Feds closing in on winning bidder for $60-billion warship project
Ottawa could be close to settling on the winning bid for the $60-billion procurement of multi-purpose vessels that will form the backbone of the Canadian Navy, with rumours swirling that a decision could come in a few weeks’ time, although Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan says the government will announce it by the end of the […]
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 […]
Not rising from the ashes: everything you need to know about the Phoenix pay system
The federal Phoenix pay system has been such a headache for so many people, it’s become a verb: Phoenixed. Intended to streamline the government’s $22-billion annual payroll and originally projected to save $70-million annually, the Phoenix pay system has instead has left more than half of the 290,000 federal public servants in Canada either underpaid, […]
Pay-related grievances at labour relations board triple post-Phoenix
The number of pay-related complaints at the federal bureaucrats’ labour relations board has dropped from its 2016-17 peak, but the number of grievances for the past two fiscal years is at least three times higher than before the Phoenix pay system was launched. In the 2017-18 fiscal year, which ran from April 1, 2017, to […]
PIPSC election candidates allege union committee censored their bios
As the national election campaign for the second-largest federal public service union heats up, at least two candidates are alleging they have been censored by the union’s elections committee. The Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada, which represents 57,000 government IT workers, scientists, and other professionals, will hold its national election on Nov. […]
Environment minister’s COP23 delegation victims of $30,000 hotel lobby theft, documents show
The social media team that tailed Environment Minister Catherine McKenna to the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Germany in November 2017 were victims of a hotel lobby theft involving $30,000 in camera and electronic equipment. According to documents and emails obtained by The Hill Times through an access to information request, a thief made […]
‘Kind of an asinine comment’: opponents react to Poilievre’s claims of ‘zero’ Phoenix pay problems under Conservatives
Conservative MP Pierre Poilievre’s recent newsletter sent to his constituents, in which he states twice that there were zero “public servants with Phoenix pay system problems under the Conservative government,” has attracted some negative criticism. “First, thousands of public servants have had pay problems, since Justin Trudeau implemented the Phoenix pay system four months after […]
Liberal government spent $11.9-million on public opinion research within last year, slight drop from previous year, Health Canada posted highest bill
The Liberal government spent $11.9-million on public opinion research within the last year, a slight drop from the previous year, according to a recent report posted on the Public Services and Procurement Canada’s website. Though the figure has dipped from the previous fiscal year, from April 1, 2016, to March 31, 2017, when it spent […]
Bureaucrats on the move: ESDC DM leaves, feds get new chief HR officer
The highly respected deputy minister of Employment and Social Development Canada is leaving to become Canada’s representative at the International Monetary Fund. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (Papineau, Que.) announced on Aug. 31 that Louise Levonian, who has been in her current role since May 2016, was recently nominated by Finance Minister Bill Morneau (Toronto Centre, […]
Diplomacy first, but new PBO says he’s not afraid to take departments to court
Canada’s new parliamentary budget officer says he’s ready to do what needs to be done to deliver government financial information to Parliamentarians and the public, even if it means going to court or putting him at odds with bureaucrats he’s worked with before. “I might be characterized as somebody who will be very demanding of […]
