RCMP: More reports for the archives
OTTAWA—It’s spring, and the hardiest of perennials in the Canadian policy garden is in full flower. The RCMP and the never-ending wailing about how to fix its “culture of dysfunction” and “insularity,” in the words of two recent reports, is already standing tall among the many other perennials in the government’s garden of things needing […]
Education is the strongest tool to change health, poverty outcomes
With Mother’s Day earlier this month, it’s a good time to remind Canadians that purchasing favourite gift choices—flowers and chocolate—can have a devastating effect on children overseas. These commodities come mostly from the developing world, where they may depend on child labour and in the case of chocolate, child slavery. Countries with few opportunities and […]
Territorial Development
House security officers wear baseball caps, stickers as employer refuses to negotiate new contract
PARLIAMENT HILL—House of Commons security officers have been wearing baseballs caps and stickers calling for “respect” since May 1 amid an escalating labour standoff between their union and the heads of the Parliamentary Protective Service, who are members of the RCMP. Along with general complaints over the handling of labour relations, the guards, who are part […]
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 […]
