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Kathryn May

Carney’s 15-per-cent challenge: cutting and rewiring Canada’s federal public service

  • Departments grapple with conflicting data as they race to finish the pivotal expenditure review the prime minister will use to reallocate resources.
News | BY KATHRYN MAY | August 14, 2025
Privy Council Clerk Michael Sabia, the country’s top bureaucrat hand-picked by Carney, set the tone from Day One, when he said the public service is too complicated and too slow 'at a time when we need to speed up because the world is moving as fast is.'   The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade

Carney’s 15-per-cent challenge: cutting and rewiring Canada’s federal public service

News | BY KATHRYN MAY | August 14, 2025
  • Departments grapple with conflicting data as they race to finish the pivotal expenditure review the prime minister will use to reallocate resources.

Carney’s 15-per-cent challenge: cutting and rewiring Canada’s federal public service

News | BY KATHRYN MAY | August 14, 2025
  • Departments grapple with conflicting data as they race to finish the pivotal expenditure review the prime minister will use to reallocate resources.
Privy Council Clerk Michael Sabia, the country’s top bureaucrat hand-picked by Carney, set the tone from Day One, when he said the public service is too complicated and too slow 'at a time when we need to speed up because the world is moving as fast is.'   The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade

What will be the fate of the budget watchdog? ‘Nobody has talked to me,’ says Giroux

  • Parliamentary Budget Officer Yves Giroux’s term is up soon, with no replacement named as a major fall reset is about to unfold.
News | BY KATHRYN MAY | July 15, 2025
Parliamentary Budget Officer Yves Giroux’s term is up on Sept. 2. The House and Senate finance committees both passed motions urging his reappointment. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade

What will be the fate of the budget watchdog? ‘Nobody has talked to me,’ says Giroux

News | BY KATHRYN MAY | July 15, 2025
  • Parliamentary Budget Officer Yves Giroux’s term is up soon, with no replacement named as a major fall reset is about to unfold.

What will be the fate of the budget watchdog? ‘Nobody has talked to me,’ says Giroux

News | BY KATHRYN MAY | July 15, 2025
  • Parliamentary Budget Officer Yves Giroux’s term is up soon, with no replacement named as a major fall reset is about to unfold.
Parliamentary Budget Officer Yves Giroux’s term is up on Sept. 2. The House and Senate finance committees both passed motions urging his reappointment. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade

Carney’s quiet public service revolution

  • The public service is being retooled piece by piece to meet the demands of delivery. The changes may outlast the agenda that sparked them.
News | BY KATHRYN MAY | June 23, 2025
Mark Carney
Mark Carney
Last week, Prime Minister Mark Carney shuffled his senior ranks—a first wave of appointments seen as an early step in retooling the leadership to drive his top priorities. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade

Carney’s quiet public service revolution

News | BY KATHRYN MAY | June 23, 2025
  • The public service is being retooled piece by piece to meet the demands of delivery. The changes may outlast the agenda that sparked them.

Carney’s quiet public service revolution

News | BY KATHRYN MAY | June 23, 2025
  • The public service is being retooled piece by piece to meet the demands of delivery. The changes may outlast the agenda that sparked them.
Mark Carney
Last week, Prime Minister Mark Carney shuffled his senior ranks—a first wave of appointments seen as an early step in retooling the leadership to drive his top priorities. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade

Former top bureaucrat Jocelyne Bourgon calls for bold public service reform to match Carney’s economic plan

  • Jocelyne Bourgon, former PCO clerk during the Jean Chrétien era and the architect of the 1990s program review, says delivering on Mark Carney's agenda
News | BY KATHRYN MAY | May 15, 2025
Prime Minister Mark Carney, pictured recently on the Hill. Of the $500-billion federal budget, most goes to transfers and benefits for people and provinces. What’s left—about $225-billion—covers everything else. The $123-billion operating budget is where cuts could come. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade

Former top bureaucrat Jocelyne Bourgon calls for bold public service reform to match Carney’s economic plan

News | BY KATHRYN MAY | May 15, 2025
  • Jocelyne Bourgon, former PCO clerk during the Jean Chrétien era and the architect of the 1990s program review, says delivering on Mark Carney's agenda

