Facebook could face parliamentary committee over recruiting practices
OTTAWA— Facebook Canada could face a parliamentary committee after the Star revealed the company’s head of public policy attempted to recruit within the federal public service.
The opposition New Democrats are asking the Heritage Committee to call Facebook Canada’s Kevin Chan to testify about what they call “worrying relations” between the social media giant and the federal government.
The move comes after the NDP unearthed a February email chain where Chan requested q he heritage a senior department bureaucrat in — wwhich is jointly responsible for coming up with regulations for companies such as Facebook — circulate a posting for a highpaying job with the company among “promising” public servants.
The motion, which the NDP intend to bring forward Thursday, would request testimony from Chan as well as Steven Guilbeault, the Liberal’s heritage minister, and the department’s deputy minister. The NDP are also looking for any job posting Facebook shared with the government dating back to November 2015, when the current government was elected.
The federal Liberals have been promising regulations for social media and internet giants for years, as companies such as Facebook, Google and Amazon have replaced or revolutionized how Canadians get information, connect with each other and spend money.
The government is expected to unveil legislation in the coming weeks that addresses the massive role these companies play in Canadians’ day-to-day lives.
Heather McPherson, the New Democrats’ critic for heritage issues, acknowledged all political parties — including the NDP — make use of Facebook, which has become one of the world’s most powerful political organizing tools.
But McPherson said that, because of the influence of Facebook on politics, there need to be clear lines between the social media company and the government of the day.
“Because of that relationship, because that is a tool that is part of political discourse now, it’s even more important that there be a distance between the government of the day and senior staff within these companies,” said McPherson in an interview with the Star on Monday.
“That makes it even more important that they’re not … swapping staff back and forth.”
There is no indication Facebook Canada routinely headhunts within the public service. The company did not hire a public servant for the job Chan wwas advertising within Canadi- a an Heritage.
The Star reported last week Chan emailed a senior bureaucrat at Canadian Heritage, Owen Ripley, in February to advertise a high-paying job with t the company’s small Canadian public policy team.
“I promise the most challenging and fascinating experience, and the base pay is about EX3,” Chan wrote, referring to a senior position in the public service with a salary range between $140,900 and $165,700. “Are there any promising senior analysts or EX1s in the public service that you can tthink of that might be a good f fit?”