PSAC calls for legislative change to address ‘second-class’ treatment of Precinct workers
The Public Service Alliance of Canada, the country’s largest public service union, has called out the federal government for what is says is the treatment of hundreds of Parliamentary Precinct workers as “second-class,” and is asking for reforms to the Parliamentary Employment and Staff Relations Act (PESRA), as well as “compensation for suffering under the […]
Centre Block demolition work reaches a pinnacle (four, to be exact)
Almost three years in, demolition work continues inside the historic Centre Block building—now focused on high-heritage spaces on the second, third, and fourth floors—and soon, it will reach the top of the Peace Tower, with a mobile crane set to be erected later this fall to remove the four pinnacles that surround the tower’s clock […]
Union of Taxation Employees latest PSAC group to declare impasse in negotiations with feds
The Union of Taxation Employees, which represents more than 35,000 workers at the Canadian Revenue Agency, have declared an impasse in contract negotiations with the federal government after eight months of what union leader Marc Brière called “the same damn movie” that led to strike votes in February and March of 2020. The latest unsuccessful […]
Proudfoot finds new home at The Globe
Shannon Proudfoot, former Ottawa bureau chief for Maclean’s magazine, will be suiting up as a member of The Globe and Mail’s capital bureau next month. Proudfoot’s departure from Maclean’s in early July marked the completion of an exodus of top talent from the storied magazine. As previously reported by The Hill Times, in March 2019, Rogers […]
Federal departments eyeing mid-September return to office, but unions pushing back
Two and a half years into a COVID-19 pandemic that has dramatically altered workplace arrangements, some federal departments are moving to implement return-to-office policies, in many cases looking for employees to return two days per week starting Sept. 12. But as the seventh wave of the pandemic continues, and with many employees working productively from […]
‘A churn that never stops’: Trudeau shuffles nine senior bureaucrats
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s recent shakeup of the senior public service promotes nine bureaucrats, bolstering impressive resumes of some rising in the ranks to help create a “portfolio of assets” ready for top jobs, according to Michael Wernick, former clerk of the Privy Council. On July 8, Trudeau (Papineau, Que.) announced three new deputy ministers—Christiane Fox […]
PSAC declares impasse in negotiations with feds over wages, as unions, feds navigate inflation, ‘hybrid work’ model
The Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC), the country’s largest federal public service union, has declared an impasse in collective bargaining negotiations with the government on behalf of 120,000 workers, with national president Chris Aylward honing in on the government’s wage offer as the “tipping point” leading to the standoff. The government’s offer was an […]
Security key factor in successful Block 2 design that will complete ‘Parliament square’
After a year-long competition, the winning bid to complete “Parliament square’s” fourth wall came out ahead, thanks, in part, to a design that works well with Hill security plans, according to one of the MPs who sat on the jury. Zeidler Architecture Inc. and David Chipperfield Architects were unveiled May 16 as the prevailing design […]
Unions wary of Treasury Board’s $6-billion ‘strategic policy review,’ and want more details on transforming some federal buildings into residential properties
With the Treasury Board president now engaged in a “strategic policy review” surrounding government operations after years of record spending and after COVID-19 upended workplace arrangements for federal public servants, Public Service Alliance of Canada national president Chris Aylward warned that “we’ve seen deceptive language like this before,” referring to former prime minister Stephen Harper’s […]
‘Town and Crown’ Block 2 design challenge brings ‘new voices’ to Parliamentary Precinct’s national narrative, finalists say
Rooftop gardens, a double-storey library, a people’s square, and a Truth and Reconciliation tower situated to complement expansive views of Parliament Hill and the Peace Tower are among the design concepts proposed by the six finalists tasked with reimagining the space opposite Centre Block. Dubbed Block 2, the unique space that marries, what one architect […]
