Published
|
Last updated
3 hours ago
Date: February 20, 2026
Place: Hybrid
Meeting time: 9:00 AM—5:00 PM ET
Meeting minutes taken by: Marielle Nadon
| Present: | Regrets: |
Matthew (Matt) MacLeod – RE – NCR – Chair Terri D’Souza – CFIA-S&A – B.C. – Yukon – Member Caroline Levasseur – SP – QC – Member Foster Scott – CFIA-VM – ONT – Member M. Rokib Hassan – NCR-RO/RCO – NCR – Member Ira Hill – SP – Prairies, NWT – Member Lionel Siniyunguruza – PIPSC – Staff Resource Marielle Nadon – PIPSC – Staff Resource | Timothy McKay – CP – Board Liaison Robert Lambert (Rob) – SP – ATL – Member Anna-Belle Filion – SP – Quebec – Friend of the Committee |
| Guests: | |
| Sadi P. – PIPSC Staff Patricia C. – PIPSC Staff |
| 1.Call to Order, Agenda & Business Arising |
| Matt welcomes everyone and moves the agenda, seconded by Terri. Two guest speakers will join during the day. Due to an error during the December meeting recording, no meeting minutes are available for review. Terri describes that they had a booth at the 2025 AGM where a Mentimeter was displayed on a screen. Participants could log in and share their thoughts on what scientific integrity means to them. On the other screen was the results of the 2024 federal scientist survey. A larger banner would have been preferable in order to gain more visibility. They handed out hot/cold packs and heat-sensitive pens – the former were particularly popular. Rokib’s overall impression of the event is positive, and he believes that it provided the Committee with good exposure and generated curiosity among members about its activities. |
| 2. Workforce Adjustment |
| Matt suggests discussing this topic on a regional basis. Terri – B.C. – Many members were affected. She knows a little more about CFIA: 1,300 letters were distributed. They plan to eliminate 587 positions, which is a significant number. She will find out how many members have been affected in other departments and report back. Ira – Prairies – DND has not been impacted at all yet. CRA in Calgary had a hard hit. Foster – Ontario – He heard that around 1,400 people in the CFIA were affected and around 500 jobs lost across CFIA, including the Policy and Programs Branch and other organizations. There is a ton of reorganization ongoing. Rokib – NCR – National Research Council (NRC) reduces its workforce by 188 continuing positions in the first phase of implementation of decisions under the Government of Canada’s Comprehensive Expenditure Review. Some research units are being dissolved and winding down. In total, by the third phase of implementation, 510 positions will be eliminated. Rokib is concerned about the potential loss of invaluable research expertise/skills and the subsequent distribution of tasks/workloads when the layoffs take effect. Caroline – QC – Most of the cuts in Quebec were researcher positions. Agriculture Canada closed its Quebec office. Matt explains that in some departments there is a voluntary departure program, but that it is inflexible in terms of timing compared to the 2012-2014 cuts. Someone who is willing to retire in a year or two and finish (or at least tie up) one of their research projects before leaving will probably try to stay in their position rather than agree to leave in 2-3 months. This will likely mean someone with less seniority will be selected for lay-off if there are no other volunteers. The result is that they will lose both: the future retiree soon and the younger person they selected for lay-off, and will have to rebuild expertise from zero. |
| 3.Women in Science – (Sadi P.) |
| Sadi would like to speak about a potential qualitative survey or focus group for members who work in male-dominated groups, which is generally the case in science. She would like to brainstorm with the SAC to identify which groups would be more affected by the problem and put her focus on them. It has been suggested to Sadi to disregard the bargaining unit and focus more on the nature of the work of the people. The Committee will help and put together a list of sub-populations that may be of interest to talk to while Sadi will draft a kind of proposal to be shared with the group later. |
| 4.Update on Scientific Integrity online training – (Patricia C. & Matt) |
Patricia, an education officer at PIPSC, presented a draft of an online course entitled: Our Union, Our Jobs, Our Science: Protecting Scientific Integrity. She is looking for the Committee’s feedback and opinion. The aim of this course is to demonstrate to members why protecting scientific integrity is in everyone’s interest. By the end of the course, participants will be able to : Define what scientific integrity meansExplain why it is a PIPSC issueDescribe your department or agency’s Scientific Integrity PolicyExplain how the Scientific Integrity issues connect with Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Accessibility (EDIA)Describe the roles and responsibilities of different actors in both government and PIPSC Use scenarios to recognize when Scientific Integrity is at risk Patricia invites anyone who has images of a workplace in a science environment or relevant pictures that they have the right to use to send them her way so that they can be used in the online course. |
| 5.Model Scientific Integrity Policy – (Matt & Lionel) |
| The meeting has been canceled again. This meeting, which is always postponed for different reasons, has been the subject of many grievances filed by the groups with the meeting in their agreements (RE, SP, CFIA, NRC). They are waiting on a written answer from TBS. |
| 6. Letter to the Departmental Science Advisor (DSA) |
Matt raised a letter sent from a large part of the ECCC researchers and scientists to their DSA about the cuts, including raising a possible contravention of the scientific integrity policy. He will confirm whether there is anything that they want PIPSC to promote publicly regarding this letter. |
| 7.Round Table, Ideas for the year and Next Meeting |
| Ira – The SP Group AGM will be in March. They are planning a demonstration on Parliament Hill, aiming to make it larger than last time. All PIPSC members in the area have been invited to join them. Rokib – Not much to add. Like most departments and agencies, they received an email for an increase of presence on site. Management will be full time from May. The RCO group is currently forming the bargaining team, consultation team and president. Foster – He is currently on parental leave and hasn’t heard much from his colleagues. Caroline – The WFA is putting pressure and stressing out members everywhere.The application process for funding for the coming year is currently ongoing. The challenge now will be finding labour to carry out the work with all the cuts that are occurring. Otherwise, the Quebec region is doing well. They have a lot of training planned which will help delegates support members more effectively. The SP group wants to demonstrate to their employer the importance of science. They will be holding another protest at Parliament in their lab coats to demonstrate their dissatisfaction with the cuts in research and science. Terri – She is hoping to support members who are facing the WFA. She thanked everyone who participated in the AGM booth. Ideas for the year Preparing for the next round of science survey next year. Lionel explains that the final draft must be submitted by the end of the summer at the latest, to allow the Communications Department and all other relevant parties sufficient time to complete their work and submit the final survey in early spring 2027. He puts forward the idea of adding a review of the previous survey’s questions to the agenda for the next meeting.Ideas for the next AGM: what to present at the booth and promotional items to give away.Terri suggests reviewing the strategic plan from last year at the next meeting and see what they accomplished and what should be focused on. Next meeting They are aiming for a virtual meeting in April and an in-person meeting in June. Marielle to send Doodle to find the best date. 8.Meeting Adjourned. |