Tuesday, 01 November 2011 17:26

Debates of the Senate – ORDERS OF THE DAY

Senator Chaput: You posted the notice of vacancy, which stated that proficiency in both official languages was essential. Everyone agrees on that. Then, the selection committee used a recruiting firm to help it during the hiring process. Was this recruiting firm informed that proficiency in both official languages was essential? Were employees of this firm informed in advance that it was very important for candidates to be proficient in both official languages?

Ms. Hassard: Clearly the firm was aware that this was an important criterion in the search for Auditor General.

Senator Chaput: How were they made aware?

Ms. Hassard: They had the notice of vacancy. They were part of the committee's discussion when the selection criteria were brought up.

Senator Chaput: That was discussed at the committee when they discussed the selection?

They discussed the fact that proficiency in both official languages was an essential criterion? That was openly discussed between the selection committee and the firm?

Ms. d'Auray: Absolutely, senator.

Senator Chaput: Very good. People at the firm were aware that proficiency in both official languages was essential. When they recruited the 400 initial candidates, did they receive the resumés in both official languages?

Ms. d'Auray: The firm communicated with some 400 people. For some of them, the firm wanted to get benchmarks, and for others, the firm wanted to ask the candidates whether they would like their name to be considered. In most cases, the resumés were provided in the language of the individual's choice.

Senator Chaput: When they agreed to have their names considered, were the candidates aware that proficiency in both official languages was essential?

Ms. Hassard: I think the fact that they were asked to do a self-assessment of their language capacity does say that they were aware this was an issue of interest to the selection committee. I do not know whether they were told in detail what exactly that meant in terms of what is proficiency. It was a self-assessment.

Senator Chaput: Were candidates asked for this when they submitted their resumés or afterwards?

Ms. d'Auray: After narrowing it down to 30 people who had agreed to have their names brought to the attention of the committee, the firm proceeded to interview each of them, after which it recommended nine of the 30 people to us.

Senator Chaput: Nine people who were proficient in both official languages?

Ms. d'Auray: As my colleague said earlier, among those nine individuals, some self-identified as bilingual and others possessed various degrees of bilingualism.

Senator Chaput: Among those selected for further consideration, were there any who had been solicited by the government or the committee, or had they all been recruited by the firm?

Ms. d'Auray: My colleague can tell you more about the process. Advertisements had also been published in certain newspapers and other periodicals. It was also posted on various departmental websites. We have talked about the Canada Gazette, which is not something that everybody reads, but we also used more familiar channels of communication.

Senator Chaput: And did you receive any other applications through the advertisements and postings you just mentioned?

Ms. d'Auray: Madam Senator, some applications were submitted, some candidates were identified by the firm and others were referred.

Senator Chaput: Of the last nine candidates to be selected, how many had been recruited by the firm and how many came from outside the firm?

Ms. Hassard: I would just want to put a bit of context in at this point.

The firm itself did extensive outreach, and of course through that outreach it is word of mouth. Whenever a name came up, we would refer them back to the search firm so the search firm would be the funnel to the selection committee. They did outreach to mid to large accounting firms, the provincial Auditor General community, national accounting organizations, departmental audit committee chairs and federal deputy ministers, the provincial controller general community, senior executives in the Auditor General's office and chief financial officers within government, as well as executives of large, publicly traded organizations.

Senator Chaput: I understand. However, I would like to know how many of these people were directly recruited by the search firm and how many were referred to the firm by the committee?

Ms. d'Auray: Honourable senator, we are unable to tell you that. As my colleague indicated, the interested parties, the people who approached us directly, the people who submitted their names in response to the notice of vacancy, all these candidates were referred to the firm. We received the list of candidates from the firm, which carried out the first screening.

Senator Chaput: You said that there was no change to the criterion of proficiency in both official languages being essential. However, we have the Treasury Board policy and this policy was not followed. Do you agree with that?

Ms. d'Auray: Honourable senator, the Treasury Board policy applies to either the institutions or the duties when the incumbents are members of the public service. In this case, as indicated by my colleague, the Auditor General is an officer of Parliament and is not a member of the Canadian public service. It is up to Parliament to choose and appoint this officer.