Minority Hiring at PWGSC: Some advice for Deputy Minister David Marshall
David Marshall, Deputy Minister of Public Works and Government Services Canada
From the National Post:
A major federal department has temporarily banned the hiring of able-bodied white men in an unusual move critics say could spark a backlash against the very disadvantaged groups it is meant to help.
Managers in the Public Works department must hire only visible minorities, women, aboriginals and the disabled, except with written permission from their superiors, David Marshall, the deputy minister, ordered in an e-mail circulated yesterday.
Pierre Teotonio, a department spokesman, said last night the order was prompted in part by a precipitous drop in the number of employees hired from the designated groups this year. The proportion of female, disabled, aboriginal and non-white new hires fell from one in eight this March to only one in 20 by September, he said. The federal benchmark just for the hiring of visible minorities is one in five.
Oddly, David Marshall could kill two birds with one stone -- address the question of the quality of aborignal hires and clear the air about the Abotech affair.
Technorati Tags: David Smith, Frank Brazeau, Abotech, PWGSC, David Marshall
One of David Marshall's employees was Frank Brazeau, the bureaucrat let go over the Abotech affair. As I've suggested, I wonder if Frank Brazeau was being used as cover in order to protect the business and personal reputation of Liberal MP David Smith, representing the riding of Pontiac.
As it is, Frank Brazeau is a legitimate aboriginal (unlike David Smith).
So if David Marshall wants to find a way to increase the number of aboriginals in PWGSC without resorting to hiring quotas that have the effect of diminishing the perceived qualifications of all those hired under that quota system, he can start by revealing all that is known about the Abotech affair, and if Frank Brazeau is being unfairly targeted, restore his position.
There! PWGSC is up by one.
Frank Brazeau might aid his cause by coming forward with what he knows. One way to combat the demeaning effect of favouritism is to stop hiding behind it. He could stand up as an example of individual integrity that has nothing to do with being an aboriginal or disabled or whatever.
Regardless of his share in the fault in this matter, coming forward can only help clear the air at PWGSC, and show that at least this one quota-driven hire was a good one, in the end.
As it is, his story just reinforces the negativity that grows from these quotas:
"It's even creating more frustration or anger from the workforce as well as from the population ... I am quite sure the people they hire will be competent and good employees, but that is not the point here. They will be seen as targets, and then people will question their hiring, and I don't think it will help them." [Nycole Turmel, president of the Public Service Alliance of Canada]
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Comments
Why doesn't Marshall walk the walk, by resigning ? He looks like a white male to me, after all.
Posted by: Jay at November 20, 2005 05:01 PM
Seems like he's covered by the mentally disabled part.
Posted by: Jay at November 20, 2005 05:50 PM
Part of the performance rating of senior bureaucrats is linked to the percentages of 'target' groups in their populations. That means not only getting the minority people hired, but getting them to identify themselves as such. "Self-Identification: Self-identification is the process by which an employee voluntarily states that his/her belonging to one or several target groups as defined in TBS's policy." To get her bonus, the boss needs me to say I am disabled? Maybe next year.
Posted by: Billy B. ByTown at November 20, 2005 11:30 PM
And Marshall is paid how much to do this?
Posted by: eastern paul at November 22, 2005 02:56 AM
None of the contracts were set-asides, the majority were competitive and Brazeau did not have signing authority. He is a scapegoat as the issue is not about Abotech, it is about the process at Consulting and Audit Canada that was disbanded in late October.
Posted by: at November 22, 2005 09:09 PM
Care to elaborate? Contact me and we'll chat.
Posted by: Angry in T.O. at November 22, 2005 10:38 PM
Brazeau was not a contracting officer, he was a consultant whose role was to sell CAC services to government departments. There was a probe at the RCMP and there was no wrong doing by Brazeau. Management is embarassed about the issue and are scared of legal reprisals.
Posted by: at November 23, 2005 11:16 AM
I've suggested as much -- I've come to believe that Frank Brazeau is being scapegoated. So let's be specific.
I've also realized that Frank Brazeau could not be guilty of anything, given his level of authority.
What is the issue?
What are the potential reprisals?
Who at the RCMP and at PWGSC/CAC is scared?
Posted by: Angry in T.O. at November 23, 2005 11:28 AM
The issue is the process CAC issued used to tender and administer contracts. Brazeau is under strict rules not to speak to the press or any government official until the air is cleared. I heard that Brazeau has a huge lawsuit with the Crown and the media. The government will wait until after the elections to clear the air.
As for Abotech, I am not certain what the issue is but to my knowledge all contracts were legitimate. Your scoop about the $30 billion lawsuit has nothing to do with this as the pension fund was removed by Martin as finance minister just like the EI fund.
Posted by: at November 23, 2005 01:14 PM
Why after the election? What needs to the aired that can't be aired right now? Either there is a scandal or not.
Maybe the government wants to wait, but Canadians ought to know before filling in their ballots.