Former top bureaucrat Jocelyne Bourgon calls for bold public service reform to match Carney’s economic plan

News | BY KATHRYN MAY | May 15, 2025
  • Jocelyne Bourgon, former PCO clerk during the Jean Chrétien era and the architect of the 1990s program review, says delivering on Mark Carney's agenda
Prime Minister Mark Carney, pictured recently on the Hill. Of the $500-billion federal budget, most goes to transfers and benefits for people and provinces. What’s left—about $225-billion—covers everything else. The $123-billion operating budget is where cuts could come. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade

Could ‘mission government’ solve Ottawa’s delivery problems?

  • The U.K.’s latest management model may help Carney break through Ottawa’s implementation gridlock. Or will it be another deliverology?
News | BY KATHRYN MAY | May 8, 2025
Mark Carney
Mark Carney
At Prime Minister Mark Carney's first press conference on May 2, he zeroed in on a handful of sweeping priorities aimed at making Canada and its economy more resilient and independent. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade

Could ‘mission government’ solve Ottawa’s delivery problems?

News | BY KATHRYN MAY | May 8, 2025
  • The U.K.’s latest management model may help Carney break through Ottawa’s implementation gridlock. Or will it be another deliverology?

Could ‘mission government’ solve Ottawa’s delivery problems?

News | BY KATHRYN MAY | May 8, 2025
  • The U.K.’s latest management model may help Carney break through Ottawa’s implementation gridlock. Or will it be another deliverology?
Mark Carney
At Prime Minister Mark Carney's first press conference on May 2, he zeroed in on a handful of sweeping priorities aimed at making Canada and its economy more resilient and independent. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade

Public servants running in record numbers flip partisan assumptions as most offer under Tory banner

  • With 24 candidates across nine parties and Conservatives leading the way with nine, the surge of bureaucrat participation in this election shows how public
News | BY KATHRYN MAY | April 27, 2025
Pierre Poilievre
Pierre Poilievre
There are 24 bureaucrats on the ballot—for nine different parties, with the most running under Leader Pierre Poilievre's Conservative. The numbers are small in a workforce of 367,000, but public servants running federally are always sensitive. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade

Public servants running in record numbers flip partisan assumptions as most offer under Tory banner

News | BY KATHRYN MAY | April 27, 2025
  • With 24 candidates across nine parties and Conservatives leading the way with nine, the surge of bureaucrat participation in this election shows how public

Public servants running in record numbers flip partisan assumptions as most offer under Tory banner

News | BY KATHRYN MAY | April 27, 2025
  • With 24 candidates across nine parties and Conservatives leading the way with nine, the surge of bureaucrat participation in this election shows how public
Pierre Poilievre
There are 24 bureaucrats on the ballot—for nine different parties, with the most running under Leader Pierre Poilievre's Conservative. The numbers are small in a workforce of 367,000, but public servants running federally are always sensitive. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade

Can Canada afford to cut the public service while Trump moves the goalposts?

  • Shifting trade threats will force tough choices about cuts and the public service's role as payroll costs rise and the deficit hits $50-billion.
News | BY KATHRYN MAY | March 25, 2025
Public Service Alliance of Canada members on strike in April 2023. PSAC, the biggest federal public service union, is tapping into the wave of national unity with a ‘For You, Canada’ campaign to save public services from cuts. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade

Can Canada afford to cut the public service while Trump moves the goalposts?

News | BY KATHRYN MAY | March 25, 2025
  • Shifting trade threats will force tough choices about cuts and the public service's role as payroll costs rise and the deficit hits $50-billion.

Can Canada afford to cut the public service while Trump moves the goalposts?

News | BY KATHRYN MAY | March 25, 2025
  • Shifting trade threats will force tough choices about cuts and the public service's role as payroll costs rise and the deficit hits $50-billion.
Public Service Alliance of Canada members on strike in April 2023. PSAC, the biggest federal public service union, is tapping into the wave of national unity with a ‘For You, Canada’ campaign to save public services from cuts. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade

Is the public service ready for a big Trump policy shift?

