HANSARD
Printed and Published by Nova Scotia Hansard Reporting Services
STANDING COMMITTEE ON HUMAN RESOURCES
Mr. David Wilson, Glace Bay (Chairman)
Hon. David Morse
Hon. Christopher d'Entremont
Mr. Chuck Porter
Mr. Charles Parker
Ms. Joan Massey
Mr. Percy Paris
Mr. Michel Samson
Ms. Diana Whalen
[Hon. Christopher d'Entremont was replaced by Mr. Keith Bain.]
[Ms. Joan Massey was replaced by Mr. Graham Steele.]
[Ms. Diana Whalen was replaced by Mr. Wayne Gaudet.]
In Attendance:
Ms. Kim Leadley
Acting Legislative Committee Clerk
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HALIFAX, TUESDAY, APRIL 29, 2008
STANDING COMMITTEE ON HUMAN RESOURCES
9:00 A.M.
CHAIRMAN
Mr. David Wilson (Glace Bay)
MR. CHAIRMAN: Order, please, let's call the meeting to order. Thank you very much. Let's start, please, by introducing the members, for the record.
[The committee members introduced themselves.]
MR. CHAIRMAN: Thank you. As everyone knows, during the sitting of the House these sessions deal strictly with the agencies, boards and commissions, and that's exactly what we'll be dealing with here today. There will be no other business that will be discussed, and we will set a date for the next meeting after we conclude today's proceedings.
There is some correspondence but with the agreement of the committee, I'd like to have that wait until we have a committee meeting that's dealing with other matters, other than ABCs. Is that agreed?
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Agreed.
MR. CHAIRMAN: Thank you. So shall we start, please. The first item on the agenda is the Department of Economic Development, Waterfront Development Corporation Limited Board of Directors. Mr. Morse.
HON. DAVID MORSE: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I would like to move that Tina Battcock, Mary Ann McGrath and Bernard O'Rourke be appointed as directors of the Waterfront Development Corporation Limited.
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MR. CHAIRMAN: Is there any further discussion? Would all those in favour of the motion please say . . .
MR. GRAHAM STEELE: I'm sorry, Mr. Chairman, could we have some discussion? I was going to defer to the member for Richmond. (Interruptions)
MR. CHAIRMAN: Mr. Steele.
MR. STEELE: On the Waterfront Development Corporation, we do have a bit of a concern. We have never said, ever, that somebody should be disqualified from employment because they are a prominent Conservative. We've also said nor should anybody be qualified because they are a prominent Conservative. It should simply be irrelevant one way or the other.
When you look at the membership of the Waterfront Development Corporation, there is an unusual number of people who are readily identifiable as prominent Conservatives and you have to think that if it's truly irrelevant, why are there so many Conservatives on this board? It's a very important board. It's a large property holder in the Halifax Regional Municipality and the holdings are worth a great deal of money. It's a central component of the development of the waterfront in HRM.
I would like to propose - not that these appointments be defeated, but that they be deferred to the next meeting and that the chairman be requested to write to the minister, seeking further information about this apparent coincidence that so many prominent Conservatives are already on the board and more are being appointed to the board. So that's what I'm suggesting, I'd like to suggest that these appointments be deferred.
MR. CHAIRMAN: Are you making that a motion, Mr. Steele?
MR. STEELE: I think for form's sake, I can either make it a motion or we could simply have agreement that it not be voted on. I'm not quite sure of the proper way to proceed.
MR. CHAIRMAN: Is there further discussion? There is a motion on the floor currently.
MR. STEELE: In terms of procedure, I think it's Mr. Morse's motion . . .
MR. CHAIRMAN: Yes.
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MR. STEELE: . . . so either I'd ask him to agree to defer it or we could vote against these. I wanted to be clear that we're not voting to defeat them, what we are looking for over here is more information about this apparent coincidence. So perhaps that's the best way to go procedurally, Mr. Chairman.
MR. CHAIRMAN: That would require the consent of the person who moved that.
MR. STEELE: Either consent or we would vote against it.
MR. CHAIRMAN: Mr. Morse.
MR. MORSE: So basically you'd like to write a letter to the minister, asking for comment on your concerns.
