2001 Legislative Session: 2nd Session, 37th Parliament
THIRD READING


The following electronic version is for informational purposes only.
The printed version remains the official version.


Certified correct as passed Third Reading on the 27th day of August, 2001
Ian D. Izard, Law Clerk


HONOURABLE SANDY SANTORI
MINISTER OF MANAGEMENT SERVICES

BILL 10 -- 2001

Public service (merit employment commissioner)
Amendment ACT, 2001

HER MAJESTY, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of British Columbia, enacts as follows:

1 Section 1 of the Public Service Act, R.S.B.C. 1996, c. 385, is amended by adding the following definition:

"merit commissioner" means the commissioner in his or her capacity as the Merit Commissioner referred to in section 5 (2).

2 Section 5 (2) is repealed and the following substituted:

(2) The Lieutenant Governor in Council, on the recommendation of the Legislative Assembly, must appoint an individual to be the commissioner and deputy minister responsible for the commission and to hold office as the Merit Commissioner under this Act.

(2.1) The Legislative Assembly must not recommend an individual to be appointed under subsection (2) unless a special committee of the Legislative Assembly has unanimously recommended to the Legislative Assembly that the individual be appointed.

(2.2) The individual appointed under subsection (2) is to be appointed for a term of 3 years and may be reappointed in the manner provided in this section for further 3 year terms.

(2.3) The individual who, immediately before this subsection comes into force, is the commissioner and deputy minister responsible for the commission continues in office in both capacities until the date on which a successor is appointed under subsection (2), and, until that date, also holds office as the merit commissioner.

3 The following sections are added:

Merit commissioner

5.1 (1) The merit commissioner is responsible for monitoring the application of the merit principle under this Act by

(a) conducting random audits of appointments to and from within the public service to assess whether

(i) the recruitment and selection processes were properly applied to result in appointments based on merit, and

(ii) the individuals when appointed possessed the required qualifications for the positions to which they were appointed, and

(b) reporting the audit results to the deputy ministers or other persons having overall responsibility for the ministries, boards, commissions, agencies or organizations, as the case may be, in which the appointments were made.

(2) In carrying out his or her responsibilities as merit commissioner under this section he or she must not conduct audits or issue reports in respect of the period before June 5, 2001.

Annual report of merit commissioner

5.2 (1) The merit commissioner must report annually, no later than May 31, to the Legislative Assembly concerning the merit commissioner's activities under this Act since the last report was made under this section.

(2) The Speaker must lay each annual report before the Legislative Assembly as soon as practicable, if it is in session.

(3) If the Legislative Assembly is not in session on the date of the annual report, or within 10 days after that date, the annual report must be promptly filed with the Clerk of the Legislative Assembly.

(4) The report of the merit commissioner under this section must not disclose

(a) personal information, as defined in Schedule 1 of the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, relating to individuals who applied for or were appointed to positions in the public service, or

(b) the identity of persons who participated on behalf of the ministries, boards, commissions, agencies or organizations, as the case may be, in the selection of the individuals appointed to positions in the public service.

4 Section 6 (b) is repealed and the following substituted:

(b) with respect to employees of a ministry or a board, commission, agency or organization to which this Act applies, delegate any of his or her powers, duties or functions under this Act or the regulations, other than as the merit commissioner, to

(i) a deputy minister or other employee of the ministry, or

(ii) a member, officer or employee of the board, commission, agency or organization, .

5 Section 7 is repealed and the following substituted:

Access to facilities and records

7 For the purposes of carrying out his or her duties as commissioner and merit commissioner, the commissioner is entitled to access to

(a) ministries,

(b) boards, commissions, agencies and organizations that are declared to be subject to this section under section 3, and

(c) records, of ministries or of those boards, commissions, agencies and organizations, containing information pertinent to those duties or to personnel matters.

6 Section 12 (3) is repealed and the following substituted:

(3) Sections 5.1, 8 and 18 do not apply to appointments under this section.


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