‘I’m a pretty impatient minister’: Champagne says he’d like infrastructure money doled out faster, but feds are improving
The federal government has responded to concerns about infrastructure money not getting out the door fast enough, says Infrastructure Minister François-Philippe Champagne. The process can always be improved, and while some delays have been out of federal hands, Mr. Champagne (Saint-Maurice-Champlain, Que.) said, he’s overseen some changes since coming to the job last summer that […]
Recent events have broken trust in Liberal government, say Indigenous leaders, and it could lead to punishment at the polls in October
Indigenous leaders from across Canada say their trust in the Liberal government’s promise of a renewed relationship with Indigenous peoples has been broken and they’re looking for concrete action, soon, or it could mean punishment at the polls in October. “The prime minister may have meant what he said, and I don’t doubt that he […]
Feds get skills training right in budget
You don’t need to be an Uber driver or drone operator to see how technology is impacting professional life. New tools and techniques are changing what we do and how we do it. We’re already seeing how machine learning and artificial intelligence affect nearly all aspects of how we do our jobs, from the security […]
Senate to reconsider short staffer contracts as part of harassment review
The Senate needs to check in more regularly with its staff, and should consider dumping its one-year employment contracts to improve the Red Chamber’s working environment, says a group of Senators tasked with studying its anti-harassment regime. The Human Resources Subcommittee, a subgroup of the Chamber’s Internal Economy, Budgets, and Administration Committee, has recommended that […]
Senate set to ditch Phoenix in January
While the federal government is pumping another half-billion dollars into trying to right the Phoenix payroll-system ship, the Senate will be in its own life raft by next year. On March 21, the Senate’s Internal Economy, Budgets, and Administration Committee, which handles legal and financial affairs for the Upper Chamber, approved a Jan. 1, 2020 […]
House to add 22 new HR jobs, as MPs deal with new workplace standards
Members of Parliament will be getting more support as they learn to navigate being employers in a post-#MeToo world, with the House of Commons administration getting a boost to its human resources department. Members of the Board of Internal Economy—a powerful group of MPs who decide legal, financial, and administrative matters for the House of […]
Liberals propose national school meal program as Canada remains back of pack on children’s nutrition
The Liberal government has proposed creating a national school meal program, which, if implemented, would see Canada join most other advanced economies in the world in having a countrywide school food initiative. In yesterday’s federal budget, the government announced its “intention to work with provinces and territories towards the creation of a National School Food […]
PSAC, Treasury Board inch closer in contract talks as election looms
Contract talks for Public Service Alliance of Canada groups representing more than 90,000 bureaucrats seem to have some momentum, but national president Chris Aylward says there needs to be more than just a marginal shift if the two sides want to ink a deal before the election—a window that is “closing very quickly.” The pressure […]
Feds pledge more than $4-billion in pre-election budget for Indigenous file
Indigenous issues held prominence in the Liberal government’s fourth budget, with plans to spend $4.5-billion on reconciliation efforts over the next five years. One entire chapter in the 464-page document tabled on March 19 centred on “advancing reconciliation.” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (Papineau, Que.) was elected in 2015 on a promise to renew the government’s relationship […]
No ‘strong commitment’ to improve public service culture, Tory MP says, after government response to committee report
The government has dismissed a House committee’s concerns that turnover at the deputy minister level is too high in some departments, pointing instead to higher churn of top public servants overseas. A unanimous October report from the Public Accounts Committee backstopped former auditor general Michael Ferguson’s concerns about the tenure of the bureaucracy’s most senior […]