MR. STEELE: That's essentially it, yes. It's not clear what criteria have been applied that produces so many prominent Conservatives, and it may be coincidence or there may be more to it than that.
MR. MORSE: We've been down this path a few times before. I don't imagine it's going to hurt greatly if we do it once more, I mean in terms of deferring for a month.
MR. CHAIRMAN: You're agreeing with what Mr. Steele is proposing then, to defer this until the next meeting?
MR. MORSE: I'm accepting of the suggestion, if that's agreeable to the committee.
MR. CHAIRMAN: Is it agreeable to everyone?
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Agreed.
MR. CHAIRMAN: Okay, so those Waterfront Development Corporation Limited Board of Directors appointments will be deferred until the next meeting of the agencies, boards and commissions, which we will set up at the end of this session.
The Department of Education, Acadia University Foundation. Mr. Morse.
MR. MORSE: Mr. Chairman, it would be my pleasure to move John Carter to be a member of the Acadia University Foundation.
MR. CHAIRMAN: Is there any further discussion? Would all those in favour of the motion please say Aye. Contrary minded, Nay.
The motion is carried.
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The Nova Scotia College of Art and Design Board of Governors. Mr. Porter.
MR. CHUCK PORTER: Mr. Chairman, I so move Rick Emberley, Ronald Hobbs and Victor Syperek to be appointed as members of the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design Board of Governors.
MR. CHAIRMAN: Is there any further discussion? Would all those in favour of the motion please say Aye. Contrary minded, Nay.
The motion is carried.
The Mi'kmaq Education Council. Mr. Bain.
MR. KEITH BAIN: Mr. Chairman, I so move that George (Tex) Marshall be appointed member-at-large to the Council on Mi'kmaq Education.
MR. CHAIRMAN: Is there any further discussion? Would all those in favour of the motion please say Aye. Contrary minded, Nay.
The motion is carried.
The Women in Engineering Scholarship Selection Committee. Mr. Morse.
MR. MORSE: Mr. Chairman, I would be pleased to move Donna F. Morykot as a member of the Women in Engineering Scholarship Selection Committee.
MR. CHAIRMAN: Is there any further discussion? Would all those in favour of the motion please say Aye. Contrary minded, Nay.
The motion is carried.
The Department of Finance, Nova Scotia Gaming Corporation. Mr. Bain.
MR. BAIN: Mr. Chairman, I so move that Wayne Adams and Jeff Langley be appointed members of the Nova Scotia Gaming Corporation.
MR. CHAIRMAN: Is there any further discussion? Would all those in favour of the motion please say Aye. Contrary minded, Nay.
The motion is carried.
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The Halifax-Dartmouth Bridge Commission. Mr. Porter.
MR. PORTER: Mr. Chairman, I so move Tom Calkin as chair and Clinton Schofield as a member of the Halifax-Dartmouth Bridge Commission.
MR. CHAIRMAN: Is there any further discussion? Would all those in favour of the motion please say Aye. Contrary minded, Nay.
The motion is carried.
The Department of Health Promotion and Protection, Nova Scotia Gaming Foundation. Mr. Morse.
MR. MORSE: Mr. Chairman, I so move Jerome A. Aucoin, Deborah A. Bucci, Janice M. Fraser and Tracy Schrans as members of the Nova Scotia Gaming Foundation.
MR. CHAIRMAN: Is there any further discussion? Would all those in favour of the motion please say Aye. Contrary minded, Nay.
The motion is carried.
The Department of Justice, Licensed Professional Planners Association of Nova Scotia. Mr. Porter.
MR. PORTER: Mr. Chairman, I so move that Terry Farrell be appointed member of the Licensed Professional Planners Association of Nova Scotia.
MR. CHAIRMAN: Is there any further discussion? Would all those in favour of the motion please say Aye. Contrary minded, Nay.
The motion is carried.
The Municipal Board of Police Commissioners, Town of Amherst. Mr. Bain.
MR. BAIN: Mr. Chairman, I so move that John G. Kline be appointed as a member of the Municipal Board of Police Commissioners, Town of Amherst.
MR. CHAIRMAN: Is there any further discussion? Would all those in favour of the motion please say Aye. Contrary minded, Nay.
The motion is carried.
