Procedure and House Affairs Committee on Oct. 6th, 2009

[The Chair, Conservative, Joe Preston]

Mr. Calandra.

[Paul Calandra, Conservative, Oak Ridges—Markham, ON]

From a new member's perspective, the transition is very difficult. I was elected on the 14th or the 15th, depending on when I was certified late that night, and it's not that I'm looking for any hero cookies, but I had a 10-day-old baby at home, and a new home that was delayed--I was living in a temporary residence at the time. I had to come to Ottawa, find a place to live, and attempt to find staff. My swearing-in happened to be scheduled at the same time that your briefing was taking place.

I'd been involved in provincial politics for a while, but I didn't actually think about you or your office until I received the form to fill out, and then--I have to be honest with you--there was so much on my desk at the time, and I still didn't have staff, and it was at the bottom of a pile. I think I received it towards the last couple of days, and in a complete panic--having just been elected I thought I was going to get into trouble already--I filled in the form and was a bit surprised by the questions that were in it.

I almost feel there should be a mandatory sit-down with new members of Parliament. It shouldn't necessarily be an option that you should come to our offices, meet with us and our staff. I think the 120 days might not necessarily be long enough, because sometimes it does take a while to get the staff and then bring them up to speed as well. So I wonder if you would consider, as part of your function with new members, a mandatory sign-off provision. I wonder if you also provide any information to Elections Canada so that candidates might know in advance what they'll be expected to comply with if they are successful.

[Mary Dawson]

The obligations are on our website, of course, and if you've thought of it, you could look at the website to find out what you have to do. Also, our letter out to each of the MPs does say that if you'd like to meet with us, please call and do meet with us.

I wouldn't object to a mandatory meeting with new members. It would be fine. It would be mandatory on the new members, I suppose, and therein lies the rub. I'm not sure all new members would find the time, but I'd be most pleased if they did. It's for this committee to consider whether that's something they'd like to add to the code.

Lyne, did you want to add something?

[Lyne Robinson-Dalpé]

There are also the briefing binders. I know they're quite thick. There is also information in there on the code with regard to MPs. And there's a cover letter from our office in that binder.

We've looked at different options to try to inform MPs as best we can. Definitely the two options that you're mentioning are some things we can look into.

[Mary Dawson]

And always remember that at any time, any member can phone and ask for a meeting in my office, either with me or an advisor. We always accommodate that.

[Paul Calandra, Conservative, Oak Ridges—Markham, ON]

I didn't even know.... There was a washroom beside the whip's office, and I thought, “Wow, that's the busiest office in Parliament.” I didn't even know it was actually a washroom for the first month that I was here. There was just so much information. You get so much piled on your desk that as a new member, your first thought is there's no way you're in contravention of any rules. Then the second thing is it gets filed way down on the list. It shouldn't, because it's very important. There are so many websites that you want to take a look at, because you want to hit the ground running, and sometimes, while it shouldn't, it does.

[Mary Dawson]

It's interesting because in the act, with the deadlines of 60 and 120 days, the penalty scheme led us to have a 30-day and a 50-day warning call, and actually that's something we could think of for MPs. We do it for the 60 days. So your office or you would have had a call at 30 days and 50 days reminding you that these things had to be filled out within 60 days. I don't know if you recall that, but there are some mechanisms.

[The Chair, Conservative, Joe Preston]

Madame DeBellefeuille.

[Claude DeBellefeuille, Bloc, Beauharnois—Salaberry, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Ms. Dawson, I want to continue where Mr. Cuzner left off. You seem to be saying that your staff retention problems are normal, that they are true of the public service in general. I think it is quite serious when nearly 85% of your new employees quit their job.

Training your new staff members is a significant investment. They need to understand the ins and outs of the legislation and the code, which is no easy task. Training people to be experts in that field must be extremely difficult. I am quite concerned.

Do your employees only stay with you for so long before moving on because you do not pay as well? Is it a matter of money or the demands of the job? How can you explain the fact that 85% of your new employees leave? There must be a good reason; such turnover is not typical.

[Lyne Robinson-Dalpé]

Eighty-five percent of our new employees are not leaving us. Turnover is as follows: eight staff members left, and there were ten new hires. The eight staff members who left were not new hires; they had been working for us for three or four years.

With regard to staffing, we recognize that we need to provide extensive training to new employees. We try to keep them as long as possible. In terms of recruitment, we now hire people one level below that of advisor, and train them for several years so they can become advisors. So, staff naturally move up the ranks within the organization, and this attracts young people and individuals who are extremely competent in this field but who do not necessarily have all the required knowledge, experience and skills. However, we can provide them with training over several years so they can gradually become advisors who can provide advice at the targeted levels.

[Claude DeBellefeuille, Bloc, Beauharnois—Salaberry, QC]

We want to give people the hope of rising...

[Lyne Robinson-Dalpé]

...of being promoted within the organization. In that context, we hope to keep them for four years, two of which they spend in training and two as professionals. Then, we want to continue to hire individuals at that level.

[The Chair, Conservative, Joe Preston]

Madam Jennings.

[Marlene Jennings, Liberal, Notre-Dame-de-Grâce—Lachine, QC]

Did I understand you correctly that the MPs who are in compliance and are not in compliance are on your website?

[Mary Dawson]

Yes.

[Marlene Jennings, Liberal, Notre-Dame-de-Grâce—Lachine, QC]

Where on the website do we find that? I just had an assistant try to find it but couldn't.

[Lyne Robinson-Dalpé]

If you go on the public registries, you'll have two with the code and with the public office holders. You'll see that one is the public registry. At the bottom of the paragraph there's a status report. That's where you click, and it's going to give you a list such as this one here.

[Marlene Jennings, Liberal, Notre-Dame-de-Grâce—Lachine, QC]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Conservative, Joe Preston]

That's it?

Monsieur Lauzon.

[Guy Lauzon, Conservative, Stormont—Dundas—South Glengarry, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Welcome, Ms. Dawson. You have undoubtedly answered this question, but how many employees do you have in total?

[Mary Dawson]

We have 40 employees.

[Guy Lauzon, Conservative, Stormont—Dundas—South Glengarry, ON]

And you lost ten employees last year.

[Mary Dawson]

We hired ten individuals, and eight left.

[Guy Lauzon, Conservative, Stormont—Dundas—South Glengarry, ON]

That is about 20%.

How many people visited your Web site?

[Mary Dawson]

I cannot answer that question.