Ex-DM ‘deeply disturbed’ by PCO clerk Wernick’s committee testimony, but others say it didn’t cross partisan line
Privy Council clerk Michael Wernick’s testimony last week to the House Justice Committee on the SNC-Lavalin scandal was “way over the line,” according to one former deputy minister, who added he was “deeply disturbed” by the “profoundly political” performance. However, another former bureaucrat, Kevin Page, the first parliamentary budget officer, said he didn’t see anything […]
Black public servants looking for political champions to fight battle in House, Senate
A new group advocating for the rights of Black public servants says that to combat the systemic racism employees face, specific data on Black Canadians is required to get a better picture of the issues it says need to be addressed. And with less than six years left in a UN decade for people of […]
PCO clerk Wernick celebrates the bureaucracy’s best at annual awards shindig
Most Hillites have heard of Canada-U.S. coordinator Brian Clow’s unit based out of the Prime Minister’s Office, but what about the bureaucrats backing them up? Known as the Canada-United States Engagement team, the 15-person group was recognized with an Exemplary Contribution Under Extraordinary Circumstances award at the 2018 Public Service Award of Excellence ceremony held […]
Where’s Wernick? Unions say PCO clerk should be more involved in Phoenix fix
The two largest federal public service unions are frustrated about what they say is Privy Council clerk Michael Wernick’s lack of involvement in fixing the Phoenix pay system, adding that his absence is particularly apparent in light of his recent comments about loosening the rules to fire public servants. But one expert says the top bureaucrat’s role […]
Parliament Hill has an opportunity to lead on workplace mental health
OTTAWA—Before I moved to Ottawa from Newfoundland, I thought of Parliament Hill as hallowed halls where laws were passed or a raucous Chamber where barbs were tossed and jabs were parried. It was only after I came to work in the nation’s capital—and had occasion to meet some of the many staffers who work on […]
Phoenix: just another symptom of centralization of power in Ottawa
The recent scathing indictment (“incomprehensible failure”) of the Phoenix pay system by the auditor general, Michael Ferguson, was heartwarming for me and others who have been “Phoenixed.” I was a victim of the Phoenix pay system in 2017. I reimbursed the government for more than $19,000 Phoenix overpaid me. Now I have joined the ranks […]
Millennials want to work for government but they’re not getting hired: report
There’s an incorrect notion out there that the federal government has to do more to attract and retain millennials to the public service, when in reality it could just hire more of the ones who are already banging at the door, according to a new report. “We wanted to understand, in the context of the […]
Facebook schools feds on data analytics, privacy
Both the federal government and Facebook agree that the public sector could learn a thing or two from the private sector about how to use data to optimize operations. The government participated in a workshop put on by social media giant Facebook in February about how the government could make better use of data at […]
Access to information reform could compromise ‘quality of decision making’: ex-PCO chief
One of the Liberal government’s plans to make ministers’ offices more transparent could undermine the quality of advice public servants provide to their ministers if not executed carefully, says a former head of the public service. Opening up ministers’ offices and the Prime Minister’s Office to access to information requests, as the Liberals have promised, […]
Former PMO staffer Webb dies, ‘won’t forget his good nature, intellect, and hard work in PMO from 2010-15’
Shaun Webb, a former staffer in the office of prime minister Stephen Harper from 2010 to 2015, died on March 26 at the age of 34. It’s believed his death was caused by a blood clot that dislodged into his heart as a result of complications from a broken foot he suffered on a recent […]
