Nunavut MLA seeks answers about government’s use of contractors
Practice means Nunavut residents are missing out, says Iqaluit-Manirajak MLA Adam Lightstone
Iqaluit-Manirajak MLA Adam Lightstone put 11 detailed written questions to the minister responsible for the Department of Community and Government Services on Monday, March 4, about the department’s practice of hiring contractors. (File photo)
When MLAs in Nunavut’s legislature want to submit written questions to a minister, it’s usually taken for granted that they will receive the unanimous support needed to have these questions entered into the record without having to read them aloud.
But that didn’t happen on Monday, March 5, when Iqaluit-Manirajak MLA Adam Lightstone asked to submit detailed written questions about how the Department of Community and Governments Services contracts out jobs.
One MLA said “nay.” It was Lorne Kusugak, the minister responsible for the file.
As a result, Lightstone had to read all 11 of his sometimes-lengthy questions aloud in the legislative assembly.
At the time, the speaker of the house said he is not obliged to tell the legislative assembly who opposed the request.
However, Lightstone told Nunatsiaq News later that evening that he observed Kusugak saying nay.
Kusugak’s executive assistant, Mike Courtney, initially appeared to cast doubt on the claim.
“I am wondering why you are accusing Minister Kusugak in naying the questions,” Courtney wrote in an email.
“I believe the speaker is very clear in stating that he did not indicate it was a minister who nayed it. That he indicates that he only heard a nay? I reviewed the Hansard this morning and there is no indication of who nayed the request to submit the written question as read. Did you speak to the minister yourself about it after session yesterday?”
Asked to clarify if he was denying it was Kusugak, Courtney said, “Yes, it was him that denied the consent to have his question entered into the record as read.”
He said the reason is simple:
“The minister wanted the general public to hear the actual questions being asked and for the public to get an understanding of the level of detail that members ask for when they submit a written question. The public does not necessarily pick up the Hansard the next day to read the written questions.”
No intention of hiring Nunavummiut?
As he introduced his questions, Lightstone said he is concerned about the department’s practice of hiring contract workers instead of indeterminate employees.
“During the winter sitting we’re being asked by the government to vote on the number of positions and the compensation and benefits associated with them, with the intention that they will be going to Nunavummiut,” said Lightstone.
“It appears that we’re being asked to vote on these positions and the funding for Nunavummiut, while it appears that the departments have no intention of doing so.”
Lightstone asked for details on specific contract services from the 2016-2017 procurement activity report.
He said this was in order to “identify the scope of the issue and if it is still ongoing.”
As well, he asked about an information technology program CGS offers in partnership with Nunavut Arctic College.
When he finished reading them, he said he looked forward to submitting more.
Lightstone’s questions
1. Please provide the organizational chart of CGS as of April 1, 2016, identifying job titles, pay grades, and whether positions were filled by an indeterminate employee, determinate employee, casual employee, contractor or vacant. Include reporting structure for casuals or contractors who are currently working in positions that are not funded.
2. Please provide for each: the start date of current contract, end date of current contract, if contract was extended, when was the original start date, how the contract amount was determined, is the work done by contract in Nunavut or out of the territory, if the work was done in Nunavut what community and what was the duration? Why were the positions contracted out and not filled by an indeterminate employee? And what position would have done the same or similar work?
3. Please provide for each job title: When was the last time the position was advertised? How many times were the positions advertised? When? And what is the current or most recent job evaluation?
4. Please provide the organizational chart for CGS as of April 1, 2017, identifying job titles, pay grades and whether the positions were filled by an indeterminate employee, term employee, casual employee, contractor or were vacant. Please include the reporting structure for casuals or contractors currently working in unfunded positions.
5. Same as 4 but for 2018.
6. What role did the “contract support division/section” referenced in the procurement activity report play in preparing the request for proposals and extensions of the listed contract employees?
7. Does the contract support division/section referenced in the report provide assistance with other departments in procuring contractors to fill the roles and responsibilities intended for employees? Which departments?
8. When did CGS begin working with NAC on the informatics cooperative training program to train Nunavummiut on information technology?
9. How many times has that program been provided and how many graduates did the program produce?
10. How many graduates have worked for CGS?
11. How many graduates still work for CGS?
When they say Nunavummiut are they talking about all Nunavummiut or just beneficiaries?
