Evidence of meeting #5 for Government Operations and Estimates in the 39th Parliament, 2nd session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was management.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Assistant Secretary to the Cabinet, Senior Personnel and Special Projects Secretariat, Privy Council Office
First, I'd like to point out that the appointments are made by the Governor in Council, not by the Prime Minister.
Bloc
Richard Nadeau Bloc Gatineau, QC
Does the Prime Minister make any appointments in the course of a year?
November 28th, 2007 / 5:10 p.m.
Assistant Secretary to the Cabinet, Senior Personnel and Special Projects Secretariat, Privy Council Office
No. The appointments are made by the Governor in Council, that is to say the Governor General acting on the Cabinet's recommendation.
Bloc
Richard Nadeau Bloc Gatineau, QC
In other words, the Cabinet and the Prime Minister meet, suggest names, and the Governor General makes the decision.
Assistant Secretary to the Cabinet, Senior Personnel and Special Projects Secretariat, Privy Council Office
That's correct.
The Cabinet ratifies the ministers' recommendations.
Bloc
Richard Nadeau Bloc Gatineau, QC
How many appointments are forwarded from the Prime Minister and his Cabinet to the Governor General in the course of a year?
Assistant Secretary to the Cabinet, Senior Personnel and Special Projects Secretariat, Privy Council Office
Roughly speaking, we have slightly fewer than 1,000 a year.
Bloc
Richard Nadeau Bloc Gatineau, QC
Based on those 1,000 appointments suggested to our distinguished Governor General, you conduct a study to determine whether the person suggested falls within an ethical or non-criminal definition so that he or she can appear on the list of appointments. Is that correct?
Assistant Secretary to the Cabinet, Senior Personnel and Special Projects Secretariat, Privy Council Office
Security checks are done, and if there is any potential conflict of interest, the person is referred to the conflict of interest and ethics commissioner so that the issue is addressed and resolved before that person's appointment.
Bloc
Richard Nadeau Bloc Gatineau, QC
There was quite an uproar when certain persons said that the present Governor General was a Quebec sovereigntist sympathizer, in particular.
Did you conduct any investigations on that subject?
Assistant Secretary to the Cabinet, Senior Personnel and Special Projects Secretariat, Privy Council Office
I wasn't at the Privy Council Office at the time of Madame Jean's appointment. As you no doubt understand, issues related to the appointment of a Governor General are not handled in the same way as those associated with the some 999 others that are examined in the course of a normal year. That appointment is made approximately every five years.
Bloc
Richard Nadeau Bloc Gatineau, QC
If I understand correctly, the NFB's films aren't necessarily screened to determine whether a person raised his or her glass to toast Quebec's independence. I'm reassured by that.
Mr. Bloom, labour relations in the federal public service are now governed by a code of ethics. It dates from the previous government, but it is relatively new. Is that correct? What is the exact name of the code of ethics?
Chairperson, Public Service Labour Relations Board
It's the Values and Ethics Code for the Public Service.
Bloc
Richard Nadeau Bloc Gatineau, QC
Can a federal employee, for example, be a member of a political party, have a membership card and appear on the list of that party? Let's suppose this is an employee in the PM group, a PM1, PM2, PM3, PM4 or PM5, for example.
Chairperson, Public Service Labour Relations Board
You're asking me a question?
Bloc
Richard Nadeau Bloc Gatineau, QC
Yes, I'm asking you a question: you're in the labour relations field.
Chairperson, Public Service Labour Relations Board
In my view, answering that question falls within the jurisdiction of the Public Service Commission.
Bloc
Richard Nadeau Bloc Gatineau, QC
I'm asking you the question, having regard to your duties in the area of labour relations. Can a public servant be a member of a political party?
Chairperson, Public Service Labour Relations Board
Of course, any public servant can be.
Chairperson, Public Service Labour Relations Board
Any person who is a public servant—
Bloc
Richard Nadeau Bloc Gatineau, QC
Any person who is a public servant can be a member of a political party? A senior executive can be one?
Yvan Roy Deputy Secretary to the Cabinet, Legislation and House Planning and Machinery of Government and Counsel to the Clerk of the Privy council, Privy Council Office
I'll try to help you a little. The entire issue of partisanship and the role of public servants in the political world is not the responsibility of Mr. Bloom and his organization, but rather that of the Public Service Commission of Canada, and is so under the act.
As regards political participation, I would say, to use the expression, that a kind of sliding scale applies. That depends somewhat on the place where the employee stands in the organization. A deputy minister, for example, cannot belong to a political party. However, the lower the person is in the hierarchy, the more possible it is. The fact remains that it is more up to the Public Service Commission of Canada to decide these questions.
Bloc
Richard Nadeau Bloc Gatineau, QC
Shouldn't the fact that a person appearing before the Labour Relations Board is not a senior executive but was dismissed because he was a member of a sovereigntist group immediately put an end to a legal process at the board?
