Liberals embark on spending-cycle shakeup with this year’s early budget
The Liberals’ third budget, tabled this week, came a month earlier than their previous two financial plans to give Treasury Board President Scott Brison “a win” in his push to realign the federal spending cycle, says an opposition MP. This is the first fiscal year in which the government is testing out a new way of […]
The government’s ‘air traffic controller’: peeking behind the curtain of the PCO
It’s the department that never sleeps. The Privy Council Office could be described as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s department, and Clerk Michael Wernick as his deputy minister. One of the most important government bodies, it advises Mr. Trudeau (Papineau, Que.) and his cabinet, and co-ordinates the public service to implement the government’s agenda. Housed within […]
#MeToo movement creating a ‘transformational change’ on Hill, inappropriate sexual conduct to be dealt with quickly and finally, say MPs, pundits
MPs say a “transformational change” is happening on the Hill, spurred by the recent “avalanche” of allegations of sexual harassment, harassment, and misconduct in Canadian federal politics, and some say they’re “terrified,” by the culture shift. “We’re certainly in a transformation moment, and to see it in the sports world, to see it in the […]
Treasury Board’s top bureaucrat to retire, likely to trigger larger DM shuffle, say observers
Expect deputy ministers to be on the move in the coming weeks, say observers, after longtime DM Yaprak Baltacıoğlu, secretary of the Treasury Board, announced her retirement last week. Ms. Baltacıoğlu, who’s been a deputy minister for almost half her 29 years in the public service, is leaving April 3. Thought to be one of the […]
Good grievance! Treasury Board wading through more than 4,000 Phoenix-related complaints
The Treasury Board Secretariat has been hit with more than 4,000 individual complaints from government employees related to the Phoenix pay system, an amount that a labour relations expert says could be a slog to wade through. Kevin Banks, a Queen’s University labour relations law professor, said payroll grievances are “pretty straightforward” but the amount […]
Public service needs better data to measure diversity, says task force
Planning the future of diversity in the public service is not possible with out-of-date data, leaving certain groups unintentionally sidelined, a joint task force studying equity initiatives found, after a months-long examination of inclusion and diversity in the public service. In its final report released Dec. 11—Building a Diverse and Inclusive Public Service—the joint union-management […]
Oft-critiqued Liberal mandate tracker to become ‘more useful,’ says government ‘deliverology’ chief
The government’s oft-maligned online mandate letter tracking tool will be more comprehensive in the next six months, according to the Liberals’ “deliverology” expert, allowing users to track the government’s progress in more detail, more frequently. During a sit-down interview with The Hill Times last week, Matthew Mendelsohn, deputy secretary to the cabinet for results and delivery, said […]
‘Common-sense’ demands: unions want Tax Act exemption, more staff to deal with Phoenix
Imagine someone gives you $30, but you only see $20 of it because of extenuating circumstances. Then they want $30 back, leaving you with $10 less than you started with. On a much larger scale this is what public service employees are experiencing as a result of the troubled Phoenix pay system, which has left […]
The Senate’s turn to fix Bill C-58’s regressive nature
Last month, the House of Commons’ Liberal majority got its way, approving the restrictive, anti-transparency Bill C-58. But once the Senate debates the bill in February, expect pushback and amendments to the legislation updating the Access to Information Act from a reawakened Upper Chamber. And expect Information Commissioner Suzanne Legault, a major critic of Bill […]
Put the spotlight on bad behaviour in the House
Two weeks ago, Conservative Member of Parliament Blake Richards was “named” by the House Speaker and ejected for excessive heckling. It was the first time an MP has been ejected from the House in 15 years. Speaker Geoff Regan has shown a willingness to keep a tighter leash on the debate, which has been worsening […]
