OTTAWA — Eyebrow-raising emails played a key role in the investigation of Kevin MacAdam’s appointment at the Atlantic Canada Opportunity Agency.
Internal ACOA emails made references to special “issues” and “sensitivities” around the hiring of MacAdam, a Conservative staffer.
They also referred to untraceable BlackBerry messages, Public Service Commission investigators found.
The commission ultimately revoked MacAdam’s appointment. They found senior ACOA staff bent hiring processes so that he could qualify for the job of director of operations for Prince Edward Island.
MacAdam and several ACOA staff who were punished for bending the rules are appealing that decision to the Federal Court. They say the appointment followed the rules and MacAdam was the most qualified candidate.
At no point in the investigation did ACOA staff say the new position was being set up specifically for MacAdam. But there was talk.
Human resources director Lorraine Leger told investigators that rumours were circulating within ACOA that the job was for a particular individual.
“She did not have specific knowledge of the source of those rumours, but did recall hearing Kevin MacAdam’s name being mentioned,” said the report.
She said the rumours did not cause her to treat the process any differently.
On Oct. 27, 2010, shortly before MacAdam was hired, Leger sent an email, titled Tried to PIN but would not send, to Kent Estabrooks, ACOA’s former director-general of human resources.
PIN is the term for sending a direct message from one BlackBerry to another, thus bypassing the government’s email servers.
ACOA does not store PIN messages on its server, which means the messages would not be available to access to information requests.
Leger said Estabrooks asked her how to rationalize not requiring applicants to be bilingual when the new job required French proficiency.
Leger replied, “The rationale needs to address attempts we have made to ‘ensure’ there are no other qualified candidats (sic) who meet the language requirements.”
The commission found ACOA never searched to see if a bilingual candidate was available.
It also found that Estabrooks and other senior ACOA managers — but not Leger — dropped the bilingualism requirement specifically so MacAdam, who only spoke English, could qualify.
Leger said she rarely sent PIN messages and couldn’t recall why she tried to send one. Estabrooks said he didn’t ask her to send the information that way.
Another email shows some staff wanted to fill the role internally, but this was brushed aside.
Patrick Dorsey, ACOA’s vice-president for P.E.I. and one of the people punished by the commission, didn’t initially see the point of seeking external candidates such as MacAdam.
But Estabrooks wrote on October 28, 2010, that Dorsey had suggested the job be opened up externally.
“He (Dorsey) said he preferred to go internal, but that he understood the dynamics/issue and said he’d be OK with that,” said Estabrooks.
Asked by commission investigators what that meant, Dorsey said the “dynamics/issue” referred to the time frame and difficulty of attracting good candidates.
Another human resources director, Charlene Sullivan, questioned whether unilingual candidates should be considered given the cost of French training.
“There would not, in my opinion, be any support for a non-imperative action” she wrote in a July 23, 2010, email.
Two weeks later, Sullivan emailed another ACOA executive that, among other things, “I have explained to Peter (O’Connell, director for classification) the sensitivities of the file.”
When asked about this statement by investigators, Sullivan said she was responding to O’Connell’s concern that the new position may not warrant such a high classification level.
After MacAdam won the job, he began two years of French training in Ottawa while drawing his salary of $116,000 to $136,000 per year.
Another email said current ACOA president Paul LeBlanc was “driving” the quick schedule in filling the new position.
While it is not addressed in the emails, investigators found that Keith Ashfield, the then-ACOA minister, did not have the funds to keep on some ACOA staffers carried over from when Peter MacKay was ACOA minister.
MacAdam’s employment in the minister’s office was shaky and he had made it known he was looking for a civil service job, the commission found.
The commission ultimately penalized Estabrooks, Dorsey, Leblanc and another executive, Monique Collette, for acting improperly by bending the appointment process to allow MacAdam to qualify.
Estabrooks, Dorsey and MacAdam are asking the Federal Court to review the decision.
In a written statement to the court, Estabrooks argued that opening up the process to allow qualified candidates to apply was common practice at ACOA.
“Managers and human resources professionals routinely use their knowledge of the known or potential existence of specific candidates,” said Estabrooks.
“In my view, not to do so would be illogical and potentially unfair.”
