Public Accounts Committee on Nov. 17th, 2016

[Michael Ferguson]

We identified that the Privy Council Office was offering one-on-one sessions to newly appointed chairs and there were a number of different types. In paragraph 3.71 we also talked about the work of the Canada School of Public Service and identified that a lot of what they offer is non-mandatory. It was a bit concerning that only 13 of the 37 chairs...although seven of them may not have had the opportunity, if we assume they did, it still would have been only 20 out of 37 chairs, so 17 didn't participate in some of that.

It's very important to understand where some of these people are coming from. If they are people who have never had any contact with government in the past and they're now coming to work in a government environment, things are different in government. There are different things that you can and can't do when you work in a government environment, different things that you need to pay attention to, so it would be cause for concern to think that only about half the chairs coming into roles would be taking advantage of those types of training sessions.

It is just an indicator that a little more work still needs to be done on this front to make sure that people are well oriented to what they are coming into.

[The Chair, Conservative, Kevin Sorenson]

Mr. Weir, that's a good question.

We'll go to Ms. Mendès.

[Alexandra Mendes, Liberal, Brossard—Saint-Lambert, QC]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

I would like to thank all the witnesses for being here with us today and for giving us a lot more details on how the various departments work and the positions that need to be filled in those administrative tribunals.

I think one of the things that strikes us the most—and I am thinking about my colleague on my right—is that there has been some laissez-faire over the years in terms of appointments and those to whom the duties have been assigned.

We do not necessarily have action plans because it's not appropriate in this specific context, but we have three tribunals. I tip my hat to the folks from Public Safety Canada, because I think they have done their job in a rather exemplary fashion.

Would it be possible to have a letter from your departments—the committee can make a formal request for that—or a progress report on how things have changed since February when the new process was set up? Is there a better balance between the positions to be filled and the recruitment and positioning of those people? I am asking for a progress report on each of the tribunals, particularly the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, the Specific Claims Tribunal of Canada and the Competition Tribunal.

Mr. Cintrat, you are exempted from this request.

[The Chair, Conservative, Kevin Sorenson]

Thank you, Ms. Mendès.

We'll go to Mr. McColeman now, please.

[Phil McColeman, Conservative, Brantford—Brant, ON]

Mr. Cintrat, how many vacancies currently exist on the national Parole Board?

[Jean Cintrat]

There are 19.

[Phil McColeman, Conservative, Brantford—Brant, ON]

There are 19 vacancies out of how many positions in total?

[Jean Cintrat]

There are 89.

[Phil McColeman, Conservative, Brantford—Brant, ON]

That's 89, okay. Is the cohort capable of keeping up with the requirements of the numbers of people requesting hearings and such, or does 19 vacancies mean deficiencies in hearings?

[Jean Cintrat]

Mr. Chair, I would respectfully refer that question to the board. I'm not in a position to say whether or not this has an impact on their operations. The government launched a selection process to fill positions of members on the board in October, and the government has also proceeded with the transitional appointments of five members over the last few weeks to help with the workload.

[Phil McColeman, Conservative, Brantford—Brant, ON]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Conservative, Kevin Sorenson]

We don't have any other questions here, but I would like to take the chair's prerogative.

I think our Auditor General brought up an interesting scenario, that if you are seeking someone with strong economic background, and there's just no one in the pool for that particular position, then you're going to have a vacancy. I think there should be a certain level of confidence there. If we've recruited well and done all the things we think we've done, and there's still, for some reason, not quite the threshold of merit we would like to see, then we don't have it.

The other thing is that there are a lot of people in our constituencies across the country who always come to members of Parliament and ask how to get on one of these boards. Typically, we tell them to look at the website and apply. I'm not certain how many do. It's like sitting at the coffee shop back home. Everyone is an expert and is sure he or she can do the job, and probably better than the bureaucrats who are there now.

If they apply, that's good. Do they just not get put into the pool? Do they get told they are no longer being considered, or are they held in this limbo out there where they're sitting by the phone waiting, because they know government wants their expertise? Maybe you're just saying, “We don't have that expertise in this group right now.”

Ms. Sherman.

[Janine Sherman]

Mr. Chair, there is a process. Applicants are advised when an appointment is made and that process is over. They would be aware at that point that they were not being considered for that particular position. We do try to close the loop on that.

If a process takes a certain amount of time, people may be wondering what's going on. We're looking at ways of giving people updates on where their application may be. The website does allow them to write to ask about various processes they may have applied for. They would be told that the process is still ongoing or that they should have received an email, for example, that the process is complete.

[The Chair, Conservative, Kevin Sorenson]

Going back to the Parole Board of Canada, it sounds as if, of 89 positions, 19 are vacant. But in the Parole Board of Canada, it's not just an open pool of 89. There are some very specific regions you seek. For example, you would seek someone to sit on the Parole Board in the western region, the British Columbia region, the prairie region, or the Atlantic region. Is there any one region right now where it's very obvious that the significant number of openings are specific to one region?

[Jean Cintrat]

I'll have to look at the statistics. Specifically, I believe that the Quebec region is the only one with a full contingency of appointments, and the rest are scattered across the country.

[The Chair, Conservative, Kevin Sorenson]

It's not as if there is one region that has 10 or 12 openings and then just a sprinkling across the rest of the country. It's fairly equal.

[Jean Cintrat]

That's correct.

[The Chair, Conservative, Kevin Sorenson]

Good.

We'll go to Mr. McColeman, and then we will close.

[Phil McColeman, Conservative, Brantford—Brant, ON]

Further to that, another number I'm wondering if you could provide, if you don't know it off the top of your head, sir, is the number of applications you have currently in the queue for positions on the national Parole Board.

[The Chair, Conservative, Kevin Sorenson]

Mr. Cintrat.

[Jean Cintrat]

It's 441.

[Phil McColeman, Conservative, Brantford—Brant, ON]

Of those 441—and we can't find 19, for some reason—how many have qualified and are through to the point of being recommended to the ministry?

[Jean Cintrat]

We're just at the point of looking at the applications right now.

[Phil McColeman, Conservative, Brantford—Brant, ON]

Okay. Thank you.

[The Chair, Conservative, Kevin Sorenson]

I want to thank all of you for coming today.

In the course of the rest of the day, or perhaps over the next few days, if all of a sudden you have more information that you would like to share with our committee, we would encourage you to do that and submit it to our clerk. If you think that you should or could have answered a question a little better, please feel free to send that in as well. As we study this, it would help us understand the appointment process a little better.

Thank you for coming and helping us to understand better.

Thank you, committee.

The meeting is adjourned.