January 26, 2009

FOI Mix-Up

"You make a serious mistake in assuming that people in charge know what the hell they're doing."
Rafe Mair's Axioms

It appears that the left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing in the Campbell government. In August there was an announcement that senior staff were going to have the top possible salary in their pay ranges significantly increased. In particular, an information bulletin stated: "Effective Aug. 1, 2008, the maximum payable salary to deputy ministers increased from $221,760 to $299,215 and from $243,936 to $348,600 for the deputy minister to the Premier. The maximum achievable salary for assistant deputy ministers increased from $160,000 to $195,000." The Campbell government's spin was that higher salaries were necessary to deal with recruitment and retention problems. I submitted freedom of information requests for any studies on recruitment and retention and for a list of senior staff positions that had been filled together with the number of applications for each position.

On January 21st, the same day President Obama announced new rules for access to information in his administration, I received a letter from the office responsible for information requests to the Office of the Premier informing me that: "the Office of the Premier has no responsive records" to my request. On January 23rd I received another letter from the Ministry of Education providing me with a list of Association Deputy Minister and Deputy Minister positions that had been filled, including the number of applicants in the case of open recruitments. Sections of the documents for 2005 were blanked out and marked "out of scope". I had only requested records since 2006 and the government wouldn't think of providing information that it didn't have to provide; however, a colleague had requested the records since 2005 so I was able to get the list that was mailed to him.

Between March 23, 2005 and August 5, 2008, 37 ADM or DM positions were filled by open recruitment. In the case of the position of ADM, Economic Competitiveness, there were 105 applications. The fewest number of applications was for the position in the Attorney General's Ministry of ADM, Corporate Services, but even then there were 7 applications. In most cases, there were a couple of dozen applications for open competitions. There doesn't appear to be any evidence to support the claim that the salary ranges for senior staff had to be increased in order to deal with recruitment and retention problems. It would be useful if the Deputy Minister to the Premier, or better yet the Premier, told the public the real reason for significantly increasing the top salary available to his senior staff.

January 21, 2009

Campbell's Arrogance Contrasts with Obama

Gordon Campbell should be embarrassed as he reads the orders President Obama issued on his first day in office. Obama issued orders on ethics and transparency, and instituted a pay freeze for senior staff. He cracked down on lobbyists while the Commissioner responsible for enforcing BC's Lobbyist Registry has thrown up his hands because it is unenforceable and those close to the Premier do what they want. He froze the pay on senior White House staffers who make $100,000 a year or more, while Premier Campbell's staff laugh all the way to the bank with exorbitant pay increases. Obama also said there has been too much secrecy as he signed the "Presidential Memorandum on Transparency and Open Government" and the Executive Order on Presidential Records. The same day that Obama moved to create more openness and transparency, I received a letter from the Campbell government denying that the Office of the Premier had any records on senior positions the government has filled since 2006 and the number of applicants for each position. Who can possibly believe that those records don't exist?

In August, when Premier Campbell was off to the opening of the Beijing Olympics, his deputy announced new pay scales for Deputy and Assistant Deputy Ministers. The government spin was that higher pay was necessary to recruit scarce talent, so I submitted a freedom of information request for any reports on recruitment and retention difficulties and for a list of senior positions filled since 2006. On August 28th receipt of my request was acknowledged. On September 25th I was informed that my request was transferred to another branch because of the restructuring of Ministries, and in a letter dated January 19th I was informed that "the Office of the Premier has no responsive records" to my request. Keep in mind that under the Freedom of Information and Privacy Act, the government has an obligation to create a record where none exists if the information is available in another form.

In denying that it has records with respect to recruitment of senior staff, the Campbell government has once again denied logic and demonstrated its arrogance. It is possible to appeal the refusal to provide documents to the Office of the Commissioner, but my experience is that process takes months and seldom results in anything close to a satisfactory outcome. The Campbell government knows that it can ignore the law, give answers that obviously don't make sense and get away with it. There is a much different tone in Washington these days; it will take a change of government in BC if we want to see a change in tone here.