The Public Service Commission (PSC) lowered the hiring criteria for a position to let an indigenous person obtain it, according to an access to information and privacy request obtained by the Western Standard. .“A known barrier to indigenous peoples is, amongst other things, bilingualism,” said PSC Director Valentina Fumagalli in an email to Director General Laurie Pratt-Tremblay. .“For this reason, we would like to open up the opportunity to candidates not meeting the language proficiency of the position, which is currently bilingual.” .The email starts off by saying the post for the position of manager of the Indigenous Centre of Expertise is almost complete. It said Fumagalli has provided the last set of comments to staff and expects it to go out on jobs.gc.ca that week. .She was seeking approval to include the option to staff the position on a non-imperative basis. As per the PSC’s instructions, such approval requires a vice president’s authorization. .Fumagalli called the position “unique to the PSC and the government, as it is strategically positioned to influence the course of the hiring of indigenous peoples in the public service.” .While the preference is to find a candidate who meets the requirement, she said her team “would like to ensure we take advantage of the non-imperative mechanism as a way to address this barrier to employment and would like to have the possibility of considering candidates who do not obtain the required level of proficiency should that be the case.” .“A subsequent approval would be requested, along with a thorough justification, should we identify the suitable candidate as not meeting the language requirements,” she said. .Pratt-Tremblay received the email, who sent it off to PSC Vice President Ravinder Rakhra. .“Approved,” said Rakhra. .The Yukon government implemented a preferential hiring policy aimed at increasing the number of indigenous people working in its public service in 2020. .All Yukon government job postings will give priority to qualified indigenous people, provided they meet the requirements. ."Our public service should reflect the population that we serve," said former Yukon Public Service Commission minister Richard Mostyn. .The PSC could not be reached for comment in time for publication.
