Mr. Speaker, I have a Return to Written Question 2-19(2) asked by the Member for Yellowknife Centre on February 6, 2020, related to the president of Aurora College and associate deputy minister of post-secondary education renewal.
I would like to advise you that the executive search firm hired to assist in finding qualified applicants for this position was paid a total of $80,224.08 for their services.
Deputy Head salary ranges are publicly available on the GNWT website and range from $182,805 to $279,289 per annum effective April 1, 2019. I can confirm that the salary offered and accepted was within this pay range.
Provisions for relocation expenses are outlined in the Senior and Manager's Handbook, page 16, and can include transportation, accommodations, meals, and incidentals, excess baggage, packing, storage of effects, real estate, and legal fees. It should be noted that deputy heads may negotiate further provisions as part of their individual contracts. The average cost in 2019-2020 to move a senior manager to Yellowknife from all locations Canada wide was $21,600.
Although the question posed was not for the direct severance provisions included in a specific individual's contract, the standard provisions would too closely reflect Dr. Weegar's conditions of employment. This type of disclosure is prohibited under the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act
Additionally, as the privacy protections of the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act do not allow the release of specific compensation information in relation to an identifiable individual, we believe disclosure of the standard compensation formula provided for in the severance provisions included in a deputy ministers employment contract and the standard severance cost of ending a deputy ministers employment contract at the one year mark would be releasing information that is protected under the act. Although the Member's request is made from a standard perspective, the requested information is clearly tied to Dr. Weegar's employment given the reference to Dr. Weegar's title and when he was hired. In this context, we believe we would be publicly disclosing information that is protected under the act. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
