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The Office of the Commissioner for Federal Judicial Affairs (FJA) in Ottawa was facing a crisis in April 2011.
The director of its international programs division, which coordinates the involvement of the Canadian judiciary in international exchanges and judicial reform projects, had unexpectedly quit. The whole program was in jeopardy of collapse and the FJA urgently needed a new director who could hit the ground running.
Marc Giroux, then the FJA’s acting director, approached Oleg Shakov, an Ottawa consultant who had done a similar job for the FJA from 2005 to 2009 and had the necessary skills and experience.
Shakov initially declined the job, but was persuaded to accept a one-year appointment. A new position was created with an “English essential” language requirement. Shakov’s appointment became permanent in December 2012.
Oleg Shakov is Director of the International Programs Division of the Office of the Commissioner for Federal Judicial Affairs Canada
In 2014, the Public Service Commission concluded that Giroux and another FJA official, Nikki Clemenhagen, had acted improperly by tailoring the position’s language requirement to the unilingual Shakov and choosing a non-advertised process without proper justification.
The PSC revoked Shakov’s appointment and suspended Giroux and Clemenhagen’s authority to make appointments until they completed courses at the Canada School of Public Service.
But in a judgment late last month, the Federal Court of Canada quashed the decision, saying the PSC had “failed to understand the quandary” faced by the FJA, which safeguards the independence of the judiciary and provides federally appointed judges with administrative services.
Along the way, Justice Danièle Tremblay-Lamer levelled some pointed criticism at the PSC, the independent government agency that oversees the public service hiring process.
She found that Giroux’s appointment of Shakov was “an entirely reasonable short-term solution immediately available – indeed, it seems to have been the only possible decision.”
Had the FJA taken the months required to advertise the position and train the successful candidate, “it is very possible that the international programs division would have collapsed due to a lack of projects and funding,” Tremblay-Lamer concluded.
The PSC investigator “failed to consider the critical situation” in coming to her conclusions, Tremblay-Lamer found. “The evidence of the exceptional circumstances requiring the immediate appointment of a director … was completely overlooked.”
The decision to designate the position as unilingual English “was designed solely for the best interest of the FJA and not tailored to benefit Mr. Shakov,” the judge stated.
Noting that everyone reporting to Shakov was either anglophone or bilingual, Tremblay-Lamer asked: “Should (Giroux) have put the projects and financing in jeopardy because of a language requirement with no practical necessity in the immediate future? I do not think so.”
Moreover, there was no personal favouritism shown to Shakov, Tremblay-Lamer found.
“To the contrary, Mr. Shakov accepted the appointment in order to ensure the viability of the international programs division, to the detriment of his financial and professional interests.” Revoking Shakov’s appointment “would be harsh and unfair.”
The corrective actions proposed by the PSC “would have been unreasonable because they do not effectively reinforce the integrity of the appointment process,” Tremblay-Lamer said.
“The effects of the PSC decision – to deprive the FJA of a successful director – goes against its very objective of ensuring competent individuals of the highest merit are appointed,” she wrote. The decision “only sends the signal that management imperatives should come second to rigid formalism.
“In this case, the PSC has seemingly applied a ‘cookie-cutter’ solution which would have accomplished nothing under the circumstances,” Tremblay-Lamer concluded.
dbutler@postmedia.com
twitter.com/ButlerDon
查看原文...
The director of its international programs division, which coordinates the involvement of the Canadian judiciary in international exchanges and judicial reform projects, had unexpectedly quit. The whole program was in jeopardy of collapse and the FJA urgently needed a new director who could hit the ground running.
Marc Giroux, then the FJA’s acting director, approached Oleg Shakov, an Ottawa consultant who had done a similar job for the FJA from 2005 to 2009 and had the necessary skills and experience.
Shakov initially declined the job, but was persuaded to accept a one-year appointment. A new position was created with an “English essential” language requirement. Shakov’s appointment became permanent in December 2012.
Oleg Shakov is Director of the International Programs Division of the Office of the Commissioner for Federal Judicial Affairs Canada
In 2014, the Public Service Commission concluded that Giroux and another FJA official, Nikki Clemenhagen, had acted improperly by tailoring the position’s language requirement to the unilingual Shakov and choosing a non-advertised process without proper justification.
The PSC revoked Shakov’s appointment and suspended Giroux and Clemenhagen’s authority to make appointments until they completed courses at the Canada School of Public Service.
But in a judgment late last month, the Federal Court of Canada quashed the decision, saying the PSC had “failed to understand the quandary” faced by the FJA, which safeguards the independence of the judiciary and provides federally appointed judges with administrative services.
Along the way, Justice Danièle Tremblay-Lamer levelled some pointed criticism at the PSC, the independent government agency that oversees the public service hiring process.
She found that Giroux’s appointment of Shakov was “an entirely reasonable short-term solution immediately available – indeed, it seems to have been the only possible decision.”
Had the FJA taken the months required to advertise the position and train the successful candidate, “it is very possible that the international programs division would have collapsed due to a lack of projects and funding,” Tremblay-Lamer concluded.
The PSC investigator “failed to consider the critical situation” in coming to her conclusions, Tremblay-Lamer found. “The evidence of the exceptional circumstances requiring the immediate appointment of a director … was completely overlooked.”
The decision to designate the position as unilingual English “was designed solely for the best interest of the FJA and not tailored to benefit Mr. Shakov,” the judge stated.
Noting that everyone reporting to Shakov was either anglophone or bilingual, Tremblay-Lamer asked: “Should (Giroux) have put the projects and financing in jeopardy because of a language requirement with no practical necessity in the immediate future? I do not think so.”
Moreover, there was no personal favouritism shown to Shakov, Tremblay-Lamer found.
“To the contrary, Mr. Shakov accepted the appointment in order to ensure the viability of the international programs division, to the detriment of his financial and professional interests.” Revoking Shakov’s appointment “would be harsh and unfair.”
The corrective actions proposed by the PSC “would have been unreasonable because they do not effectively reinforce the integrity of the appointment process,” Tremblay-Lamer said.
“The effects of the PSC decision – to deprive the FJA of a successful director – goes against its very objective of ensuring competent individuals of the highest merit are appointed,” she wrote. The decision “only sends the signal that management imperatives should come second to rigid formalism.
“In this case, the PSC has seemingly applied a ‘cookie-cutter’ solution which would have accomplished nothing under the circumstances,” Tremblay-Lamer concluded.
dbutler@postmedia.com
twitter.com/ButlerDon
查看原文...
