Tag Archives: public service

The Prime Minister announces changes in the senior ranks of the Public Service

Posted on by

OTTAWA, June 7, 2016 /CNW/ – The Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, today announced the following changes in the senior ranks of the Public Service:

Serge Dupont, currently Deputy Clerk of the Privy Council and Associate Secretary to the Cabinet, will take on additional responsibilities as Deputy Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs, effective June 23, 2016.

Marta Morgan, currently Associate Deputy Minister of Finance, becomes Deputy Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, effective June 27, 2016.

Manon Brassard, currently Assistant Deputy Minister, Compensation and Labour Relations, Treasury Board Secretariat, becomes President of the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec, effective June 27, 2016.

Stephen Lucas, currently Deputy Secretary to the Cabinet (Plans and Consultations and Intergovernmental Affairs), Privy Council Office, becomes Senior Associate Deputy Minister (Climate Change) of Environment and Climate Change, effective June 23, 2016.

Chantal Maheu, currently Assistant Secretary to the Cabinet (Priorities and Planning), Privy Council Office, becomes Deputy Secretary to the Cabinet (Plans and Consultations), Privy Council Office, effective September 6, 2016.

Ian McCowan, currently Deputy Secretary to the Cabinet (Legislation and House Planning and Machinery of Government), Privy Council Office, becomes Deputy Secretary to the Cabinet (Governance), Privy Council Office.  This change in title takes effect immediately.

The Prime Minister took the opportunity to congratulate Margaret Biggs, Senior Advisor to the Privy Council, Anita Biguzs, Deputy Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, and Ward Elcock, Special Advisor to the Privy Council Office on the occasion of their retirements from the Public Service, following distinguished careers marked by dedication and excellence in serving Canadians.

Biographical notes attached.

This document is also available at http://pm.gc.ca

 

SERGE DUPONT

EDUCATION

International Diploma, Public Administration, École Nationale d’Administration, Paris
Master of Management Sciences, University of Waterloo
Bachelor of Management Sciences (Operational Research), University of Ottawa

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Since May 2016
Deputy Clerk of the Privy Council and Associate Secretary to the Cabinet

2014 – 2016
Executive Director, International Monetary Fund (Constituency of Canada, Ireland and the Caribbean)

2010 – 2014
Deputy Minister of Natural Resources

2009 – 2010
Deputy Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs, Privy Council Office and Special Advisor to the Minister of Natural Resources on Nuclear Energy Policy

2008 – 2009
Associate Deputy Minister of Natural Resources

2005 – 2008
Director General and then Assistant Deputy Minister, Financial Sector Policy, Finance Canada

2001 – 2005
Director General, Tax Policy (Analysis), Finance Canada

1999 – 2001
Director General, Corporate Governance, Industry and Science Policy Sector, Industry Canada

1997 – 1999
Corporate Secretary, Industry Canada

1996 – 1997
Departmental Assistant, Office of the Minister, Finance Canada

1993 – 1996
Finance Counsellor, Canadian Embassy in Paris

1991 – 1993
Chief, Current Economic Conditions, International Trade and Finance Branch, Finance Canada

1990 – 1991
Senior Analyst, then Acting Chief, Strategic Planning, Sales Tax Division, Tax Policy Branch, Finance Canada

1986 – 1989
Analyst, Privatization Directorate, Office of Privatization and Regulatory Affairs

1983 – 1986
Analyst, Energy Policy Research Group, then Special Assistant to the Chair, Economic Council of Canada

 

MARTA MORGAN

EDUCATION

Master in Public Policy, Harvard University
Bachelor of Arts, Economics (Honours), McGill University

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Since August  2014
Associate Deputy Minister of Finance

2012 – 2014
Associate Deputy Minister of Industry

2011 – 2012
Assistant Deputy Minister, Industry Sector, Industry Canada

2009 – 2011
Assistant Deputy Minister, Strategic Policy Sector, Industry Canada

2003 – 2009
Vice President, Trade and Competitiveness, Forest Products Association of Canada

2000 – 2001
Director General, Social Policy, Human Resources Development Canada

1997 – 2000
Director, Children’s Policy, Human Resources Development Canada

1993 – 1997
Various positions, Privy Council Office

 

MANON BRASSARD

EDUCATION

Bachelor of Law, Université Laval

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Since February 2014
Assistant Deputy Minister, Compensation and Labour Relations, Treasury Board Secretariat

2013 – 2014
Assistant Deputy Minister, Programs, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada

2010 – 2013
Assistant Deputy Minister, Corporate Services, Citizenship and Immigration Canada

2003 – 2010
Vice President, Operations, Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec

2002 – 2003
Director General, Policy, Planning and Research, Immigration and Refugee Board

2001 – 2002
Director General, Office of the Implementation Act, Immigration and Refugee Board

 

STEPHEN LUCAS

EDUCATION

Ph.D. (Structural Geology and Tectonics), Brown University
Bachelor of Science with Honours (Geological Engineering), Queen’s University

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Since July 2014
Deputy Secretary to the Cabinet (Plans and Consultations and Intergovernmental Affairs), Privy Council Office

2013 – 2014
Assistant Secretary to the Cabinet, Economic and Regional Development Policy, Privy Council Office

2009 – 2013
Assistant Deputy Minister, Science and Policy Integration, Natural Resources Canada

2007 – 2009
Assistant Deputy Minister, Minerals and Metals Sector, Natural Resources Canada

2003 – 2007
Director General, Health Products and Food Branch, Health Canada

2000 – 2003
Senior Director, Science, Innovation, Regional and Aboriginal Affairs, Natural Resources Canada

1998 – 2000
Director, Policy Planning and Coordination, Earth Sciences Sector, Natural Resources Canada

1988 – 1998
Research Scientist, then Subdivision Head, Geological Survey of Canada, Natural Resources Canada

 

CHANTAL MAHEU

EDUCATION

Master of Arts, Economics, Queen’s University
Bachelor of Business Administration, École des Hautes Études Commerciales

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Since June 2014
Assistant Secretary to the Cabinet (Priorities and Planning), Privy Council Office

2011 – 2014
Director General, Federal-Provincial Relations and Social Policy, Finance Canada

2006 – 2011
Director General, Energy Policy, Natural Resources Canada

2004 – 2006
Director of Operations and Acting Assistant Secretary, Canada-United States Secretariat, Privy Council Office

2000 – 2004
Director, Health Care System Division, Health Canada

1997 – 2000
Acting Chief and Chief, Economic Development and Corporate Finance, Finance Canada

 

IAN MCCOWAN

EDUCATION

Master of Law, University of Cambridge, England
Bachelor of Laws, Queen’s University
Bachelor of Commerce, Queen’s University

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Since March 2015
Deputy Secretary to the Cabinet (Legislation and House Planning and Machinery of Government), Privy Council Office

2012 – 2015
Assistant Secretary to the Cabinet (Communications and Consultations), Privy Council Office

2006 – 2012
Assistant Commissioner, Policy, Correctional Service of Canada

2001 – 2006
Director and General Counsel, Correctional Service Canada Legal Services, Justice Canada

1999 – 2001
Director and Senior Counsel, Parks Canada Agency Legal Services, Justice Canada

1993 – 1999
Counsel, Civil Litigation Section, Justice Canada

 

SOURCE Prime Minister’s Office

Source: The Prime Minister announces changes in the senior ranks of the Public Service

The Prime Minister announces changes in the senior ranks of the Public Service

Posted on by

OTTAWA, May 5, 2016 /CNW/ – The Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, today announced the following changes in the senior ranks of the Public Service:

Daniel Jean, currently Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, becomes National Security Advisor to the Prime Minister, effective May 16, 2016.

Ian Shugart, currently Deputy Minister of Employment and Social Development, becomes Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, effective May 16, 2016.

Louise Levonian, currently Senior Associate Deputy Minister of Employment and Social Development and Chief Operating Officer for Service Canada, becomes Deputy Minister of Employment and Social Development, effective May 16, 2016.

Janine Sherman, currently Assistant Secretary to the Cabinet (Senior Personnel) Privy Council Office, becomes Deputy Secretary to the Cabinet (Senior Personnel and Public Service Renewal), Privy Council Office, effective immediately.

Biographical notes attached.

