Employment minister’s senior staffer lost classified documents, investigation found Mitschke ‘negligent’: Mihychuk
A senior ministerial staffer to former Employment minister MaryAnn Mihychuk lost classified documents last year, including a memorandum to cabinet on the government’s proposal for pay-equity legislation and the Ottawa police found the staffer “negligent” for failing to handle documents according to required government guidelines. “I recall that the investigation found him negligent,” Ms. Mihychuk […]
Census results call for reviewing Old Age Security eligibility
MISSISSAUGA, ONT.—The Liberals reversed the Conservatives’ decision announced in 2012 to gradually boost the eligibility age for Old Age Security (OAS) payments from 65 to 67 years between 2023 and 2029. This was in keeping with an election pledge. When questioned about the reversal, announced in the Liberals’ first budget in March 2016, Finance Minister […]
Phoenix: PSAC chief’s ‘don’t forgive’ argument weakens union
HAMILTON, ONT.—Call me a pious prig for saying it, but Public Service Alliance of Canada national president Robyn Benson’s charge to her members over the Phoenix payroll debacle, “Don’t forgive them, and don’t forget,” is at the heart of why unions in Canada are in decline. This might seem counterintuitive. Union density in the public sector […]
Time to fix Canada’s copyright mistake
Some weeks ago, scholars at Concordia University in Montreal were caught infringing copyright in what appeared to be acts of wholesale book piracy. This turned into public embarrassment for the university when Kate Taylor at The Globe and Mail published details of the infringements. Working with the Writers Union of Canada and various concerned publishers and […]
Canada’s Aging Society
‘Don’t forgive them and don’t forget,’ PSAC leader says Phoenix could be 2019 election issue
The head of the biggest federal public service union in the country says the Phoenix pay system problems, which haven’t gone away yet, could end up being an election issue in 2019, particularly for Liberals in the National Capital Region, where many public servants reside. “It would not surprise me that this would be an […]
Sexual harassment still taboo among press gallery members
Experiences with sexual harassment are still difficult for female reporters to talk about on the public record. Fear of repercussions, including but not limited to ruining a relationship with the harasser, potentially being blamed for the harassment, and having to deal with questions from coworkers about the harassment, deterred some female reporters from attaching their names […]
How one lobby campaign won support of mining, environment, indigenous groups and MPs from all parties
It’s not every day that a lobbying campaign can claim success based on support from 49 MPs from all four political parties in the House of Commons as well as mining, environmental, and indigenous groups. While these camps may in other circumstances clash, they spoke with one voice in recent months to push the federal […]
‘She challenged us’: MPs praise Malala Yousafzai’s Parliament speech, opposition urges more funding for girls’ education
Pakistani activist and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai made a clear pitch to the Canadian government to lead on global education and women’s rights when she spoke to Members of Parliament and Senators in a special joint session of Parliament on April 12. MPs from several parties called it inspiring. “To hear a speech like […]
Government needs to deal with technology’s effect on future job market
TORONTO—Will robots and artificial intelligence take our jobs? One of the greatest uncertainties as we face the future is what kind of jobs, if any, will many of us have as technology continues to take over many tasks that once only humans could do. Investment superstar Warren Buffet has even suggested we tax robots and […]
