It is with a profound sense of sorrow and regret that the Institute informs you of the passing of our friend and colleague, Ed Sweet.

Ed passed away on November 17, 2019.  Ed’s commitment to Institute members was deep and unwavering. He will be missed.

Ed was among the Auditors who chose to join PIPSC in 1990 to form the Auditing Group.

Ed served Institute members with distinction in a number of capacities over many years, notably as a union steward in Halifax.

For years, Ed served as a member of the Executive Committee of the AFS Group, the AFS Halifax Sub-Group, the Halifax Branch and the CCRA Auditing Group, and as a delegate to many Annual General Meetings.

The Institute extends its condolences to Ed’s family and to the many friends who were privileged to know him.

Condolences and memories can be expressed online.

The public service is an important driver in the Canadian economy.

Governments, worldwide, tout cuts to the public service as a key tool for cutting deficits or balancing budgets. But it turns out that’s far from the case. In reality, investments in the public service benefit the economy.

A recent report from IRIS (Institut de recherche et d’information socioéconomiques), a research institute in Quebec, shows that each dollar invested in the Canadian public service raises the GDP by $1.22 and benefits provincial economies.

Every dollar invested in the federal public service translates to economic gains. Federally, for every million dollars invested in the federal public service there are benefits of $1.77 M.

Most significantly, in Alberta and Nova Scotia, for every million dollars spent on the federal public service there are economic benefits of $2.26 Million and $2.07 Million, respectively.”

READ THE REPORT

The report assessed public sector employment trends going back as far as the post-war era. And makes clear that the Canadian economy would benefit from increased hiring in the federal public service, stating that the 25,000 jobs cut by Harper in 2011 have not been replaced.

The Harper-era cuts were wrong-headed, dollar for dollar. Spending on public services generates more residual jobs and growth than spending on other industries.

A large number of secure jobs stabilize the volatility of the private sector and mitigate the pain of negative shocks that are inevitable in industries such as manufacturing and resource extraction.

“The public sector is a tool that governments can use to achieve full employment, by providing high-quality jobs that have a beneficial effect on economic growth in general and on the resilience of regions that are less diversified.”

In the recent budget, the Alberta government has announced a 7.7% cut to their provincial public service over the next four years. This will mean the loss of 1588 jobs.

A strategy proven ineffective under Harper will be no more successful today in Alberta. In an already volatile, resource-dependent economy, cuts to the public service will exacerbate challenges and do little to balance the budget.

We stand in solidarity with public servants in Alberta. We oppose austerity measures at all levels of government. And, we are working for a thriving economy that benefits all people in Canada.

Ottawa, November 7, 2019 – The Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada (PIPSC) will hold its 100^th Annual General Meeting on November 8 and 9 in Gatineau.

This year’s theme is Leading Progress. PIPSC will be marking its centennial by celebrating its members’ leadership in creating progress in Canada. 

“What an amazing milestone to celebrate. We have been leading progress for 100 years and we will continue to build on that strong foundation,” said PIPSC President Debi Daviau. “Our members expect to see us out front, working hard to deliver for them. And that’s exactly what we continue to do.”

The Institute is proud to welcome as this year’s keynote speaker Hassan Yussuff, President of the Canadian Labour Congress, and receive a presentation from David Coletto, CEO of Abacus Data, on PIPSC’s membership survey.  

Event: 100^th Annual General Meeting

Where: Hilton Lac Leamy Conference Centre, Gatineau (QC)

When: November 8^th and 9^th, 2019

Media events: Friday November 8^th

• Address by PIPSC President Debi Daviau at 8:40 a.m.
• Address by Abacus CEO David Coletto at 9:15 a.m.
• Address by CLC President Hassan Yussuff at 9:50 a.m. 

Follow us on Facebook and on Twitter.

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For further information:

Johanne Fillion, (613) 228-6310 ext 4953 (office) or (613) 883-4900 (cell), jfillion@pipsc.ca

NOTES:

1. The speeches at the AGM will be available for live viewing on the PIPSC Facebook Page. 
2. Learn more about the PIPSC 100^th Annual General Meeting (2019) 
3. Hashtag: ‪#‎PIPSCAGM

On October 8 and 9, 2019, the Mobilization team hosted two English and two French information session for PIPSC activists, in order to promote the new tools and resources available on the Action site.

The Mobilization team created a Better Together toolkit. This digital tool is designed to help members, from all levels of engagement, organize a successful outreach activity in their workplace. 

During the webinars, members had the chance to review the site, talk to the Mobilization team and review some of the mechanisms created for them. 

If you missed this great opportunity, you can watch the webinars here:
 

If you have questions about the toolkit or ideas on how to make this kit a success, please contact Andria Desjardins, adesjardins@pipsc.ca

This year marks our 100th anniversary as a union committed to leading progress. 

To celebrate the role that members like you play in protecting and supporting communities, we invited Ottawa artist Ryan Smeeton to create a mural that represents the diverse work you do. 

Over the course of a month, Ryan worked to paint 100 years of progress. In this piece, he captured the importance of our members’ work and the spirit of PIPSC. 

“My goal is to create a mural that captures the spirit of PIPSC’s purpose: building community to act collectively to improve its members’ lives,” he said. “I represent this in my design with a linear composition featuring three figures; the first figure is seen pouring seeds from her palm, the second is seen holding a sapling, and the third is seen gazing out into the future.”

Ottawa photographer Cory Conty worked by Ryan’s side to develop a video time-lapse of the mural from concept to creation — truly bringing the project to life. 

At PIPSC, we’re excited to be kicking off a new century of accomplishment with a mural that honours the impacts of our members over the last 100 years. 

