When the three most qualified persons say publicly any proposed merger of the Commissioner’s Office and Complaints Commissioner’s Office should not happen one would think the powers who finally make the decision would listen favourably.

One would think so. How silly.

Acting Information Commissioner Jan Liebaers and former Information Commissioner Jennifer Dilbert plus former Complaints Commissioner Nicola Williams have all expressed concerns about merging the two offices.

The only plus to it is monetary. It would eliminate some jobs but these persons would probably be offered somewhere else in government to work so even that is dubious.

Williams doesn’t even think the merging will even eliminate jobs as her office was always understaffed.

The government’s proposal is to merge the two offices into one and add a third – a Police Complaints Commissioner – and appoint an Ombudsman as overseer.

The combined cost for the two offices costs the country $1.5M that equates to less than 0.3% of the government’s operating expenses. Any cost savings would therefore have as much affect as an ant colony losing a couple of its soldiers.

So why is it even being considered?

Just before she left Williams said, “Splicing together disparate bodies with completely different functions whose only common thread is oversight is not, in my opinion, good governance.”

She also said it would be a retrograde step and would weaken and diminish the offices.

But isn’t that really what government bodies want?

They do not like an efficient overseer. Not one of them.

You only have to read the reports from both offices and the Freedom of Information requests that don’t get answered to bear that out.

And no matter what political party govern they want only to be seen they have an overseer in place. One seen and not heard is the best outcome.

“The goal of the mergers is to try and address the replication of functions that had arisen over the years as new government departments were created.”

“Policies are being developed and legislation will be passed to deal with bespoke areas or services in government, and new offices spring up.”

“In regulatory areas where there were similar jobs government could cut out the duplication.”

– Premier Alden McLaughlin

Nothing wrong with that. But merging the two offices in question will NOT make them more efficient. They were too efficient as they were and that is the major problem.

Adding a third branch and making a new head under a new name is just for show.

That makes the only sense out of a ridiculous proposal.