Jun 29 2022 — Kathryn May — Policy Options — Delivering services to Canadians has been an Achilles heel of the federal government for 30 years because of political disinterest and a senior management of “travelling salesmen,” who hop from job to job and barely know the business of the departments they lead, says the former senior bureaucrat who proposed the creation of Service Canada.
May 30 2022 — Kathryn May — Policy Options — A lack of trust between politicians and senior levels of the public service, and a Prime Minister’s Office that calls all the shots, is “destroying” Canada’s public service, warns Paul Tellier, Canada’s former top bureaucrat and former head of both Canadian National Railway and Bombardier Inc. “The current government, with centralization of everything in the […]
May 11 2022 — Kathryn May — Policy Options — Canada’s public service leaders have a problem telling the truth to their political bosses. A new report, Top of Mind, says they feel ill-equipped to gather evidence for policy advice, especially in a world where facts are distorted and drowned out by disinformation, polarization and hyperpartisan politics. To make matters worse, they appear afraid to […]
Apr 29 2022 — Kathryn May — Policy Options — April 29, 2022 SHARE Canada’s auditor general is relaunching a crusade for a new budgeting process that will protect her independence and ensure the office is properly funded to carry out the work of her mandate. Karen Hogan is turning her attention toward finding a new funding mechanism after a long wrangle for $25 million […]
Apr 13 2022 — Kathryn May — Policy Options — The federal budget kicked off a spending review public servants knew was coming. This time, however, the Liberals have a pact with the labour-friendly NDP that could protect the bureaucracy from the job losses of previous reviews. Treasury Board President Mona Fortier will lead a year-long strategic review that’s aimed at saving $6 billion over […]
Apr 7 2022 — Kathryn May — Policy Options — An unprecedented number of public service executives are burned out and looking for demotions after working flat-out to manage crisis after crisis since the pandemic hit two years ago, says the association representing them. The Association of Professional Executives of the Public Service of Canada (APEX) has long been working behind the scenes to improve […]
Mar 22 2022 — Kathryn May — Policy Options — The timing and pace of return-to-office plans for Canada’s public servants will hinge on what the federal government decides to do with its vaccine mandate for employees. The federal Office of the Chief Human Resources Officer is leading a review into the six-month-old mandate, seeking input from unions and other stakeholders, but a decision will […]
Mar 16 2022 — Kathryn May — Policy Options — Social media is a part of life that is increasingly treacherous for Canada’s public servants, who may need better guidance to navigate their public and private lives online. The blurring of that line was on display during the so-called freedom convoy protest that paralyzed downtown Ottawa. Some public servants took to social media to oppose […]
Mar 8 2022 — Kathryn May — Policy Options — For the first time, the federal government and its 17 public service unions have agreed to discuss simplifying the thousands of pay rules and processes that derailed the troubled Phoenix pay system from the start. This simplifying, which could take years to unfold, is a key piece of the government’s pilot project to build a […]
Mar 1 2022 — Kathryn May — Policy Options — Federal government departments are restarting plans to bring thousands of public servants back to the office as provinces lift pandemic restrictions that forced them to work from home. Treasury Board recently issued new guidance outlining the terms for departments and agencies to resume the plans that were abruptly halted when the Omicron variant took hold […]
Feb 23 2022 — Kathryn May — Policy Options — The pay system has improved six years after a disastrous start, but problems remain and a backlog of fixes remain to be completed. Thousands of workers are still owed money when they leave or retire from Canada’s public service, and some are still waiting years to get paid. Thousands more move to jobs in other […]
Jan 25 2022 — Kathryn May — Policy Options — Federal government departments are approaching an important anniversary with the infamous Phoenix pay system and are now in a race to recover thousands of salary overpayments to public servants before they run out of time. The troubled Phoenix has churned out nearly $3 billion in overpayments to employees since it went live in February 2016. […]
Jan 17 2022 — Kathryn May — Policy Options — Treasury Board president Mona Fortier says she won’t issue a blanket mandatory order for all federal departments to allow employees to work from home for the rest of the pandemic if their jobs can be done from home. In a letter to unions, Fortier said such a one-size-fits-all approach won’t work for some 100 departments […]
Jan 10 2022 — Kathryn May — Policy Options — The Trudeau government may have made history with the biggest deputy minister shuffle in memory. And now the capital’s insiders are reading the tea leaves to discern where’s the power, who to watch and the future of the public service. Last week, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau moved or promoted senior bureaucrats into 18 new jobs […]
Dec 17 2021 — Kathryn May — Policy Options — Federal government departments are rethinking plans to send thousands of public servants back to the office as the new Omicron variant tightens its grip. The Treasury Board issued new guidance Thursday asking departments and agencies to put plans to return more workers to the office on hold and to review existing levels of staffing in […]