PS unions target Phoenix as next round of bargaining heats up
The Phoenix pay system is at the forefront of the minds of Public Service Alliance of Canada representatives as they ramp up the latest round of contract negotiations with the government, tabling four main demands so far related to the two-year-old payroll disaster. PSAC, which represents about 140,000 federal workers and is the largest public […]
Improve, then use, name-blind recruitment to boost Senate staff diversity: committee
A name-blind recruitment project could help improve Senate staff diversity, but only if done properly, according to the head of a Senate group studying employment equity in the Upper Chamber’s administration. In a report tabled June 21 with the Senate’s Internal Economy, Budgets, and Administration Committee—a powerful group of Senators that handles the Chamber’s legal […]
Amidst chaos, G7 Summit unleashed a quiet, yet powerful force
Families ripped apart, children detained: these tragic images are flooding our timelines and televisions. Halfway around the world, a boat of migrants travelling from Libya is turned away by Italy. One after the other, more boatloads of people in search of safety are left lingering on the open seas, in limbo and unsure if or […]
Like Phoenix, the Social Security Tribunal is another cost-cutting fiasco
The recent exchange between the auditor general and the clerk of the Privy Council regarding the Phoenix fiasco and its implications has raised a number of important issues when it comes to accountability within the civil service. Many have aptly noted that the prime culprits for the botched pay system reform have been left unscathed […]
Trudeau government’s promise on Indigenous education gets a failing grade
What would you do if education officials in your children’s school board falsified graduation rates or failed to track why so many children were unable to pass basic literacy tests? What would you do if, year after year, education officials covered their tracks by ignoring orders to compile useable data to ensure better education outcomes? […]
Canada leads the way to a historical pledge of $3.8 billion at G7 for girls’ education in conflict and crises
It’s been more than five years since I spoke to Zeinab, a young girl from Syria living in a tattered tent within a makeshift refugee camp in Lebanon. But her story is seared into my memory, one of both paralyzing fear and burgeoning hope. It’s Zeinab who I think of today when celebrating the G7’s historic […]
Canada needs its youth to show swagger to be global leaders in the entrepreneurship and innovation game
Our global reputation for being nice means we sometimes take a back seat on the world stage when it comes to creating the next big ideas, organizations, or initiatives. This puts Canadians at a disadvantage in business, economic, and political development. My co-founder and I are both Canadian. We started 42 Technologies, a big data […]
Trans Mountain buy adds to Liberals’ betrayal of Indigenous voters, say activists, NDP
The backlash to the federal government’s decision to purchase Kinder Morgan’s Trans Mountain pipeline project could cost the Liberals in 2019, as some Indigenous, environmental, and youth activists gear up to respond to what they see as a broken attempt at reconciliation, say activists, opposition MPs, and observers. On May 29, Finance Minister Bill Morneau […]
How Canada can ensure workplaces remain safe before marijuana becomes legal
Senators will vote next week on Bill C-45, the government’s proposed cannabis law. If the bill receives royal assent, recreational marijuana use will be legalized by this summer. When the government introduced Bill C-45 and Bill C-46–a companion piece of legislation aimed at cracking down on impaired driving–some industries raised concerns that the laws fail […]
Phoenix building and implementation an ‘incomprehensible failure, says auditor general
In a scathing report released on Tuesday, Auditor General Michael Ferguson concluded the department responsible for building and implementing the Phoenix pay system knew about all of the expected issues, lacked an adequate contingency plan, and still gave the project the green light. Calling it an “incomprehensible failure of project management and oversight,” the report […]