  • The push for a more autonomous Canada could seriously reshape government. Without major reforms, many fear the public service isn’t equipped for it.
News | BY KATHRYN MAY | February 20, 2025
Jennifer Carr, president of Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada, speaks at a Sept. 9, 2024, rally on the first day of the new remote work rules for federal civil servants. The Hill Times photograph by Sam Garcia

Is the public service ready for a big Trump policy shift?

News | BY KATHRYN MAY | February 20, 2025
  • The push for a more autonomous Canada could seriously reshape government. Without major reforms, many fear the public service isn’t equipped for it.

Is the public service ready for a big Trump policy shift?

News | BY KATHRYN MAY | February 20, 2025
  • The push for a more autonomous Canada could seriously reshape government. Without major reforms, many fear the public service isn’t equipped for it.
Jennifer Carr, president of Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada, speaks at a Sept. 9, 2024, rally on the first day of the new remote work rules for federal civil servants. The Hill Times photograph by Sam Garcia

Former top bureaucrat calls for major overhaul of the federal government

  • Ex-Privy Council clerk Michael Wernick argues that many of government structures are no longer fit for purpose.
News | BY KATHRYN MAY | January 17, 2025
Michael Wernick
Michael Wernick
Michael Wernick, former Privy Council clerk, at the Canada 2020 Indigenous Economic Development Forum on Nov. 27, 2019. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade

Former top bureaucrat calls for major overhaul of the federal government

News | BY KATHRYN MAY | January 17, 2025
  • Ex-Privy Council clerk Michael Wernick argues that many of government structures are no longer fit for purpose.

Former top bureaucrat calls for major overhaul of the federal government

News | BY KATHRYN MAY | January 17, 2025
  • Ex-Privy Council clerk Michael Wernick argues that many of government structures are no longer fit for purpose.
Michael Wernick
Michael Wernick, former Privy Council clerk, at the Canada 2020 Indigenous Economic Development Forum on Nov. 27, 2019. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade

Billions from public-service pension plan surplus gives Liberals many options

  • The government could use the extra dollars to cut the deficit, sweeten departures, improve pensions, or take a contribution holiday and give one to
News | BY KATHRYN MAY | November 20, 2024
Treasury Board President Anita Anand
Treasury Board President Anita Anand
Treasury Board President Anita Anand is under intense pressure from unions to share the surplus and improve pensions. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade

Billions from public-service pension plan surplus gives Liberals many options

News | BY KATHRYN MAY | November 20, 2024
  • The government could use the extra dollars to cut the deficit, sweeten departures, improve pensions, or take a contribution holiday and give one to

Billions from public-service pension plan surplus gives Liberals many options

News | BY KATHRYN MAY | November 20, 2024
  • The government could use the extra dollars to cut the deficit, sweeten departures, improve pensions, or take a contribution holiday and give one to
Treasury Board President Anita Anand
Treasury Board President Anita Anand is under intense pressure from unions to share the surplus and improve pensions. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade

Public service job cuts loom as Ottawa misses spending and deficit targets

  • Unions were told last week that job cuts may go beyond attrition after a decade-long hiring spree.
News | BY KATHRYN MAY | November 13, 2024
Anita Anand
Anita Anand
In her latest letter to departments, Treasury Board President Anita Anand made clear that 'savings are expected to be drawn from operating budgets and through natural attrition' to 'the greatest extent possible.' The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade

Public service job cuts loom as Ottawa misses spending and deficit targets

News | BY KATHRYN MAY | November 13, 2024
  • Unions were told last week that job cuts may go beyond attrition after a decade-long hiring spree.

