Mr. Speaker, my question is to the Minister Responsible for the Workers’ Compensation Board.
There was a process that was advertised in the paper last summer. It was in the papers for about three months. It advertised to find an appropriate applicant for the chairman position of the Workers’ Compensation Board.
I believe there were several applications that were filed: one from Nunavut, six from the Northwest Territories, and, I believe, three of them were former deputy ministers of this government.
Yet, Mr. Speaker, it seems to me that due process was not followed. Also, the Minister, in making a decision to extend the appointment of the existing chairman, may have breached the N.W.T. Act, the Workers’ Compensation Act, where it is clearly stated that a member of the board cannot exceed a term of six years. By extending the appointment under the advertisement that was made for a three-year appointment for the chair of this board — by making that appointment — the breach has taken place.
I’d like to ask the Minister: of the seven applicants who filed, were there any interviews done with those applicants by way of coming up with a short-list, in interviewing those applicants, to see who was the best candidate for that job?
Mr. Speaker, as the Minister charged with the WCB by the Premier, I was aware of the circumstances surrounding the appointment process that the Member for Mackenzie Delta refers to.
Late in the 15th Assembly, the process was initiated. I know, from being at the table, there were significant concerns by the Regular Members that the government in the dying days would make an appointment of this nature without allowing sufficient input from the Regular Members’ side. There was a request to government to delay the appointment of the chair. The government of the day agreed to do that.
There were a number of applicants, as the Member indicated. But as Minister, I came in with new legislation and a relatively new president. I made the decision that it would be in the best interests of the Workers’ Compensation Board and this government and, recognizing the strong support that the chair had among the Regular Members, that it would be best to reappoint Mr. Rodgers, which I did. His term will comply with the six years he is entitled to sit under the current legislation.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask the Minister again: were there interviews done with the seven candidates that filed their names for that position? Were there screenings of those applications and interviews of any potential candidates?
Mr. Speaker, I reviewed all those files personally. I had my own opinions as Minister of what the appropriate action should be, and I made the ministerial decision, a choice which I took to cabinet — the information item to reappoint Mr. Rodgers. And that is, in fact, what has been done.
Mr. Speaker, in regard to the extent of the appointment, I understand that the way it was advertised, the term of the appointment was supposedly for a three-year term, as it was advertised in the newspapers. So by making an appointment which exceeds the six years — which is basically 2009, which is a year from now — it would have exceeded that appointment. So what’s the term limit of the appointment, knowing it will exceed the six years?
Mr. Speaker, as I indicated, the term of the current chair will not exceed the six years that he’s eligible to sit under the current legislation.
Final supplementary, Mr. Krutko.
Mr. Speaker, can the Minister give me a breakdown on exactly what were the costs for this government and the Workers’ Compensation Board to advertise for those positions, and also the time it took in regard to staff time in regard to the applications that were filed and in reading and accepting those applications? What was the cost?
Mr. Speaker, I’d like to point out, as well, that Mr. Rodgers, who is eminently qualified, in my opinion, and a good representative in that capacity and a Northerner, was in fact one of the applicants.
I will commit to find out or get the information that the Member has requested.
