Public service loses workers in young, middle age groups, gains people 55-plus
As the Privy Council continues to place a high priority on recruiting young people in the federal public service to replace aging baby boomers, demographic trends in the latest annual report from the Privy Council clerk to the prime minister show some discouraging trends. The report from Privy Council Clerk Michael Wernick to Prime Minister […]
‘Hundreds of public servants’ still waiting to get paid, struggle continues with new pay system implementation
The automated pay system known as Phoenix is now deployed to almost every federal government employee outside of the military, RCMP, and Crown corporation workers, and bugs in the system are continuing to leave hundreds of workers short of money they are owed, according to federal public service union officials. Last Wednesday marked the first […]
Could payroll problems derail the government’s agenda?
During the most recent federal election campaign, Liberal candidates across the country spoke about their party’s ambitious agenda, and how they would use government as a force for good. Here in the National Capital Region, that message was often followed with remarks about how this would be done by working respectfully and in partnership with […]
Steel going up as interim House Chamber construction begins this month
Cranes on the West Block building site will be busy in the coming weeks with the installation of large steel beams in the building’s courtyard as part of the structure of the new interim House of Commons Chamber being topped by a glass-domed roof. “They’re preparing to install the large, tall steel columns that will […]
The Saudi arms deal: more than meets the eye?
POWELL RIVER, B.C.—It is difficult to predict what kind of government misstep can seriously tarnish a government’s reputation. Some mistakes have legs and others, inexplicably, seem not to. But the stunningly stupid decision to go ahead with a $15-billion sale of light armoured vehicles (LAVs) to Saudi Arabia has the potential to expose Justin “Canada […]
Time to turn a new leaf with whistleblowers
OTTAWA—We are now more than six months into the new Liberal government mandate. It’s a good time to stop and take stock. From a whistleblowing viewpoint, has anything changed under the new regime? There are some indicators of a positive change. In November 2015, scientists were reported to have been “unmuzzled.” We’ve also heard from public […]
Hackers without borders: Canada needs a plan
In February, the United States government announced its first chief information security officer, as well as a Cybersecurity National Action Plan. In recent weeks, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and Canadian Cyber Incident Response Centre issued joint statements warning industry and the public at large about the latest surge in ransomware attacks: Locky and […]
Time to tear down walls between domestic and foreign policy
JAKARTA, INDONESIA—Foreign and domestic policies are generally considered two distinct areas of expertise within Canada’s federal government. In the 1990s, there were debates in the public service about career paths of senior personnel, and the experience executives should accumulate to climb the ladder. Canada’s situation has changed considerably in the 20 years since, leading up […]
Politics This Morning: Another look at Bill C-4
The Standing Committee on Human Resources, Skills and Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities will meet to study Bill C-4 again today. The meeting is from 3:30-5:30 p.m. in room 228 of the Valour Building. The bill is formally called An Act to amend the Canada Labour Code, the Parliamentary Employment and Staff Relations […]
Federal public service unions not satisfied with Trudeau government’s first budget
The unions representing federal public servants say there were some welcome investments and gestures in the Trudeau government’s first budget released two weeks ago laying out how it will spend $290-billion this year, yet they also found it fell short on several fronts. The Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC), which represents about 140,000 federal employees, […]