Public service job cuts loom as Ottawa misses spending and deficit targets

News | BY KATHRYN MAY | November 13, 2024
  • Unions were told last week that job cuts may go beyond attrition after a decade-long hiring spree.
Anita Anand
In her latest letter to departments, Treasury Board President Anita Anand made clear that 'savings are expected to be drawn from operating budgets and through natural attrition' to 'the greatest extent possible.' The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade

Acting pay is a complication that runs deep in the public service

  • A technically simplified pay system is in the works to replace Phoenix. But what about the way acting pay is used? Can that be
News | BY KATHRYN MAY | September 4, 2024
Anita Anand
Anita Anand
Acting pay is on the wish list of issues that Treasury Board—which is overseen by Anita Anand—and the unions hope to hash out when they meet for an unprecedented round of bargaining to simplify the myriad of rules in collective agreements. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade

Acting pay is a complication that runs deep in the public service

News | BY KATHRYN MAY | September 4, 2024
  • A technically simplified pay system is in the works to replace Phoenix. But what about the way acting pay is used? Can that be

Acting pay is a complication that runs deep in the public service

News | BY KATHRYN MAY | September 4, 2024
  • A technically simplified pay system is in the works to replace Phoenix. But what about the way acting pay is used? Can that be
Anita Anand
Acting pay is on the wish list of issues that Treasury Board—which is overseen by Anita Anand—and the unions hope to hash out when they meet for an unprecedented round of bargaining to simplify the myriad of rules in collective agreements. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade

Ottawa eyeing ways to simplify public sector pay rules, fix Phoenix problems

  • This fall, the government plans to kick off meetings with unions to discuss ways to end an embarrassing situation.
News | BY KATHRYN MAY | August 7, 2024
Alex Benay
Alex Benay
Alex Benay, associate deputy minister at Public Services and Procurement Canada, speaks about the work to standardize and simplify HR and pay practices across the public service, during a news conference in Ottawa, on July 9.  The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade

Ottawa eyeing ways to simplify public sector pay rules, fix Phoenix problems

News | BY KATHRYN MAY | August 7, 2024
  • This fall, the government plans to kick off meetings with unions to discuss ways to end an embarrassing situation.

Ottawa eyeing ways to simplify public sector pay rules, fix Phoenix problems

News | BY KATHRYN MAY | August 7, 2024
  • This fall, the government plans to kick off meetings with unions to discuss ways to end an embarrassing situation.
Alex Benay
Alex Benay, associate deputy minister at Public Services and Procurement Canada, speaks about the work to standardize and simplify HR and pay practices across the public service, during a news conference in Ottawa, on July 9.  The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade

What to do with the public-service pension surplus piling up?

  • Now that the surplus has reached a 'non-permissible' level, Ottawa will have to reduce it. But who is entitled to the tens of millions
News | BY KATHRYN MAY | August 1, 2024
Public service unions are represented on the plan’s pension advisory committee, which advises Treasury Board President Anita Anand, pictured, on how to run, design, and fund the plan. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade

What to do with the public-service pension surplus piling up?

News | BY KATHRYN MAY | August 1, 2024
  • Now that the surplus has reached a 'non-permissible' level, Ottawa will have to reduce it. But who is entitled to the tens of millions

What to do with the public-service pension surplus piling up?

News | BY KATHRYN MAY | August 1, 2024
  • Now that the surplus has reached a 'non-permissible' level, Ottawa will have to reduce it. But who is entitled to the tens of millions
Public service unions are represented on the plan’s pension advisory committee, which advises Treasury Board President Anita Anand, pictured, on how to run, design, and fund the plan. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade

The federal government plans to expand the ’25-and-out’ pension

  • While most Canadian employers are trying to reduce pension costs and many economists argue for raising the retirement age, the public service will have
Opinion | BY KATHRYN MAY | July 4, 2024
Treasury Board President Anita Anand, pictured June 18, 2024, in a Hill scrum, will propose legislative changes to the public service pension plan in the fall so border officers and hundreds of other workers can retire with pensions after 25 years of service. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade

The federal government plans to expand the ’25-and-out’ pension

Opinion | BY KATHRYN MAY | July 4, 2024
  • While most Canadian employers are trying to reduce pension costs and many economists argue for raising the retirement age, the public service will have

The federal government plans to expand the ’25-and-out’ pension

Opinion | BY KATHRYN MAY | July 4, 2024
  • While most Canadian employers are trying to reduce pension costs and many economists argue for raising the retirement age, the public service will have
Treasury Board President Anita Anand, pictured June 18, 2024, in a Hill scrum, will propose legislative changes to the public service pension plan in the fall so border officers and hundreds of other workers can retire with pensions after 25 years of service. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade
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