal civil servants toil in obscurity, running programs, administering laws and advising the elected officials that the public envisions when it thinks of government.

But it seems a few of the more than 240,000 federal employees have grown fed up with this state of affairs and have taken to lashing out in their own faceless way.

It’s too early to say whether it’s a trend or merely a blip, but the government is now conducting two investigations into federal employees who have taken to Wikipedia to express their opinion on federal policies and bitter political debates.

On Monday, the Correctional Service of Canada began a probe after learning one of its computers, apparently in Ottawa, had been used to change the online encyclopedia’s entry on the Official Languages Act – the law allowing Canadians to receive federal services in the language of their choice – as the “Quebec Nazi Act.”

That online outburst would likely result in suspension or dismissal and may even be a crime, in the view of at least one Quebec politician, who suggested the comment amounted to hate propaganda.

“Behaviour of this nature is unacceptable and will not be tolerated,” Public Safety Minister Vic Toews said in a statement Wednesday. “My office has raised its concerns with the Correctional Service of Canada, (which is) investigating its origin and will follow up with appropriate action.”

The department says there is a definite way to trace the suspicious activity to a particular employee’s computer, but it may take some time to complete the investigation.

“Obviously we take this issue very seriously,” said Christelle Chartrand, a spokesperson with the Correctional Service of Canada.

Canada’s Official Languages Commissioner, Graham Fraser, said the views espoused in this matter exist among small “pockets” of bureaucrats across the civil service who don’t understand the federal language law and see it as an imposition or barrier to their advancement.

“I see many more people in the public service who see this as a way to serve the public better and their frustration is that they’re not getting the language training that they need,” he said.

The first incident of Wikipedia tampering involving federal computers came to light in July, when a computer that has been traced back to the research arm of the defence department in Winnipeg was used to criticize Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff’s opposition to a proposed $16-billion contract for F-35 fighter jets.

The Conservative government intends to award a sole-source contract for the jets, which will replace the current fleet of CF-18s. Doing so would prevent any other firms from competing for the contract and Ignatieff has promised to review the decision if he wins the next election.

Maj. Holly Apostoliuk, a spokesperson with 1 Canada Air Division headquarters in Winnipeg, said the technical part of the investigation had concluded and the computer used to edit the website had been located, but there was more work to do.

“This headquarters is continuing with the investigation to confirm the identity of the person involved, and the chain of command will determine what disciplinary or administrative action may be warranted in light of DND policies,” she said in an email.

Apostoliuk also said that a campaign is planned to “educate people as to the appropriate steps to address concerns they may have about information appearing in social media or elsewhere.”

But it’s not only government that has been hit by allegations of Wikipedia tampering. Earlier this month, the Star launched an investigation after accusations that one of the newspaper’s computers had been used to add a link to a satirical web site in the online entry about mayoral candidate Rob Ford.

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Star spokesman Bob Hepburn said the probe showed that that the Internet Protocol (IP) address was not one used by employees at the newspaper and noted that Toronto Star Newspapers Ltd. runs or is a joint owner of many newspapers, magazines and websites.

“If it was somebody at the Star, which it wasn’t … we would have been able to track it down,” Hepburn said, adding that it would be a clear breach of the conduct the newspaper expects of its employees.

“We sure would frown real heavily on it.”