Chief HR officer works to quell confusion, asks departments to identify, update ‘critical’ services lists
The federal government has offered up some clarity to departments and public service unions after confusion over what constitutes “critical” versus “essential” work arose following an initial directive to all public service departments to allow staff to work from home where possible. On March 13, President of the Treasury Board Jean-Yves Duclos (Québec, Que.) issued […]
Upcoming access to information changes? It’s a secret
OTTAWA—A minority Parliament should want greater transparency, hold Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to account, and review his false starts and fresh initiatives. That’s hard to do under current access-to-information legislation. One chance to change that is fast approaching. A mandatory review of the Access to Information Act is due in June, under the terms of […]
Situation ‘changing hourly’ as feds, unions, public service contend with COVID-19 work-from-home confusion
With calls from the prime minister for Canadians to stay at home in the face of COVID-19, union leaders say they are aware of some concerns being raised by federal public servants regarding confusing messaging from some government departments around telework conditions, and that they’re raising issues with the Treasury Board as they come up. […]
BOIE settles on reno feedback forum, initial list of sacred Centre Block spaces to preserve
Before it adjourned amid COVID-19 precautions, the House of Commons’ Board of Internal Economy struck a new subcommittee to oversee Centre Block renovations and ruled out the possibility of expanding the existing House Chamber, among other things. Only representatives from recognized parties in the House—those with at least 12 sitting MPs—were involved in those decisions. […]
No committee or caucus roles, longtime Tory MP Scott Reid still sidelined after breaking rank
After being stripped of his critic duties during the last Parliament for voting against the party line, longtime Conservative MP Scott Reid has been entirely left off of House committee membership lists this time around. Up until this Parliament, Mr. Reid had spent 15 years as a member of the Procedure and House Affairs Committee […]
How Canada can succeed in the cyber century
One of Ottawa’s worst-kept secrets occurred a few years ago when the National Research Council’s networks were hacked by a foreign adversary, resulting in the sweeping theft of its intellectual property and an estimated financial cost in the hundreds of millions of dollars. A couple of years earlier, the Department of Finance and Treasury Board […]
Canada returns to ‘complex’ spending system, after ‘failed’ attempts at reform
Two years after the Liberal government brought in controversial reforms to Canada’s financial planning system, the old timeline has returned that misaligns the budget and the approval of the bulk of parliamentary spending—a system its critics say is an “embarrassment” that requires “fundamental” change and opposition input to avoid the problems in the last reform […]
‘Data, privacy, trade’: ministers tasked with AI file contending with fast, fundamental changes
From new ice forecasting techniques that help improve shipping safety in northern waters, to new tools involved with the reclamation of ancient Indigenous languages, to social media “chatbots” that respond to general questions about immigration and citizenship, the Canadian government is increasingly turning toward automated tools to solve tough problems, improve predictions, and cut down […]
Senators asked to study limits of parliamentary privilege for harassment investigations
The Senate Rules Committee will be asked to study the limits of when Senators can claim parliamentary privilege during a harassment investigation, as some did during the Senate ethics officer’s investigation into disgraced former senator Don Meredith. The committee will have an April 30 deadline to report its findings back to the Senate. As of […]
Let’s work together to make pharmacare a reality: NDP MP Davies
In this minority Parliament, Canada’s New Democrats plan to push universal pharmacare to the top of the agenda. We are calling on all parties to help us fast-tack this long-overdue expansion of our public health-care system because Canadians cannot afford to wait. Today, one in five Canadians—some 7.5 million people—either has no drug coverage at […]
