Better pay for entry-level staff key to improved information system: commissioner
MLAs question Graham Steele on his annual report at legislative assembly
Information and Privacy Commissioner Graham Steele presented his 2022-23 annual report to a committee of the legislative assembly on Friday. To have a better system for information and privacy in Nunavut, the people handling the requests need to be better paid, Steele said. (Photo by David Lochead)
If the Government Nunavut wants a better system for handling requests for information and protecting privacy, it needs to provide better pay and benefits, says the territory’s information and privacy commissioner.
“We can talk here for the rest of the year, the rest of the decade, about how to improve the law,” Graham Steele said Friday, during a hearing on the recently released 2022-23 annual report of Nunavut’s information and privacy commissioner.
“But nothing fundamentally is going to change if the person doing the work is not being paid enough money.”
The hearing was held by the legislative assembly’s public accounts committee at the assembly building.
Steele said one of the biggest problems is that most government staff who work in positions involving the handling of information or privacy requests are entry-level.
Those people need time to be trained, but if they are not paid well enough or aren’t provided housing, they will look for another job that does.
Larger departments are more able to handle information and privacy requests because of better-paid and trained staff, Steele said.
A solution the Department of Executive and Intergovernmental Affairs is working on for smaller departments is to have a central unit that would handle those files, he said.
This would ensure that when a smaller department does not have a staff member to work on a file, someone will be available who can work on it to ensure the process moves forward.
“If someone goes on vacation, the files don’t stop. There’s somebody else to keep the work going,” Steele said.
Iqaluit-Sinaa MLA Janet Pitsiulaaq Brewster asked about the $25 fee for filing requests, adding that constituents have raised concerns about the ability to access important records.
Steele said Nunavut’s fee is one of the highest, if not the highest, charged by a jurisdiction in Canada.
However, he favours keeping a fee to deter frivolous requests. He referenced British Columbia as having that problem currently.
“If you get rid of the fee, there’s nothing to make an applicant stop and say ‘OK, is this worth $25 to me?’” Steele said.
He said if a person does not have the means to pay the fee, they can request to have it waived.
The hearing, which opened Friday, is scheduled to conclude Saturday.
Committee chairperson Iqaluit-Tasiluk MLA George Hickes said he anticipates the committee will present its report from this hearing in the next fall sitting.
The Government of Nunavut will have 120 days to respond to the report once it is presented.
I’m pretty sure weve been down this road before.
There’s literally people at the GN making $100,000 a year with housing that do next to nothing all day and refuse any type of “training”.
You can lead a horse to water…
Problem is not $$$. Problem is putting people in entry level positions with no work ethic who could care less about protecting client privacy.
This starts by stop hiring people without properly vetting them and hire people that actually have qualifications and experience to do the job at hand.
How many workers at the gn that got jobs without as much as a simple interview?
The GN has next to no information system positions, so there is no opportunity for training. The GN contracts out virtually all its information systems work. This has been going on for many years. The work goes to firms on a Standing Offer list, so it is almost invisible. The best way to see it is to look at the GN’s annual Contracting Reports. They get tabled in the Legislative Assembly each year.
Just looked at most recent report you mentioned and it does not provide enough details to see what you are referring to: https://assembly.nu.ca/sites/default/files/2024-03/2022-23%20CAR%20PAR-%20ENG.pdf. I also found a search engine that does provide a list of all contracts per year but it goes to 2020-21 only at this point.
Try this link:
https://assembly.nu.ca/tabled-documents
The report you found was just the contracts for Housing Corporation. You can see a whole bunch of Housing Corp. “jobs” that were contracted to people living down south.
You have to go further down to get to the Procurement Activity Report tabled by the Minister of CGS. It has appendicies listing the contracts from all GN departments during the year. Yes, not a lot of data about each one, but each is listed.
https://assembly.nu.ca/sites/default/files/2023-11/PAR%20Report%202021-22%20EN.pdf
At the little sik-sik hole where I’m from, it’s who you’re related to….(at any attempt). You’ll get beat up for “trying and you think you know everything”.
