Nearly $13.4-million cost, risk management contract awarded for Centre Block renovation
PARLIAMENT HILL—U.K.-based construction and project management consultancy firm Turner & Townsend has been awarded a roughly $13.4-million risk management services contract to oversee Centre Block’s multi-million dollar renovation. U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May announced the contract award as she flew into Ottawa for her recent visit on Sept. 18, as described in a news release […]
It’s crunch-time on the Hill: getting ready for Centre Block’s big move in summer 2018
PARLIAMENT HILL—It’s crunch-time for renovations on Parliament Hill, with completion deadlines coming up next summer for the West Block, the Government Conference Centre, and the first phase of the new underground Visitors’ Welcome Centre. Construction work has already been actively ongoing on the Hill for a decade, and by 2018 this massive undertaking will have […]
Inside the Indigenous Affairs split: ‘nobody is losing their job’ during transition, feds say
It will likely be a year before the government makes good on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s pledge to split Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada in two, and “nobody is losing their job” while the details are worked out, says a spokesperson for the department’s two ministers. Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations Carolyn Bennett (Toronto-St. Paul’s, Ont.) […]
New Public Service Commission president should take ‘bolder’ approach to bilingualism
The following is an open letter to Patrick Borbey, who became president of the Public Service Commission of Canada in May: It is with great interest that I read your profile in the July 17, 2017 edition of The Hill Times. Having someone with your experience, expertise, and enthusiasm at the helm of the Public […]
Judy Foote resigns as minister, to step down as MP this fall
Judy Foote, the lone Newfoundland and Labrador MP in Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s cabinet, is stepping down as public services and procurement minister, and will resign her seat shortly after the House resumes sitting in the fall. Ms. Foote (Bonavista-Burin-Trinity, N.L.) made the announcement in an emotional speech Thursday in St. John’s, N.L., after spending […]
Immigration Department continues trend to end freeze on hiring long-term contractors as permanent staff
Contract workers at the federal Immigration Ministry, whose population has nearly doubled in the last five years, can finally again accumulate days towards becoming automatically permanent employees, after an ease-up this spring in Harper-era cost-cutting. Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada has confirmed that on May 29 it restarted a policy it had suspended Oct. 3, […]
Good on feds for giving contract staff chance at more stability
The immigration department has become the latest of several departments that have recently eased up on a policy that had stopped long-term contract staff from accumulating days to become automatically permanent. As we’re reporting this week, Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada on May 29 restarted a policy it had suspended Oct. 3, 2011 at a […]
Departments end ban on hiring long-term contractors as permanent staff
Two federal departments have opted back in to a policy that makes contract workers permanent after three years on the same job, ending a multi-year approach unions had criticized as unfair to workers filling a necessary role and an ineffective way to create a stable workforce. After six years of suspending the policy, Environment and […]
Still on cabinet leave, Judy Foote resumes public appearances in home province
Public Services and Procurement Minister Judy Foote has started making public appearances again in her home province three months after taking a leave of absence for undisclosed personal reasons from her ministerial role, though her office says she remains on leave from cabinet. In recent weeks, Ms. Foote (Bonavista-Burin-Trinity, N.L.) has appeared at several ribbon-cutting ceremonies […]
Shared Services Canada to begin talks on allowing federal departments to ‘opt out’ from centralized IT service
Shared Services Canada is exploring transferring some responsibilities for federal information technology systems back to individual departments and agencies, in the wake of legislative changes weakening the agency’s monopoly on digital services. Pat Breton, director general of procurement and vendor relations with SSC, said the agency has started reaching out to the 43 federal departments and agencies […]