 

DANIEL JEAN

EDUCATION

Master of Business Administration, State University of New York
Bachelor of Social Sciences, International Relations and Economics, University of Ottawa
Executive Program, Queen’s University

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Since November 2013
Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs

2010 – 2013
Deputy Minister of Canadian Heritage

2010
Deputy Minister, Administrative Services Review, Privy Council Office

2008 – 2010
Deputy Secretary to the Cabinet (Operations), Privy Council Office

2007 – 2008
Associate Secretary of the Treasury Board

2007
Assistant Secretary, International Affairs, Security and Justice Sector, Treasury Board Secretariat

2003 – 2007
Assistant Deputy Minister, Policy and Program Development, and then Assistant Deputy Minister, Operations, Citizenship and Immigration Canada

2000 – 2003
Director General, International Region, Citizenship and Immigration Canada

1995 – 2000
Counsellor (Immigration), Canadian Embassy in Washington, Citizenship and Immigration Canada

1992 – 1995
Director, Immigration Control, Citizenship and Immigration Canada

1988 – 1992
First Secretary (Immigration), Canadian Commission in Hong Kong, and then Counsellor and Consul, Canadian Embassy in Port-au-Prince (Haiti), Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada

1983 – 1988
Second Secretary (Immigration), Canadian Embassy in Port-au-Prince (Haiti), and then Vice-Consul (Immigration), Canadian Consulate General in Buffalo (United States), Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada

 

IAN SHUGART

EDUCATION

Bachelor of Political Economy, Trinity College, University of Toronto

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Since July 2010
Deputy Minister of Employment and Social Development

2008 – 2010
Deputy Minister of the Environment, Environment Canada

2006 – 2008
Associate Deputy Minister of the Environment, Environment Canada

1999 – 2006
Assistant Deputy Minister, Health Policy Branch, Health Canada

1997 – 1999
Visiting Assistant Deputy Minister, Health Protection Branch, Health Canada

1993 – 1997
Executive Director, Medical Research Council

1991 – 1993
Assistant Secretary, Social Policy and Programs Branch, Federal-Provincial Relations Office

1989 – 1991
Chief of Staff to the Minister, Energy, Mines and Resources

1984 – 1989
Senior Policy Advisor to the Minister of National Health and Welfare

1982 – 1984
Policy Director, Office of the Leader of the Opposition

1980 – 1982
Constitutional Policy Advisor, Office of the Leader of the Opposition

1979
Administrative Secretary to the Premier’s Advisory Committee on Confederation, Intergovernmental Affairs, Government of Ontario

 

LOUISE LEVONIAN

EDUCATION

Master of Arts (Economics), Queen’s University
Bachelor of Arts (Economics), Carleton University

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Since June 2014
Senior Associate Deputy Minister of Employment and Social Development and Chief Operating Officer for Service Canada

2010 – 2014
Associate Deputy Minister of Finance

2008 – 2010
Assistant Deputy Minister, Tax Policy Branch, Finance Canada

2007 – 2008
General Director, Tax Policy Branch, Finance Canada

2007
Special Advisor, Tax Policy Branch, Finance Canada

2006 – 2007
Director of Operations, Priorities and Planning, Privy Council Office

2003 – 2006
Director, Business Income Tax Division, Finance Canada

2002 – 2003
Departmental Secretary, Deputy Minister’s Office, Finance Canada

1998 – 2002
Senior Chief, Strategic, Structural and Quantitative Analysis, Personal Income Tax Division, Finance Canada

2001
Tax Consultant, Barents Group, KPMG

1995 – 1998
Senior Economist, Federal-Provincial Relations Division, Finance Canada

1993 – 1995
Economic Analyst, Expenditure Analysis Division, Treasury Board Secretariat

1990 – 1993
Senior Economic Analyst, Economic Evaluation Branch, Transport Canada

 

JANINE SHERMAN

EDUCATION

Master of Arts, Economics, University of Manitoba
Bachelor of Arts, Economics and Commerce, University of Manitoba

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Since October 2014
Assistant Secretary to the Cabinet, Senior Personnel, Privy Council Office

2010 – 2014
Director of Operations, Machinery of Government Secretariat, Privy Council Office

2008 – 2010
Director General, Policy, Planning and Communications, Canada School of Public Service

2007 – 2008
Executive Director, Strategic Policy, Planning and Governance, Canada School of Public Service

2000 – 2007
Director, Strategy and Policy, Canadian Center for Management Development/ Canada School of Public Service

1998 – 2000
Senior Analyst, Social Development Policy, Operations Branch, Privy Council Office

1993 – 1997
Chief, Structural and Quantitative Analysis, Personal Income Tax Division, Tax Policy Branch, Department of Finance

1986 – 1993
Various positions, Tax Policy and Economic Development Policy Branches, Department of Finance

 

This document is also available at http://pm.gc.ca

SOURCE Prime Minister’s Office

Source: The Prime Minister announces changes in the senior ranks of the Public Service

Should the public service have the right to strike? YES

Posted on by

By Jim Stanford, Ottawa Citizen November 26, 2013

Should the public service have the right to strike? YES   Photograph by: Chris Mikula , The Ottawa Citizen

It might seem like ancient history, but it wasn’t long ago that Canadian governments knew how to balance their books — and then some. The collective operating surplus of Canadian governments in 2007 equalled almost $40 billion. Teachers, nurses, and other public servants did their jobs. Tax revenues were more than sufficient to pay for their valuable work (in fact, average tax rates were falling, not rising).