The Municipal Board of Police Commissioners, Town of Truro. Mr. Morse.
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MR. MORSE: Mr. Chairman, I so move that Allan Bruce be appointed to the Municipal Board of Police Commissioners, Town of Truro.
MR. CHAIRMAN: Is there any further discussion? Would all those in favour of the motion please say Aye. Contrary minded, Nay.
The motion is carried.
The Department of Labour and Workforce Development, Crane Operators Examination Committee. Mr. Porter.
MR. PORTER: Mr. Chairman, I so move Roderick L. Kerr and Mike Marsh as members of the Crane Operators Examination Committee, Department of Labour and Workforce Development.
MR. CHAIRMAN: Mr. Steele.
MR. STEELE: A brief comment, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Kerr is being reappointed and I wanted to draw the committee members' attention to his letter of application where he says that he was appointed to serve the committee from 2005 to 2008 and the committee never met, which was a great disappointment to him.
There are issues in this industry, we understand so, of course, we'll be supporting these appointments. But like Mr. Kerr himself, we just wanted to express our earnest hope that the committee will actually meet and do its job.
MR. CHAIRMAN: Is there any further discussion? Would all those in favour of the motion please say Aye. Contrary minded, Nay.
The motion is carried.
Occupational Health and Safety Advisory Council. Mr. Parker.
MR. CHARLES PARKER: Mr. Chairman, I so move the appointment of Betty Jean Sutherland as a member of the Occupational Health and Safety Advisory Council.
MR. CHAIRMAN: Is there any further discussion? Would all those in favour of the motion please say Aye. Contrary minded, Nay.
The motion is carried.
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Power Engineers and Operators Board. Mr. Porter.
MR. PORTER: Mr. Chairman, I so move Barrie W. Fiolek, John D. MacNeil, Curtis L. Purdy and Daniel L. Wagner as members of the Power Engineers and Operators Board.
MR. CHAIRMAN: Is there any further discussion? Would all those in favour of the motion please say Aye. Contrary minded, Nay.
The motion is carried.
One last category - Service Nova Scotia and Municipal Relations, Board of Registration of Embalmers and Funeral Directors. Mr. Morse.
MR. MORSE: Mr. Chairman, I so move Dennis Haverstock as a member of the Embalmers and Funeral Directors Board of Registration.
MR. CHAIRMAN: Mr. Steele.
MR. STEELE: Mr. Chairman, as all the members of the committee know, this committee is not privy to the names or resumés of other people who have applied for these positions, so we really have nothing to compare the applicants to. However, in this case I was contacted by one of my constituents, a very dynamic woman who owns her own funeral home in my constituency. She sent me a copy of her resumé, she says she has been trying to get on this board for a while. She is very prominent in the association, she was one of the main organizers when the Funeral Service Association of Canada met in Halifax recently.
My concern here is not in the least with Mr. Haverstock, who I don't know, although I would note in passing that we don't have any background information about Mr. Haverstock, only that he is being reappointed. Because this board has no women on it and because I'm sitting here in the place of the member for Dartmouth East, who has raised this issue before, what I would like to ask the government members to consider and for the committee to consider is whether this, too, might be deferred pending further nominations to the committee so that we can consider the whole picture.
What I would like to request in particular, Mr. Chairman, is that you would write to the minister responsible asking for an explanation about why, when we know that women have applied for the position - because it says so in the material - that no women have, in fact, been appointed. On that basis, again, I want to emphasize that I have nothing in the world against Mr. Haverstock, I'm just looking for further information so that we get the whole picture about where the minister is going with his appointments to this board. I would propose deferral.
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MR. CHAIRMAN: Mr. Samson.
MR. MICHEL SAMSON: That certainly sounds fair to me.
MR. CHAIRMAN: Mr. Morse.
MR. MORSE: I would just make the comment that when you're in the situation and you have somebody who presumably has done good service to the board and they offer to serve again, and given that they've got the experience and already have a history of committing to the cause, it is awkward to turn them down. It's a little bit of a vote of non-confidence when you've been given every reason to have confidence. I've been in that situation before and looked at resumés that have come in and if they were all first-time you might make a different choice, but I just make that comment. It's not an easy thing to do to turn down somebody who has already provided good service.
[9:15 a.m.]