This is a total fishing expedition. Almost all of those contract positions are likely for very specifically trained and highly skilled IT workers. Does the MLA for Iqaluit-Manirajak really think that NAC produces the quantity and quality of IT graduates needed to meet the needs of large and fully integrated government IT systems like those used by the GN? I can think of far better ways for Mr. Lightstone to be utilizing his time, the time of his colleagues and those of the department officials who must now respond to his request.
MLA Lightstone brings up a very good topic. Contractors. There is a subject heading on them in the GN CBA. One that CGS mgmt repeatedly skirts around. Yes! there are IT-type contractors in CGS but also project managers, business anaylsts, etc. There is no contractor job in CGS that cdn’t be done by someone local. The benefits contractors receive is off the charts. I feel for the Indeterminate & Casual CGS GN employees. These poor folks have to put up with a lot. CGS Iqaluit is a divisive toxic enviro. Incidentally, I used to be a contractor for CGS. Got fed up with the incompetence of CGS mgmt & took my talents south.
“There is no contractor job in CGS that cdn’t be done by someone local. ”
Interesting comment.
Where are all these unemployed local business analysts?
Don’t forget all the contracts to build the schools, public housing and so on, these companies that are awarded these contracts are rolling in money all the way back down south, with their token Inuk head making a little bit of money.
No training, internships, it will always be the same. Millions and millions flowing out of Nunavut and not building up the Nunavut economy.
Yes, you are right. The contractors from the south who come up here to build schools that were burned down by local kids, to build public housing for Nunavummiuit that don’t have a job because they did not finish school. Where are the local contractors, trades, IT specialists? Whoms fault is is that they not exist? The money coming into Nunavut comes from the Government of Canada and it is mostly needed to create and support infrastructure, pay for Health services to Inuit, Education and government services. Don’t you think there are countless opportunities for Inuit to learn and start their own business? I can just imagine how you would feel if your company has zero workers showing up on a regular work day. Another option to make money is to build or manage a hotel and to charge customers with ridiculous rates for a filthy bed and tasteless food. Thank godness we have all the GN contractors traveling to the communities. They can be charged… Surprised that tourism in Nunavut is at a stand still? It’s easy to always blame someone else for your inabilities, laziness or just purely, simple errors. You can’t keep blaming it on the shooting of the sled dogs, the Catholic Church or mental illness. As much as I’m disgusted by what happened some years ago, now it is time to move on and to make the best out of it. You want respect, you have to earn it, you want an income, you need a job. You want a job, you need to finish the very basic High School and ideally move on to trades, college or even more. Tell me honestly, how would Nunavut look like and function if you take the contractors from the south, or as a matter of fact all people from the south and move them out of the Territory? Do you think Nunavut would be able to provide services to its citizens? Fuel, water, power, Internet, food, housing, search and rescue, education, health, legal
You’re right, the visceral complaining is mind numbing. Inuit would be doing all the jobs if they had the training. It would save the government and even these contractors tons of money.
Don’t be so defensive now, are you saying it’s ok for the GN to over pay for all these contracts? We have these same contractors who even have their own planes to fly in and out with their southern workers making so much more instead of the GN making sure there are internships apprenticeships and training made available to build the capacity over the years.
Awarding these over inflated contracts to token Inuit companies and majority almost all of the workers are from the south and most of that GN money flowing down south and. It staying in Nunavut. This needs to change, provide better education, more training and make sure these companies help build capacity so more of these contracts actually stay in Nunavut, help build the Nunavut economy instead of the current system where to flows south and Nunavut loses out.
We have a few token Inuit companies with Inuit names rolling in money and they don’t want anything changed, the system works very well for them.
You’re missing the point. The reason these companies have nothing but a “token inuit head” is because you can’t find trained, reliable workers to show up and do the work. Inuit also usually don’t form and run these companies, yet there is a requirement that they need to be “inuit” to get the contract, so someone has to be installed at the top as a figurehead so that some company can get the work and get the actual job done. There aren’t any inuit or genuinely inuit companies going after the work. They aren’t being shut out, they just don’t exist. The first step, that has not been taken in 20 years of Nunavut, is for people to get the training (that is basically handed to them anyway), take the job, show up for the job, and get the actual work done. That is the missing link. Outsiders have fallen over themselves trying to help inuit become the workers, yet in 20+ years (because the help started long before then) Nunavut is not that much further ahead with having inuit do those jobs. In the places where they have been inserted (like many GN jobs), sometimes unfortunately the work doesn’t get done, either. It’s not the fault of non-inuit, and it’s not some racket to keep them out of the jobs. They could have them all if they got the training and then did them.