We will continue to celebrate our century of success at our AGM this November. 

We thank Ryan for helping us bring this mural to life, Cory for the stunning footage, and our neighbours at Dustbane for supporting this project. 

October 22, 2019

The Right Honourable Justin Trudeau, P.C., M.P.
Prime Minister of Canada
House of Commons
Ottawa, ON K1A 0A6
Justin.Trudeau@parl.gc.ca

Prime Minister Trudeau,

On behalf of the 60,000 members of the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada (PIPSC), I would like to offer you my sincere congratulations for your re-appointment as our nation’s Prime Minister.

A collaborative relationship will be key to our ongoing success. Our work together to replace Phoenix has been productive and we will be pleased to see this back on the top of the government’s agenda.

Over the past four years, your government has replenished the ranks of public scientists and we look forward to the continued investment needed to tackle the climate crisis. We're also looking to make strides on tax fairness and the reduction of government outsourcing.

The high voter turnout in the National Capital Region reflects the engaged electorate, and many of our members cast their vote for a government that will invest in public services. PIPSC and our members are confident that we can continue to collaborate effectively to ensure that the federal public service meets the growing needs and aspirations of all Canadians.

To achieve this objective, the government must:

1. Ensure that public servants are paid correctly and on time, by introducing a fully funded, functional pay system developed in cooperation with its own information technology specialists, our CS Group members, to replace the disastrous Phoenix system.
2. Ensure that Canada’s public scientists have the resources they need to help our country face difficult health and environmental challenges.
3. Reduce costly and wasteful outsourcing on government consultants to 2005-06 levels, as you had committed to in the 2015 election.
4. Give the Canada Revenue Agency and our members the resources they need to collect the billions of dollars lost every year because of tax loopholes. We need to properly fund the infrastructure and public services Canadians depend on every day.

Once again, please accept our congratulations on your electoral success and our best wishes for your efforts in fulfilling the commitments you have made to Canadians. You have our assurance that we are ready to work with you and your government.

Sincerely,

Debi Daviau
PIPSC President

Every $1 invested in public service tax professionals will generate $4 in public revenue, an analysis by the Parliamentary Budget Officer (PBO) has confirmed.

“Regular people are paying their fair share of taxes. But large corporations and wealthy individuals can hire teams of high-priced specialists to aggressively game the tax code,” said PIPSC president Debi Daviau. PIPSC represents nearly 12,000 Canadian Revenue Agency (CRA) tax professionals focused predominantly on corporate audits.

The PBO analysis was released as part of an election platform costing exercise and is a credible, non-partisan report. The analysis clearly shows that investing in the CRA will generate public funds for the services Canadians rely on.

Harper’s 2012 federal budget significantly undermined the CRA’s capacity to stop the richest corporations and individuals from ducking their fair share of taxes. Despite much-needed reinvestment in the CRA since 2015, funding levels are still $500 million below the 2012 cuts.

When Canadians were asked in a 2018 Environics survey whether it’s easier for corporations and wealthy individuals to evade or avoid tax than it is for average people, almost 80% of respondents agreed. When PIPSC put the same question to the auditors, economists, actuaries and other professionals at the CRA, the level of agreement was even higher: 90% said it’s easier for the rich to get around taxes compared to others.

“It is unfair that everyone else has to suffer while the richest individuals and corporations in this country are gaming the system to avoid paying their fair share,” said Daviau. “It’s time to invest in CRA auditors so they can bring fairness back to our tax system.”

With the federal election underway, the government is now in “caretaker mode” which has impacted the roll-out of our Phoenix Compensation Agreement. 

Current employees will have already received up to five days of paid leave in compensation. You can learn more about that process here. 

The claims process for former employees (and representatives of former employees and estates of deceased former employees) to receive compensation has been finalized. You will receive the salary equivalent of the leave days. However, this process could not be rolled out before the federal election was called and must wait until a new federal cabinet is established.

Work continues on the remaining phases of the compensation agreement and we are actively involved. The employer is creating a claims process for losses, interest and damages. It is anticipated that the process for these claims will be rolled out in two phases starting in 2020.

This new claims process will provide compensation for issues covered by many filed grievances. PIPSC has agreed to review and withdraw those grievances within 150 days of signing the compensation agreement. Because the federal election is impacting the employer’s ability to implement a large part of the agreement, PIPSC will be seeking an extension to the 150-day time frame to delay withdrawing existing grievances until the claims process is complete. The details of the compensation agreement can be found here.

We will continue to use the grievance process until the leave process has been completely rolled out.

Please read our FAQs for more information on the Phoenix Compensation Agreement. 

This week, students across the globe led us to the streets to call for climate action.

The strikes were started in August of 2018 by 16-year-old Swedish activist Greta Thunberg. These #FridaysForFuture student strikes now take place in communities all over the world, including across Canada.

We stand in solidarity with the world-wide strikes for climate action.

Our public scientists confirm that climate change is a crisis in need of immediate action and only 20% of them believe Canada is doing enough.

“We must listen to the science. We must put the good work of our public scientists to use. As unionists, we must stand in solidarity with students across the globe in calling for climate action,” said PIPSC President Debi Daviau.

On this global day of action, directed at the UN Secretary General’s climate summit, we encourage each person in Canada to join the student-led strike in their own community.

Not all workers will be able to join the marches and rallies in person, but there are many ways to demonstrate solidarity and support for this critical call to action including, showing solidarity on social media, participating in actions on your lunch break, starting a conversation about reducing emissions in your own workplace, or raising climate action with your local candidates in the federal election.

Those who do join the strikes should first speak with their union and consult relevant legislation to understand the legal implications of their actions.