It was copied to you, and we all got a reply saying that the Canada Public Service Agency and the human resource council has engaged in the public-service-wide recruitment effort to build capacity in the compensation community.
I'm part of this recruitment process. I went to their meeting last week, and out of 5,800 applicants, they're down to 129 who passed all the tests and everything. Out of that, there are 56 who want to work in Ottawa. Out of 56, there are already 31 compensation advisors who are working in pay as terms, so they're going to be appointed as indeterminate. That leaves us with 25 who could be hired, which we'll all be fighting to have in every department.
This hasn't resolved anything. We had this process years ago. They don't stay in pay and benefits, because it's too complex and too much responsibility, and they're not recognized for the type of work they do. They have university degrees, and they leave for other jobs. This does not solve anything at all.
It is not an administrative error; it's the way they changed the service-delivery model. When you need to speak to somebody, there's a call centre. They give you a ticket number, and you wait for somebody to call you back. Well, good luck. It could take weeks; it could take months. That's the type of service they have, and this is what they want to change. They want all the departments to function this way.
Well, it's not functioning. I know, because at Industry Canada we've been asked if we can go help out Stats Canada. We've been doing elections—people who want to buy back service before they retire and things like that—dated 2005. But we are now in 2007. This is unacceptable, and it's only getting worse.