MR. CHAIRMAN: Mr. Steele.
MR. STEELE: Certainly deferring it is not defeating it. To me there is a big difference and I will just emphasize again, this really in a way has nothing to do with Mr. Haverstock, it has to do with the composition of the board. I do notice in passing, however, that again this committee is working with very little information - although Mr. Haverstock is being reappointed, we don't have one scrap of information about what kind of job he's doing. It would be helpful generally for a reappointment to have, for example, a letter from the chairman saying this person has served well, they've attended the meetings and we're very happy to have them reappointed. We don't even have that information. We can presume that Mr. Haverstock has done a good job but we don't actually have that information in front of us.
Having said that, the reason for suggesting the deferral is the lack of women on the board. We could look at each nominee on their individual merits and they may be fine candidates but then we end up with a board that is filled with all men, again. So it is on that basis that I'm proposing simply that it be deferred and that the chairman be asked to write to the minister seeking further information about his intentions about future appointments and drawing the minister's attention to the fact that there are women applicants - I know there are good ones - and asking the minister perhaps if the minister came forward, for example, next month with three appointments including at least one woman, that would give us the kind of full picture that I'm looking for.
MR. CHAIRMAN: A couple of points. You are correct, Mr. Steele, that the member for Dartmouth East has raised this on previous occasions and we did agree, somewhat
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informally as a committee, that we would pay more attention to the gender balance issue on the committees.
In this case, you're right again that we don't have the knowledge of exactly who applied, but we do in this case. It did come to your attention and we certainly take you at your word, that you had known an applicant who applied who was a female. I know, as chairman, I would ask for the committee's permission to do exactly that and to write to the minister to get some clarification on the issue and again, to get some details on this member who is being proposed.
MR. STEELE: Thank you . . .
MR. CHAIRMAN: Sorry, Mr. Steele. Mr. Samson.
MR. SAMSON: At the same time, Mr. Chairman, based on what has been raised by Mr. Steele, I think as a minimum we should request that there be a letter from the chairman endorsing the reappointment of Mr. Haverstock and I know that Mr. Haverstock is from the Strait area and has quite an extensive history of community involvement. Unfortunately it is not attached to the information we've been given.
I believe if the committee was made aware of his resumé and his extensive involvement, it would make this process much easier and it may be an idea to recommend to all ministers that when they are sending in a reappointment, just a letter from the applicant saying "please reappoint me" with no other information, is still not sufficient. We still need the resumé and even a letter from the chairman indicating support, I think would make our job on this committee much easier. I don't see why that information won't be provided as a standard procedure.
MR. CHAIRMAN: Mr. Steele. I'm sorry, I thought you had your hand . . .
MR. STEELE: Yes, I was just going to mention, Mr. Chairman, further to what you were saying, that the material in front of us does mention that two women and four men applied for the position.
MR. CHAIRMAN: What we have - I have a motion on the floor, I have a suggestion from Mr. Steele that this motion be deferred and I have another suggestion from Mr. Samson saying that I write a letter that approves of this appointment.
MR. SAMSON: No, no . . .
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MR. CHAIRMAN: You're still looking for it to be deferred.
MR. SAMSON: Yes, I agree with the deferral, to get further information as has been requested. I think if the minister is coming back and recommending that Mr. Haverstock's appointment go forward, we should get, as a minimum, Mr. Haverstock's resumé and even possibly a letter from the chairman indicating your support for his reappointment. But at the same time, I certainly agree with the points raised by Mr. Steele and give the minister an opportunity to explain why there isn't a better gender balance on this board, especially now that we know there's been at least two female applicants for this position.
MR. CHAIRMAN: Is the committee agreed, then, we'll defer this appointment for now and that the committee will write - I'm sorry, Mr. Morse, for one month - yes, correct, until the next meeting. Then I will write, as chairman, we'll write to the minister requesting exactly what you're saying. Agreed?
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Agreed.
MR. CHAIRMAN: With that, unless anyone else has some business that I'm not aware of, the next item will be the date of the next meeting, which is May 27th at 9:00 a.m. Agreed.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Agreed.
MR. CHAIRMAN: The meeting is adjourned, thank you.
[The committee adjourned at 9:20 a.m.]
