The government of Nova Scotia has introduced a new
process to
ensure that fully qualified applicants are appointed to the
province's adjudicative boards. It is part of ongoing
improvements to the appointment
process for agencies, boards and
commissions.
"The new
process is similar to the one used
for judges and for
members of the
Utility and
Review
Board," said Gordon Balser,
Minister of the Public Service Commission.
"It is designed to
ensure that every member of each
board is well
qualified."
Adjudicative boards make decisions that affect a person's
liberty, security or legal rights. Government
has 28 adjudicative
boards, ranging from the Regional Assessment
Appeal
Board to the
Psychiatric Facilities
Review
Board.
Under the new system, eight advisory committees
have been set up
to screen potential members for these boards. The five-member
committees are chaired by a human
resources professional
appointed by the public service commissioner, and include two
other government employees
and two members of the public, also
selected in a competitive
process.
Each committee provides a list
of three to six qualified
board applicants
to the minister.
Descriptions have been prepared for all adjudicative
boardpositions. These descriptions detail the qualifications needed
and the selection criteria to be used. Positions will
be
advertised to ensure fair notice is given to potential
candidates. All documents will be available on the Executive
Council Office Web site
www.gov.ns.ca/exec_council/boards.asp .
Advisory committees are now in place and the committees will make
appointments to each
board
as vacancies arise.
The new
process is part of a January 2002
agreement with
Archibald Kaiser, who lodged a human rights complaint in 1995
that he was discriminated against on
the basis of political
affiliation.
The province has applied the
process
to more than double the
number of boards specified under the agreement with Mr. Kaiser.
Other terms of the agreement
have also been met, including:
-- provision of $15,000 to the Nova Scotia Human Rights
Commission for education
on discrimination on the basis of
political affiliation; and
-- provision of $90,000 over three years for the commission
to
work with the Nova Scotia Disabled Persons Commission to promote
education on mental health issues.
"We have fulfilled all the terms of the Kaiser settlement, as
part of our ongoing improvements to the selection
process for
agencies, boards and commissions," said Mr. Balser. "The
Nova
Scotia government has one of the strongest selection processes
for these appointments."
As part
of its earlier efforts to improve the appointment
process, the province
established a system that allows a
legislative committee to scrutinize appointments to agencies,
boards and commissions.
However, the new adjudicative
boardappointment
process,
being open and competitive, will be exempt
from this
review.
FOR BROADCAST USE:
The Nova Scotia government has a new
process
to make sure
fully qualified applicants are appointed to 28 provincial boards.
The
process is based on the model used for judges and
members
of the Utilities and
Review Board.
Committees that
include three government employees and two members of the public
will select people
qualified for the government appointments.
The
process
applies to boards that make decisions about
things like housing assessments appeals, labour standards, and
teacher certification appeals.
The new system is part of a 2002 agreement
made with
Dalhousie Law professor Archibald Kaiser, who complained in 1995
that he wasn't appointed
to a
board for political reasons.
Gordon
Balser, Minister of the Public Service Commission,
says Nova Scotia has the best appointment
process
in Canada for
agencies, boards, and commissions.
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Contact: Cathy Shaw
Public Service Commission
902-424-4879
Cell: 902-430-3657
E-mail:
shawcm@gov.ns.cakjd
January 29, 2003 10:54 A.M.