Retirement reflections on 20 years in government
OTTAWA—Retirement. It is a word that strikes fear in the hearts of many, and conjures up notions of being put out to pasture. For those in the public service, it is the new reality, especially among the boomers who joined government in the 1970s and ‘80s. For me, it is a return to the status […]
Liberals expect to make department spending reviews permanent
The Trudeau government is planning to repeat a round of audits of federal departments and agencies promised in this year’s budget in future years as well, putting multiple government institutions in the crosshairs annually. Jean-Luc Ferland, press secretary to Treasury Board President Scott Brison (Kings-Hants, N.S.), said the three departments selected for review this year […]
Portrait gallery advocates ‘disappointed’ but understand rationale for indigenous centre at old U.S. embassy
While advocates for a national portrait gallery say they’re “disappointed” the federal government is expected to turn the old U.S. embassy in Ottawa into an indigenous cultural centre, they say they understand why and plan to continue pushing for portrait gallery somewhere in the capital. “I, of course, would have preferred the national portrait gallery […]
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 […]
Liberal defence blueprint a political win—for now
OTTAWA—It appears the federal Liberals have achieved an early victory in the communications war surrounding their just-released defence policy review. Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan must be relieved, as he more recently has been riding some choppy waves for publicly exaggerating his role in a mission in Afghanistan and then apologizing for doing so. One week […]
Questionable transfers from Statistics Canada to Shared Services Canada
OTTAWA—In a recent letter to Innovation Minister Navdeep Bains and then-Public Services and Procurement minister Judy Foote, obtained through access to information, current Chief Statistician Anil Arora and the current president of Shared Services Canada, Ron Parker, wrote that Statistics Canada has agreed to transfer $12.8-million to Shared Services Canada (SSC). Ultimately $14.4-million was transferred […]
Feds funnelling another $142-million into beleaguered Phoenix payroll system
The federal government will spend $142-million over the next two years to hire more staff to help fix the ongoing payroll issues that have affected tens of thousands of federal public servants as a result of the disastrous roll-out of the new Phoenix pay system. That brings the total cost of fixing the new system to higher […]
Axworthy to head World Refugee Council
Former Liberal cabinet minister Lloyd Axworthy has been tapped to lead the World Refugee Council, a group that will be tasked with finding new ways to deal with the world refugee crisis. Mr. Axworthy will be chair of this organization, which has been created by the Waterloo, Ont.-based Centre for International Governance Innovation and is […]
PS unions welcome forthcoming apology to LGBTQ Canadians, want involvement in consultations
The forthcoming federal apology to Canadians who were persecuted by the government in the past because of their sexuality has been a long time coming, but more still must be done to prevent future discrimination, say the largest federal public service unions. On Wednesday, the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia, and Biphobia, the federal government’s special adviser […]
Bigger proportion of federal public service goes temp, according to PCO report
The Privy Council clerk’s annual report to the prime minister on the public service shows growth of about one per cent in the core public service between 2015 and 2016, but fewer people employed on a permanent basis. It said there were 258,979 public servants at the end of the 2015-16 fiscal year in March […]