Then along came a global financial meltdown. (No one argues, by the way, that it was caused by teachers, nurses and civil servants.) Surpluses dissolved into deficits: not huge, by historic or international standards, but significant. And some political leaders made tackling the deficit their defining crusade. Showing they could manage their own finances helped them pretend they were in control of the worrisome events around them. In that effort, public sector workers and their unions presented a politically convenient target.

It’s not that public sector compensation costs caused the deficit (which didn’t exist, remember, until 2008). Nor would squeezing public employees be central to the deficit reduction exercise. At the federal level, direct compensation accounts for only 8.5 cents of each dollar in total government spending, and that ratio has been stable. Achieving, say, a wage freeze instead of paying a normal two-per-cent annual increase, on that small share of spending, could make no noticeable difference to the fiscal trajectory.

Nor was strike activity crippling the economy and service delivery. In fact, the incidence of work stoppage (measured by days lost per worker to strikes and lockouts) fell in 2012 to the lowest since statistics began in 1946: down over 95 per cent compared to the strike-happy 1970s. Public sector workers are less likely to go on strike, not more: they’ve accounted for one-third of all work stoppage days in the last decade, even though they now make up over half of all union members.

No, tilting at public sector unions is all about politics, not economics. Governments want to change the channel from persistent economic stagnation and embarrassing scandals. Workers in the private sector suffered during the recession, politicians argue (not that they act to support private sector workers, either). So it’s about time public sector workers suffer, too. The logic of this ideology of “shared misery” may be bizarre, but it’s politically potent.

Thus began the latest chapter in a long-standing Canadian tradition: when times are tough, blame the unions. And then take away their right to strike. It’s happened over 200 times in Canada in the last 30 years.

The latest example is Bill C-4. It would give the federal government unilateral power to define who can strike and who can’t (contrary to past practice and international convention). The government won’t detail how this will happen until after the law is passed. In a true Catch-22, the bill would also neuter the arbitration process for workers who can’t strike. And the whole process is buried within a 321-page omnibus bill, debate on which was curtailed two days after it was introduced. Bill C-4 is an affront to democracy — both in Parliament, and in the workplace.

The attack on public sector labour rights is usually justified by the claim that unions have soaked taxpayers through their irresistible demands. This claim is not supported. In practice, public sector bargaining tends to follow economy-wide trends, but with a lag. Public sector wages were much lower before public sector unionization took off in the 1970s. Wages caught up in the 1980s, then fell behind again during the austere 1990s. The public sector did better in the mid-2000s. But more recently, bargaining has clearly responded to tough times: for four years running, public sector settlements have lagged well behind private sector deals, and behind the general growth of earnings in the overall economy.

Average earnings in the public sector are five to 10 per cent higher than economy averages (depending on how they are measured) — but education and credentials are significantly higher, too. Comparing similar occupations and credentials, it’s largely a wash. Women make more in the public sector than in the private sector, but men make less. The whole wage scale is compressed (with a higher bottom and a lower top). But overall public sector compensation is not out of whack — and powerful economic and political pressures tend to keep it that way.

Governments are the only employer with the power to “solve” their labour relations problems by simply dictating a settlement. The potential for misuse of this confluence of fiscal interest and political power is enormous. Most private sector employers would love to outlaw strikes and dictate wage outcomes, but they can’t — and for good reason. Where public employees provide a genuinely essential service (like fire, police, and some health services), there’s no debate: in place of strikes or lockouts, a neutral arbitration system should replicate collective bargaining outcomes without work stoppage. But other public sector workers must have the same rights as anyone else in our society to organize themselves and promote their interests, up to and including withdrawing their labour if that’s necessary to get a deal.

Jim Stanford is an economist with the trade union Unifor. Tuesday night at the Canadian War Museum, in a debate hosted by the Macdonald-Laurier Institute and moderated by former House speaker Peter Milliken, economist Jim Stanford and professor Tom Flanagan debated the resolution “The right to strike has no place in the public sector.”

