Owens moves from Sajjan’s office to start new gig as communications director to Democratic Institutions Minister Gould
Jordan Owens has switched offices on the Hill, and has left her gig as press secretary to National Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan to take over as director of communications to Democratic Institutions Minister Karina Gould starting this week. Ms. Owens had been working as Mr. Sajjan’s press secretary since the beginning of 2016, and before […]
Bridging the gap: museums bring unique solutions to social struggles
Canada’s Indigenous and immigrant populations are growing at rates not seen in generations, as was revealed by the release of the 2016 census numbers by Statistics Canada in end of October. As Canada grows and matures as a country, museums can play a key role in making peace with our past and plotting a brighter […]
Supreme Court sides with federal lawyers to end unpaid mandatory on-call duty
The Supreme Court of Canada ruled in favour of federal immigration lawyers on Nov. 3, saying the mandatory unpaid on-call duty Justice Canada imposed on them violated their collective agreement. Ending a seven-year court battle, the Supreme Court ruled in part for the Association of Justice Counsel, a union that represents about 2,600 federal lawyers. […]
‘Highly problematic’ court decision could affect union access to workplaces: PSAC
The Public Service Alliance of Canada is considering taking a case to the Supreme Court, after what it calls a “highly problematic” ruling by a lower court that will threaten union access to workplaces and have “far-reaching” consequences for unions across the country. In October, the Federal Court of Appeal quashed a 2016 decision by the […]
The future is interdisciplinary
In the past 20 years, interdisciplinary research—studies involving researchers from multiple academic disciplines—has gone from ‘nice to have’ to ‘need to have.’ Today, given the complexity of social, political, environmental, economic and technological challenges facing the world, it is very quickly becoming something no country can do without. Canada has the skills, talent and capacity […]
Three reasons why Canada should invest more in polytechnic education for innovation
The G7 met in late September to discuss how the nature of work is changing, and how, largely, automation is driving that change. Canada’s Employment, Workforce Development, and Labour Minister Patty Hajdu, along with her counterparts, discussed the challenges presented by the Fourth Industrial Revolution and how to put “people and work at the heart of innovation.” But it […]
Mackenzie Valley Highway a road to resources, jobs
I am a huge proponent of investing in infrastructure, and for the Northwest Territories this means primarily investing in road infrastructure. It is hard to know where to start when explaining the importance of road access to those who take road travel for granted every day. Did you drive more than 25 kilometres to work […]
More choice, less retailer control wanted in possible Nutrition North overhaul
Food security experts are hoping the federal government’s lack of action six months after releasing a report highlighting criticism of the Nutrition North program is a sign of a coming overhaul that will lead to more choice for participant consumers and increased food security. The program is aimed at reducing high food prices in remote […]
Most unionized PS workers have contracts, but mental health, wages sticking points for holdouts
Seven federal public service union groups have been negotiating new contracts for so long that even if they reach a deal within the next month they will be back negotiating their next collective agreements come mid-2018, say unions. The Treasury Board negotiates 27 contracts for which it is considered the employer with 15 different core […]
Illiteracy: Canada’s hidden shame
OTTAWA—There is a country where almost half of the adult population cannot read this column. You might presume it’s in the developing world. It’s not: it is Canada. And sadly, few Canadians acknowledge it, and fewer still are doing anything about it. Here are the numbers: about 45 per cent of adult Canadians do not […]