So CAC is allocating contracts badly. But Frank Brazeau can't sign off on contracts. That means someone else is involved. Marc Carriere, the guy who disappeared from the government directory the same day that Frank Brazeau was deleted?
Someone higher up? David Marshall must know what's going on. Has David Marshall spoken personally with Frank Brazeau?
If Frank Brazeau is suing, that means he thinks he has been wronged. Does he deny having anything to do with the CAC contract administration? Or is he just denying sole responsibility for the problem? Who does he say had the responsibility?
Was CAC tendering contracts to prefered companies? Other than Abotech? And the administration -- any problems with expenses or commissions?
None of this explains why Abotech lost the contracts if they were legitimate. Or the relationship between Brazeau and Smith.
So the RCMP pension fund thing was just a coincidence? I can believe that, but then it must also be a coincidence that just as Morneau Sobeco completes the work of taking over the RCMP pension fund in October 2003, a story breaks that millions in bogus expenses were charged to the fund. And Abotech's contract to managed the pension fund manager run from January to December of 2003.
Posted by: Angry in T.O. at November 23, 2005 02:02 PM
Frank Brazeau was an extremely hard working individual and I am tired seeing his name dragged in the mud. I don`t care about Abotech, Smith, the Liberals or Conservatives. All I want is for his reputation to be restored. He is a great person and does not deserve all this negative publicity.
One of Frank's many friends.
Posted by: at November 23, 2005 02:07 PM
You are not the first person who's told me this, and I tend to believe you. But right now, unless someone speaks up, the circumstantial evidence looks bad. For now, he is the only person to have been disciplined because of, well, whatever it is that required disciplining.
The government seems happy to leave him twisting in the wind. Give me something concrete, something that points in a different direction from Frank.
Posted by: Angry in T.O. at November 23, 2005 03:05 PM
I agree the government is the entity that is mistreating him and still continues to mistreat him. It is always easy to blame the little guy, but there have been other people sent home with regards to this case. People are innocent until proven otherwise in this country and I know that the truth whatever it is, will be coming out soon.
If Brazeau were guilty, he would have been fired. I do not have anything concrete to give you, except that there are a lot of people supporting him.
Posted by: at November 23, 2005 04:12 PM
Tell those people that I'm here, and if anyone has something they want to add, or better yet, something concrete they want to share (identities will be protected), let them get in touch with me.
Suspended without pay is just a step short of being fired. I've wondered if he had been fired at some point, perhaps when his name got yanked from the government directory, but you're saying he's still suspended. Interesting...
Other people suspended as well? That puts a different spin on things. Just being able to report on that will take the heat off of him and possibly shift the focus away from the Abotech link.
You can always email me. Who else has been maltreated?
Posted by: Angry in T.O. at November 23, 2005 04:26 PM
...And Marshall is paid how much to do this?...
If you really want to know, politicians compensation can be found on the Canadian Taxpayers Federation website:
http://www.taxpayer.com/main/content.php?content_id=6
Posted by: JM at November 24, 2005 07:19 PM
...he was a consultant whose role was to sell CAC services to government departments...
We need government departments to sell services to other government departments? I’m curious what happens if one particular government department decides that it doesn’t want to buy a particular service from CAC, what happens then?
...it is about the process at Consulting and Audit Canada that was disbanded in late October...
From the Consulting and Audit Canada website:
Realignment of Consulting and Audit Canada
The functions of Consulting and Audit Canada (CAC) have recently been realigned. This change is to ensure appropriate segregation of consulting and audit services and to respond to the government’s plan to strengthen auditing across government...
http://www.cac.gc.ca/corp/internet/cacinternet.nsf/vmain/pifler704?OpenDocument
If would have been nice if they could have provided an effective date for this realignment. The only date appearing on this page is on the bottom indicating that the page was last updated on 2003-04-04.
...disappeared from the government directory...
The Government Directory now includes the following statement (in bold) … “It is the policy of some departments not to list all their employees”.
http://direct.srv.gc.ca/cgi-bin/direct500/TE?FN=index.htm
Posted by: JM at November 24, 2005 08:33 PM
This story is very disturbing, given the fact that I am a fully status native Canadian and that I come from the Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg community, which coincidentally Frank “CLAIMS” he comes from. What has got me extremely upset is the fact that he is claiming he is a status native Canadian, which people from my community know that it is a complete farce. By the way, claiming that you are native and not required to provide proof can really help someone when appointments or applications for any position are up for grabs in the government. The second most unsettling thing is that he was put in charge of a unit that was to ensure that native owned businesses got certain grants and contracts, and the president of Abotech is…..you guessed it, a non native Canadian citizen. I though this genius would have known that given that they are first cousins. Seems to me like both people love to claim things that will get them ahead and don’t think twice about who or what cultures they insult. I am as friendly as any Canadian person you may meet, but being native I have experienced certain disadvantage in my life because of my culture, language and skin color. It irks me when I hear about things like this and I had to voice my 2 cents.
Posted by: Bidou at December 7, 2005 02:56 PM
 
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