May 29 2019 — Kathryn May — Policy Options — The federal government is wading into the area of predictive analytics to try to help build more effective programs and policies before they are approved and funded. The Chicago-based data firm Mission Measurement, home of the Impact Genome Project, has already received $324,000 in federal contracts, and is currently working with federal departments to improve […]
May 15 2019 — Kathryn May — Policy Options — Mention “deliverology” to a public servant working on the policy frontlines, and you’ll get either a shrug or a grumble. The trendy management theory that took the federal bureaucracy by storm three years ago has struggled to live up to the initial hype. Still, the person responsible for the public management approach believes it is […]
Dec 27 2018 — Kathryn May — Policy Options — A renegade group of Ottawa-based federal public servants are building the world’s first recruitment engine for gig workers who want to work in government. GC Talent Cloud is already attracting international attention for trying to reimagine the way the federal government hires for short-term work. The pilot project is currently housed within the office of […]
May 22 2018 — Kathryn May — iPolitics — The Trudeau government is changing the rules to claw back the performance pay and bonuses paid to deputy ministers and other top-ranking federal executives if they are found guilty of misconduct or mismanagement. For the first time, the government will be able to recoup performance pay from its most senior executives should information come to […]
Apr 30 2018 — Kathryn May — iPolitics — The largest federal union is threatening to campaign against the Liberal government in the next election as part of “escalating action” to resolve the Phoenix disaster and pay Canada’s public servants properly. Robyn Benson, president of the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC), urged 500 delegates at the opening of the union’s triennial convention Sunday […]
Apr 27 2018 — Kathryn May — iPolitics — The uncertainty around the erratic Phoenix pay system has been pushed into the middle of 2019 for thousands of public servants who don’t know whether they have been paid the raises and back pay owed to them. Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) President Robyn Benson said the union was advised that the federal government […]
Apr 18 2018 — Kathryn May — iPolitics — RCMP officers have reached another milestone in their drive to form their first union. The National Police Federation, which applied to represent 18,000 RCMP members, said a certification vote will be held this spring for Mounties to decide on the labour organization to represent them. The Federal Public Sector Labour Relations and Employment Board, which […]
Feb 9 2018 — Kathryn May — iPolitics — About 8,000 federal employees who reported overpayments issued by the problem-plagued Phoenix pay system by the deadline will be on the hook to pay back more money than they received. Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) officials say the department was unable to process all the claims of public servants who reported overpayments by the […]
Jan 11 2018 — Kathryn May — iPolitics — Thousands of public servants have been trying to report overpayments issued by the problem-plagued Phoenix pay system before a looming tax form deadline — only to get a busy signal. The Phoenix call centre, which typically gets about 2,000 calls a day, was hit with 12,000 calls Wednesday, causing the overloaded system to drop most […]
Jan 5 2018 — Kathryn May — iPolitics — Stanley Hartt came to Canada’s public service as an outsider with an “irrepressible mind” for ideas and the complete confidence of Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, making him a key player in reforming the tax system, negotiating the free trade agreement and introducing the unpopular GST. The well-connected lawyer and veteran Bay Street deal maker came […]
Dec 1 2017 — Kathryn May — iPolitics — The federal government shifted its position on new training for the Phoenix pay system and is now making it mandatory for all employees and managers in its bid to stabilize the pay crisis. Treasury Board Secretary Yaprak Baltacıoğlu notified departments this week that the new training program will be mandatory and that all employees should […]
Dec 27 2016 — Kathryn May — Ottawa Citizen — Unions suspended their court battle to force the federal government to pay public servants properly in exchange for being kept in the loop about what’s wrong with the malfunctioning Phoenix payroll system and how to fix it. The 14 unions and government mutually agreed to a consent order, approved by the Federal Court, in which […]
Dec 5 2016 — Kathryn May — Postmedia — The malfunctioning Phoenix pay system that left thousands of Canada’s public servants unpaid has also doled out millions of dollars in overpayments to 13,700 employees since its ill-fated launch. A letter sent to MPs on the government operations committee says a total of 20,600 public servants had received overpayments of more than $56 million by […]
Nov 30 2016 — Kathryn May — Ottawa Citizen — Public Services Minister Judy Foote says the Phoenix pay crisis could have been avoided if the federal government had kept the 700 compensation advisers who were laid off before the new payroll system was up and running. Foote told MPs on the Commons government operations committee Tuesday that the Phoenix project was flawed, poorly planned […]
Nov 25 2016 — Kathryn May — Ottawa Citizen — The NDP is accusing Public Services Minister Judy Foote of dodging political accountability by having her deputy minister publicly take the heat for the Phoenix payroll debacle. NDP MP Erin Weir told the Commons late Thursday that Foote is “hiding” behind her deputy minister, Marie Lemay, who has been thrown into the spotlight by holding […]