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Looking for a government job? New commission says lean to your right
JORGE BARRERA, NATIONAL BUREAU March 28, 2007 TorontoSun

The Conservatives have no plan to cleanse partisanship from government appointments and will use the promised Public Appointments Commission to ensure their qualified friends get the jobs, says an Ottawa Conservative MP.

Nepean-Carleton MP Pierre Poilievre, parliamentary secretary to Treasury Board President Vic Toews, said the government won't appoint people who don't agree with its agenda.

"We will be appointing people who will further that agenda. That is nothing new. In fact, it's worth saying twice: We are going to appoint people who agree with the agenda we intend to implement," said Poilievre, during a Commons government operations committee meeting. "And this commission is designed to ensure that those appointees are qualified."

Poilievre said the Liberals appointed their friends with no regard for qualifications.

The government has been accused by the opposition of tilting the courts and other quasi-judicial panels to the right. It has also faced criticism for rejigging appointment panels for judges and the Immigration and Refugee Board.

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The committee met to hear testimony from a senior civil servant who spent the past year and over $500,000 laying the groundwork for the eventual creation of the commission, which needs a cabinet order to become reality.

Peter Harrison, former executive director of the Public Appointments Commission Secretariat, said the commission is mandated to ensure the appointment process favours the qualified.

The government is close to appointing a new executive director for the secretariat, which will lose its last employee on Monday, said Harrison. The government is also on the verge of naming new commissioners, he said.