Appendix C: Completed New Era Commitments

The BC Public Service Agency was charged with the following New Era commitments and projects:

• Passing merit employment legislation to restore a professional, non-partisan public service;
• Establishing the Office of the Merit Commissioner;
• Implementing a shared services model to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of services; and
• Developing and implementing a plan to rebuild and sustain a professional public service.

Legislation creating the position of Merit Commissioner was passed in spring 2001. The Merit Commissioner is responsible for conducting random audits of public service appointments to confirm that the competition process resulted in appointments based on merit.

The Office of the Merit Commissioner was operational by October 2001 and merit audits commenced in November 2001. In February 2002, the Office undertook its first survey of public service employees' attitudes to merit in the public service. Follow-up surveys are planned for future years. The first annual report of the Merit Commissioner was tabled in the Legislature in May 2002; subsequent reports were submitted to the Legislative Assembly in May 2003 and May 2004.

The Agency was responsible for developing two other projects: a shared services model for human resource management and implementing a program to rebuild the public service. Both of these projects were completed by the end of fiscal year 2002/03, with the creation of the BC Public Service Agency and BC Leadership Centre on April 1, 2003, and the development and implementation of the public service renewal initiative — a comprehensive plan to rebuild and sustain a professional and qualified public service.

One specific strategy within the renewal initiative was the development of a simplified merit-based staffing process to support recruiting and selecting a professional, competent public service. Consistent with this goal, a systematic review of the public service staffing policy and process was undertaken throughout 2002/03 culminating in fundamental changes to the recruitment and selection system for public service employees. Other projects undertaken as part of Public Service Renewal included establishing leadership and executive development programs through the Leadership Centre and developing a corporate training strategy.