New Frontiers of Merit in Tribunal Appointments

1. New Frontiers of Merit in Tribunal Appointments Dr. Lilian Ma The Future of Administrative Justice Symposium – U of T Law School January 18, 2008

2. The LTB Experience • The LTB is a generalist agency • Work previously done by the courts • High application volume • De-centralized, with 8 regional offices across Ontario • Currently 64 OICs (51 FT + 13 PT)

3. Pre-2005 • Substantial vacancies • Low morale • Poaching by other tribunals • Inappropriate compensation • Member Managers lacking

4. LTB Human Resources Committee (2005) • Comprised of Chair + 3 Vice Chairs • one with HR experience • Mapped out a HR Management Strategy • Selection process • Retention – Internal & External factors • Code of Conduct/Conflict of Interest • Impact of Government guidelines on appointments

5. Government guidelines on appointments • Significant advances made in recent years • Term of appointment • initial appointment – 2 years • first reappointment – 3 years • second reappointment – 5 years • Remuneration • parity with SMG level • stepped salary grid

6. The present state • What we look for … • 9 core competencies for Members • 11 core competencies for Vice Chairs (Member Managers) • diversity in background taken into account

7. Selection Process • Interview • Questions geared to competency requirements • Oral & Written components • Panel of 3 with objective scoring

8. Retention of MembersInternal Factors • In house training & development • Professional Development Committee • Adjudicative tools to assist Members • Rules & Guidelines, preferred positions (where possible) • Regional & Provincial Members’ meetings

9. Retention of Members Internal Factors - cont’d • Member participation in Board committees • Performance management • Appraisal form • “Let’s Discuss” sessions • Benefits to Members & Board • Care taken to avoid potential for interference with independence • Work environment

10. Retention of MembersExternal Factors • Competitive salary • Recent developments • Security of Tenure • Members developing skills they can use at other tribunals • Recent developments

11. What does not work • “Poaching” by other tribunals • silo environment results in limited growth • OPS course equivalents not available • Administrative training needed (ODA, HR, Mental competency, etc.)

12. The Australia (Victoria) experience • Australia’s states use different models • The Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) – a “super tribunal” – deals with: residential tenancies, privacy, civil matters, anti-discrimination, planning & environment, guardianship, land valuation, etc.

13. VCAT • Highly computerized - efficient (no backlog) • Case load of 89,000 applications/year • 50 FT Members + 140 sessional Members • Members appointed for 5-year term; $150,000/year (on par with Judge’s salary) • Member “attributes” denote types of cases they can handle

14. Looking Ahead • Need for “Systems Thinking” approach • The performance of our “system” (i.e., the administrative justice community) is not necessarily improved by improving the performance of each part. The interaction affects the performance of the whole.”

15. Systems Thinking approach • Dr. Russell Ackoff, Systems Thinking: Its importance in Decision Making, Institute for Management Studies, November 3, 2007.