Speaking Notes for Patrick Borbey President of the Public Service Commission of Canada on Supplementary Estimates B and 2016-2017 Departmental Results Report
Speech
Government Operations and Estimates Committee
November 23, 2017
I am pleased to be here today along with Philip Morton, our Vice-President of Corporate Affairs, to discuss the Public Service Commission of Canada’s Supplementary Estimates B and our 2016-2017 Departmental Results Report.
The Public Service Commission (PSC) promotes and safeguards merit-based appointments and, in collaboration with other stakeholders, protects the non-partisan nature of the public service. The PSC reports directly to Parliament on its mandate.
The Minister of Public Services and Procurement Canada, as designated minister, tables our Annual Report and other reports in Parliament on our behalf.
Supplementary Estimates B
Our Supplementary Estimates B are fairly straight-forward. They provide for the transfer of $252,000 from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA). The CFIA is a separate agency named in Schedule V of the Financial Administration Act which uses the Public Service Resourcing System (PSRS) – the system behind the government’s primary job portal. As such, they are not subject to permanent transfers like other organizations. Their financial contributions to support PSRS have traditionally been provided via the Supplementary Estimates process. We are working to have this amount included in annual reference levels for future years.
Departmental Results Report
With regards to the Departmental Results Report, it is an exciting time to be leading the PSC. Our 2016-2017 report outlines many of the PSC’s accomplishments. I will not go into them in great detail, but I want to confirm that we recognize that no two departments are alike and have provided organizations with the room to staff positions in response to their unique needs.
We are placing a greater emphasis on designing our programs and services based on the needs of end users – hiring managers and job candidates. We are working with our partners to explore new and truly innovative ways to attract, recruit and assess qualified candidates from coast to coast to coast.
One case I will bring to your attention is the redesign of the student application process carried out last year. It saw the length of time to complete an application for employment reduced from 60 minutes to 6 minutes and from 10 pages of content to 4 pages. It is this type of innovation that I want to see incorporated into other aspects of our recruitment and assessment work.
I have been encouraging PSC staff to be bold, take intelligent risks and not be afraid to fail. I firmly believe that these elements are key to innovation and allow us to try new things and challenge the status quo.
As we approach the 110th anniversary of the creation of the PSC, I want to assure Parliament and Canadians that the changes we make will not compromise our role in safeguarding Canada’s merit-based and non-partisan public service, which is so well regarded across the world.
We would be pleased to answer any questions the Committee may have.