PS priority for widows still coming

By Kathryn May, Ottawa Citizen, April 19, 2010

Bureaucracy watchdog blames Justice department for delay on Tory promise to spouses of
slain military, reservists and RCMP

A year from exiting Afghanistan, the Harper government has yet to implement its promise that spouses of Canada’s military, reservists, RCMP and bureaucrats slain in the line of duty will get first dibs on jobs in the public service.

Liberal Senator Percy Downe said he was surprised the regulation, announced in 2008, has yet to be implemented and questioned whether the spouses of personnel killed in the line of duty in Afghanistan or on another assignment prior to 2008 would still be able to apply.

During Senate hearings last week, Downe pressed Public Service Commission president Maria Barrados, who announced the hiring preference, about the delay and who was responsible. Barrados said she, too, was frustrated and pinned the foot-dragging on the Justice department, which she said was on a “slower track.”
“In making any regulatory change, I have a long process to follow. It is not a lack of willingness on our part to make the change, but it has not been a priority for the people doing the department of Justice regulatory review,” she told the Senate finance committee.

She said she’s been assured the amendment to the Public Service Employment regulations will soon be published in the Canada Gazette, which will put it into effect.

Commission officials said it could be published as early as May.

When announced, spouses were supposed to request being placed on the public service’s “priority list” or inventory within two years of the death of the person killed on the job. But Barrados said the spouses and common-law partners of those killed since Canada started sending troops to Afghanistan in late 2001 will still be able to apply once the regulation is finally in place. The requests will be retroactive to Oct. 7, 2001.

Downe questioned how many will benefit from the hiring preference that will be coming into effect at a time when the government has frozen departmental budgets, slammed the brakes on spending and hiring is expected to sharply slow down.

The PSC keeps an inventory of all workers who have first crack at job vacancies as they come up. It’s called the priority list and comprises employees who have returned from leave, are affected by the relocation of spouses, been disabled or declared surplus.

Under the new regulation, spouses who request to go on the priority list for a public service job could stay on the list for two years. The priority expires once the spouse lands a public service job or turns one down for no sound reason.

Separate from the spousal priority, military and RCMP members who are discharged for medical reasons also get hiring preferences.

The commission introduced a “statutory veterans preference” in 1949 to help the more than 50,000 returning veterans find jobs in the public service after the Second World War.

In 2005, the PSC expanded the priority list so members of the military, RCMP and reserves who are released or discharged from service for medical reasons get the first opportunity to apply for public service jobs for which they qualify.

The demand for this hiring preference has picked up as the number of young veterans returning from Afghanistan increased. Last year, 260 went on the priority list and 205 of them found jobs in the public service. The proportion of applicants who actually get placed in jobs has varied over the years and Downe questioned what stood in the way of more of them landing jobs.

Downe said it seemed that few departments other than National Defence and Veterans Affairs were hiring these workers. He questioned whether the obstacle was that hiring has now been delegated to deputy ministers rather than the Public Service Commission.

But Barrados said the priority list is still managed by the commission and departments must consult the list when they fill positions to verify whether anyone qualifies before they look elsewhere.

She said some departments have said that RCMP and military members don’t have the skill sets that they are looking for.

But Wolfgang Zimmermann, of the National Institute of Disability Management and Research, doesn’t buy it. He argued a big barrier is most jobs require a university degree, which screens many of the medically discharged veterans out. He argued the government should be more flexible and accept training and experience as an equivalent to a degree.

“The majority of government jobs require a bachelor’s degree and that’s the crux of the problem,” said Zimmermann. “We have said, why on earth doesn’t the government come up with an equivalency assessment rather than imposing what is, without a doubt, an artificial barrier.”

Zimmermann said the government has a responsibility to help get these employees back to work. Also, as the country’s largest employer, the government has a breadth of jobs and opportunities that no company can offer. They are typically discharged because they are disabled mentally or physically and the longer they go without working, the more likely it is that they will never return. He said that opens the door to depression and a host of other social and economic problems.

“There is a low return when off work too long. They lose self-confidence, the disability becomes a crutch,” he said. “Attachment to the workforce is critical for the disabled, it gives meaning and sense of contribution. Too many are marginalized and living on the edges of society.”

Veterans Affairs provides disability benefits and support to about 4,100 veterans who have been medically discharged or are injured, but are still able to serve and remain in the Canadian Forces. About 2,200 of those receiving benefits served in Afghanistan.

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