How about hiring competent staff?
GN staff in my town barely understand/read English.
They’re related to HR .
That’s their qualifications.
GN ‘s foundation at HR is toxic with revolving doors. Those who stay are able to sign where needed and nod the heads being safe. toxic . better exit interviews done would clarify this and then believed?
Interviews are great for finding people who are good at interviews.
Entry level? LMFAO!!!
Our premier barely has a high school level education. His experience was…(get this..) N.S. for almost two years…
Offer current salaries but remote option under the current HR policy, quality staff and a full roster will magically appear. If anything, departments will get upset that the ATIP staff become too competent and too efficient.
.
ATIP officers have a hard gig, search and assemble materials that are often sensitive to those who have them – emails that make them look bad. Internal discussions people thought were a secret. These officers can’t do a good job so long as they are under the thumb of those who pressure them to turn a blind eye and leave them along. Are you really going to push your boss for those email attachments he neglected to send when your annual leave approval is hanging in the balance?
this guy should learn to stick his own lane of business. wages?
Can we just go back to the NWT and Ottawa? Please?!!😪🥺
In NWT , ATIPP requests are processed in very efficient and effective manner with highly qualified people. These are processed as per the Act to meet the timelines.No pressure by the government or any of their involvement. If an applicant is not satisfied with the redactions applied as per the act, then they can appeal to the IPC for review.
I can tell an example that GN senior policy specialist, not knowing the ATIPP Act, gave a wrong advice to everyone they know behind closed doors and determined a privacy breach. But GN changed their opinion thereafter when IPC questioned them that’s because they are not qualified but act as if they know the law. When an applicant requests for information, they ask for $$$$ high price to keep you away from that information, before even collecting / gathering the information they give you estimates. How did you estimate? First gather the information requested and then estimate per page but here the policy specialist jumps the guns. GN will never change as long as unqualified people’s are holding these important positions and drive away hardworking, years of working experience and willingness to help people away by the Directors has to stop.
From a 2024 CBC Article:
An N.W.T. resident who has been waiting eight months for an access to information request says he wants to bring the territory to court — but he can’t afford the legal costs of doing so.
Ashley Geraghty submitted access to information and privacy (ATIPP) requests in April 2023. The requests are to access documents related to whether senior government officials complied with union and Workers’ Safety and Compensation Commission policies, according to emails shared with CBC News.
Under the territory’s access to information laws, individuals can ask for copies of government records ranging from emails, meeting minutes, records about deceased family members, or any other documents held by government bodies.
But the access and privacy office missed its initial 40-day deadline and did not comply with a subsequent order from the N.W.T.’s information and privacy commissioner to provide the documents to Geraghty “without further delay.”
The territorial office said a backlog was delaying Geraghty’s request, according to the commissioner’s order from July.
…
Range Lake MLA Kieron Testart is among the politicians Geraghty has contacted.
Testart says most citizens don’t have the resources to bring unfulfilled ATIPP orders to court and that the system needs to improve so they don’t have to hire a lawyer to get an access to information request — itself a fundamental right, he said.
“The [territorial government] has never had a good track record with access to information and with the protection of privacy for that matter and this is an ongoing issue that really needs the full attention of this assembly,” he said.
But Testart says he doesn’t think a review is the best way forward since it’s already well known that a lack of resources are to blame for delayed ATIPP responses.
The Government of Nunavut does not employ Inuktitut-speaking Access to Information and Protection of Privacy (ATIPP) managers or officers in most of its departments. This raises concerns about accessibility and inclusivity for all residents of Nunavut. It is imperative that this issue be addressed urgently to ensure that all members of the community have access to government services and information.
Pay entry level more??? Have you walked into any GN office lately? Most entry level people can barely tie their shoes let alone get a diploma from Highschool. Mr Steele needs to worry about getting competent staff, not paying the zombies more.