Adam you should be asking the same question to thr power corp. Contractors or CSAs geeting flow in and out, per diems, free housing sitting along side real perminent staff but getting more bennefits. How is this legal or just ? How are these CSAs/ Contractors found? Family and Friends of the bunch working there? Where is Minister Hickes in monitoring all this?
Once repercussions are put in place to dissuade the overuse of contractors, things will change. And, to set a MAX % for overall Dept budgets.
Maybe if the GN had a better compensation package, they wouldn’t have to revert to hiring contractors instead of full time staff. It’s time to look at the real cost of acquiring skilled people so you can adjust your compensation package according that may offer more incentive to attract people. The GN is not the only organization struggling to find qualified people with the skills needed, this is a national trend. Unfortunately they just haven’t done anything to address it. Using contractors to replace staff is still be paid by taxpayers and cost more, so start rewarding the staff who call Nunavut home and not those who are skilled but have the option of fly in and out every few weeks. What is the incentive to stay?
You nailed it. More money, more incentives are needed. Why would want one to go to a dirty over crowded school, to learn. Why would you, when all you need to do is pick up the phone and call social services…..they will give you what you need for Nothing.
We need to give more so people will want work.
There are many issues related to the use of contractors.
Probably the biggest reason for using them is when they provide essential services.
This is because of the slow pace of the GN hiring process, with an average of 9 months from the posting of a position to it being filled.
Imagine if the email system technician quit and we had to wait nine months to hire someone to fix the email system.
With the contractors, if someone quits, CGS calls the contracting firm and they put a replacement person on the next plane going north.
That’s why it will be a long time before the GN can eliminate the need (and cost) of all contractors.
The GN & in particular CGS, haven’t even attempted to address a long-term ‘local’ resource solution to eliminate contractor technical resource requirements. Why? Because CGS have no idea how to do it and no inclination to want to do it. They want the simplest solution so they don’t have to do anything that takes any creative imagination. Simply call beavertec, swgi, donna cona, clearstream, etc, and hope they can find some contractor who understands english, has a work visa & whose qualifications may (or not) check out. I was a contractor and was shocked at the technical knowledge shortfalls & highly suspect qualifications of 50% of CGS contractors. And CGS mgmt was a 100% disaster. All contractor positions could & should be filled by local people.
You are right. Some contract workers are extremely competent, while others are clueless. Most are somewhere in between. Canada is increasingly being subverted by the common USA practice of “fake it until you make it.”
Employers increasingly don’t want to hire for the long term and don’t want to train. They want people who can “hit the ground running”. Schooling only goes so far. Real experience is required. How do you get experience when employers only want to hire people with experience? You falsify your resume. What else can you do when employers demand 5 years of experience with a technology that is only 2 years old? You fake it until you’ve accumulated enough experience to actually be able to do the job.
Another reason for continuing the current practice is to build a relationship with the southern contracting firm in the hope of returning south and getting a management job working for the contractor.
Thank you Adam for being the sole MLA who is willing to ask the tough questions. The people in your district, Iqaluit and Nunavut are truly represented by you.
Iqal. I ask the same question about George Hickes. George who is accountable for the GN HR dept. is missing in action. George is fully aware of hiring violations where Inuit and locals who were fully qualified are screened out, so that GN and it’s agencies can hire friends and family from the south. I’m truly disappointed in how George is ignoring the people who have called on him for his support. He is failing the people of Nunavut and those who have elected you. The next election is coming and this time my family and I won’t be wasting our votes on a deadbeat MLA like him.
George is all smiles during campaign season but when it comes to standing up for us we are better off with Pat and Adam. You mean to tell me he never heard of the abuse and HR violations in CGS and QEC? Not at the grocery store, the airport, or sitting around the poker table? It is people who do nothing who are the biggest problem. We know you know.
Keep going do not let up. Be the voice that the others are not. It seems the departments with deputy heads newly from the south are the worst for violating priority hiring and the use of contractors. George has a short window to shake things up and then HR will be handed off. Those of us in IQ will remember that he had the chance to do something. It is up to him now.