© Copyright (c) The Ottawa Citizen

Should the public service have the right to strike? YES

Posted on by

By Jim Stanford, Ottawa Citizen November 26, 2013

Should the public service have the right to strike? YES   Photograph by: Chris Mikula , The Ottawa Citizen

It might seem like ancient history, but it wasn’t long ago that Canadian governments knew how to balance their books — and then some. The collective operating surplus of Canadian governments in 2007 equalled almost $40 billion. Teachers, nurses, and other public servants did their jobs. Tax revenues were more than sufficient to pay for their valuable work (in fact, average tax rates were falling, not rising).

Then along came a global financial meltdown. (No one argues, by the way, that it was caused by teachers, nurses and civil servants.) Surpluses dissolved into deficits: not huge, by historic or international standards, but significant. And some political leaders made tackling the deficit their defining crusade. Showing they could manage their own finances helped them pretend they were in control of the worrisome events around them. In that effort, public sector workers and their unions presented a politically convenient target.

It’s not that public sector compensation costs caused the deficit (which didn’t exist, remember, until 2008). Nor would squeezing public employees be central to the deficit reduction exercise. At the federal level, direct compensation accounts for only 8.5 cents of each dollar in total government spending, and that ratio has been stable. Achieving, say, a wage freeze instead of paying a normal two-per-cent annual increase, on that small share of spending, could make no noticeable difference to the fiscal trajectory.

Nor was strike activity crippling the economy and service delivery. In fact, the incidence of work stoppage (measured by days lost per worker to strikes and lockouts) fell in 2012 to the lowest since statistics began in 1946: down over 95 per cent compared to the strike-happy 1970s. Public sector workers are less likely to go on strike, not more: they’ve accounted for one-third of all work stoppage days in the last decade, even though they now make up over half of all union members.

No, tilting at public sector unions is all about politics, not economics. Governments want to change the channel from persistent economic stagnation and embarrassing scandals. Workers in the private sector suffered during the recession, politicians argue (not that they act to support private sector workers, either). So it’s about time public sector workers suffer, too. The logic of this ideology of “shared misery” may be bizarre, but it’s politically potent.

Thus began the latest chapter in a long-standing Canadian tradition: when times are tough, blame the unions. And then take away their right to strike. It’s happened over 200 times in Canada in the last 30 years.

The latest example is Bill C-4. It would give the federal government unilateral power to define who can strike and who can’t (contrary to past practice and international convention). The government won’t detail how this will happen until after the law is passed. In a true Catch-22, the bill would also neuter the arbitration process for workers who can’t strike. And the whole process is buried within a 321-page omnibus bill, debate on which was curtailed two days after it was introduced. Bill C-4 is an affront to democracy — both in Parliament, and in the workplace.

The attack on public sector labour rights is usually justified by the claim that unions have soaked taxpayers through their irresistible demands. This claim is not supported. In practice, public sector bargaining tends to follow economy-wide trends, but with a lag. Public sector wages were much lower before public sector unionization took off in the 1970s. Wages caught up in the 1980s, then fell behind again during the austere 1990s. The public sector did better in the mid-2000s. But more recently, bargaining has clearly responded to tough times: for four years running, public sector settlements have lagged well behind private sector deals, and behind the general growth of earnings in the overall economy.

Average earnings in the public sector are five to 10 per cent higher than economy averages (depending on how they are measured) — but education and credentials are significantly higher, too. Comparing similar occupations and credentials, it’s largely a wash. Women make more in the public sector than in the private sector, but men make less. The whole wage scale is compressed (with a higher bottom and a lower top). But overall public sector compensation is not out of whack — and powerful economic and political pressures tend to keep it that way.

Governments are the only employer with the power to “solve” their labour relations problems by simply dictating a settlement. The potential for misuse of this confluence of fiscal interest and political power is enormous. Most private sector employers would love to outlaw strikes and dictate wage outcomes, but they can’t — and for good reason. Where public employees provide a genuinely essential service (like fire, police, and some health services), there’s no debate: in place of strikes or lockouts, a neutral arbitration system should replicate collective bargaining outcomes without work stoppage. But other public sector workers must have the same rights as anyone else in our society to organize themselves and promote their interests, up to and including withdrawing their labour if that’s necessary to get a deal.

Jim Stanford is an economist with the trade union Unifor. Tuesday night at the Canadian War Museum, in a debate hosted by the Macdonald-Laurier Institute and moderated by former House speaker Peter Milliken, economist Jim Stanford and professor Tom Flanagan debated the resolution “The right to strike has no place in the public sector.”

© Copyright (c) The Ottawa Citizen