Original Article
Source: thechronicleherald.ca
Author: PAUL McLEOD
Internal ACOA emails made references to special “issues” and “sensitivities” around the hiring of MacAdam, a Conservative staffer.
They also referred to untraceable BlackBerry messages, Public Service Commission investigators found.
The commission ultimately revoked MacAdam’s appointment. They found senior ACOA staff bent hiring processes so that he could qualify for the job of director of operations for Prince Edward Island.
MacAdam and several ACOA staff who were punished for bending the rules are appealing that decision to the Federal Court. They say the appointment followed the rules and MacAdam was the most qualified candidate.
At no point in the investigation did ACOA staff say the new position was being set up specifically for MacAdam. But there was talk.
Human resources director Lorraine Leger told investigators that rumours were circulating within ACOA that the job was for a particular individual.
“She did not have specific knowledge of the source of those rumours, but did recall hearing Kevin MacAdam’s name being mentioned,” said the report.
She said the rumours did not cause her to treat the process any differently.
On Oct. 27, 2010, shortly before MacAdam was hired, Leger sent an email, titled Tried to PIN but would not send, to Kent Estabrooks, ACOA’s former director-general of human resources.
PIN is the term for sending a direct message from one BlackBerry to another, thus bypassing the government’s email servers.
ACOA does not store PIN messages on its server, which means the messages would not be available to access to information requests.
Leger said Estabrooks asked her how to rationalize not requiring applicants to be bilingual when the new job required French proficiency.
Leger replied, “The rationale needs to address attempts we have made to ‘ensure’ there are no other qualified candidats (sic) who meet the language requirements.”
The commission found ACOA never searched to see if a bilingual candidate was available.
It also found that Estabrooks and other senior ACOA managers — but not Leger — dropped the bilingualism requirement specifically so MacAdam, who only spoke English, could qualify.
Leger said she rarely sent PIN messages and couldn’t recall why she tried to send one. Estabrooks said he didn’t ask her to send the information that way.
Another email shows some staff wanted to fill the role internally, but this was brushed aside.
Patrick Dorsey, ACOA’s vice-president for P.E.I. and one of the people punished by the commission, didn’t initially see the point of seeking external candidates such as MacAdam.
But Estabrooks wrote on October 28, 2010, that Dorsey had suggested the job be opened up externally.
“He (Dorsey) said he preferred to go internal, but that he understood the dynamics/issue and said he’d be OK with that,” said Estabrooks.
Asked by commission investigators what that meant, Dorsey said the “dynamics/issue” referred to the time frame and difficulty of attracting good candidates.
Another human resources director, Charlene Sullivan, questioned whether unilingual candidates should be considered given the cost of French training.
“There would not, in my opinion, be any support for a non-imperative action” she wrote in a July 23, 2010, email.
Two weeks later, Sullivan emailed another ACOA executive that, among other things, “I have explained to Peter (O’Connell, director for classification) the sensitivities of the file.”
When asked about this statement by investigators, Sullivan said she was responding to O’Connell’s concern that the new position may not warrant such a high classification level.
After MacAdam won the job, he began two years of French training in Ottawa while drawing his salary of $116,000 to $136,000 per year.
Another email said current ACOA president Paul LeBlanc was “driving” the quick schedule in filling the new position.
While it is not addressed in the emails, investigators found that Keith Ashfield, the then-ACOA minister, did not have the funds to keep on some ACOA staffers carried over from when Peter MacKay was ACOA minister.
MacAdam’s employment in the minister’s office was shaky and he had made it known he was looking for a civil service job, the commission found.
The commission ultimately penalized Estabrooks, Dorsey, Leblanc and another executive, Monique Collette, for acting improperly by bending the appointment process to allow MacAdam to qualify.
Estabrooks, Dorsey and MacAdam are asking the Federal Court to review the decision.
In a written statement to the court, Estabrooks argued that opening up the process to allow qualified candidates to apply was common practice at ACOA.
“Managers and human resources professionals routinely use their knowledge of the known or potential existence of specific candidates,” said Estabrooks.
“In my view, not to do so would be illogical and potentially unfair.”
Original Article
Source: thechronicleherald.ca
Author: PAUL McLEOD
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