Mandatory anti-harassment training coming for MPs’ staffers on and off the Hill
This fall, anyone working in an MP’s office can expect to follow in their boss’s footsteps and be required to take in-person anti-harassment training, following a House of Commons Board of Internal Economy decision earlier this month. The group of seven MPs who oversee House finances and administration, chaired by House Speaker Geoff Regan (Halifax […]
Feds move to do full PS staff survey yearly, not every three years
A comprehensive examination of how public servants feel about their workplaces will now be done yearly, instead of every three years, a move welcomed by union representatives, who say there needs to be meaningful action with the yearly results. According to a November memo prepared for Treasury Board secretary Yaprak Baltacioglu and obtained under the […]
Senator gets okay to hire lawyer advising on harassment policy, providing free legal advice to victims
The Senate’s Internal Economy Committee last week narrowly approved a request by Independent Senator Marilou McPhedran to hire a lawyer to advise her on research into the government’s sexual-harassment prevention legislation and the Senate’s harassment policies, with some Senators arguing her public comments about the contract didn’t align with its stated purpose. At the end of […]
Liberal MP Khalid won’t back down after racists crash her town hall
A town hall meeting centred on how to remove systemic racism in Canada was derailed by a group of people yelling racist slurs, primarily directed at the host, Liberal MP Iqra Khalid who represents Mississauga-Erin Mills, Ont. The Toronto Sun reported on Feb. 23 that one man yelled “you’re a fraud,” another yelled “is this […]
Budget 2018 not an election-year spending plan, but Liberals ‘pre-staging’ some issues: stakeholders
The Trudeau government’s third federal budget is not an election-year spending plan crafted with an eye towards the campaign trail, though certain elements could hint at what issues the Liberals will run on in the 2019 vote, say stakeholders. Nearly 200 representatives from the private and non-profit sectors gathered in the Reading Room in Centre […]
Anti-harassment bill won’t make it easier to complain, say critics
Committee witnesses and others are raising concerns about whether a government bill aimed at preventing and responding to sexual harassment and workplace violence, including against parliamentary employees, will actually make it any easier for people to come forward with complaints. During a Feb. 26 House Human Resources Committee meeting, when asked by Liberal MP Pam Damoff […]
Trans Mountain pipeline support to cost Liberals in 2019, but unclear how much, say pollsters
The federal Liberal government will pay a political price over its support for the $7.4-billion Kinder Morgan’s Trans Mountain pipeline expansion among First Nations and B.C. voters in the next election, say pollsters, but how high a cost remains to be seen. “There will be a political price to pay, and I think there’s an understanding […]
How Canada can improve its STEM gender deficit
We recently celebrated the International Day of Women and Girls in Science, and there’s much to celebrate—but also, much work to do. It’s a day to celebrate just how far we’ve come since Elsie MacGill, aircraft designer and Canada’s first female engineer, was asked to leave the University of British Columbia in 1921 because of […]
Unions representing 85 per cent of public servants demand Phoenix damages in joint letter to PM
Unions making up the vast majority of the federal public service presented a list of demands to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in a letter released publicly Friday morning to mark the second anniversary of the botched Phoenix payroll system launch. Representatives of 17 federal public service unions making up of more than 225,000 employees signed […]
Human rights ombudsperson will bring long-awaited accountability to Canadian mining
Nenita Andes Condez risked her life to visit Canada last spring. She was part of a KAIROS tour of Philippine leaders seeking accountability for mining operations from Canadians and government officials. Nenita is an Indigenous Subanen leader from the Philippine island of Mindanao. She advocates for her people in the face of complaints of human […]
