The Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada
The Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada
Log in

Letter to the Minister of National Defence about allegations of misconduct in the Canadian military

March 2, 2021

The Honourable Harjit Sajjan
Minister of National Defence
101 Colonel By Drive
Ottawa ON K1A 0K2
By email:  DND_MND@forces.gc.ca

Dear Minister Sajjan,

I am writing today regarding recent allegations of misconduct at the very highest level of the Canadian military. As you know, these are not the first such charges involving current or former Chiefs of the Defence Staff (CDS) to become public over the past few years.

While these allegations are currently being looked into from a military leadership perspective, little if any mention has been made about the needs of the over 25,000 public service employees who support the Forces on a daily basis. I am sure you recognize that their confidence in Department of National Defense (DND) leadership has been seriously eroded by these recurring events. If CDS themselves are not held accountable to departmental Sexual, Violence or Harassment policies, it is fair to ask how DND employees can expect fair hearings when they bring such cases forward.

The damage caused by these incidents to their morale and confidence is such that I urge you to immediately issue a statement of support for our 5000 members employed by the Department. Please be assured that we are ready to work with your office towards the development and implementation of a detailed, transparent roadmap outlining how DND plans to restore our members’ faith in their senior leadership.

I thank you for your immediate attention to this matter and look forward to your response.

Sincerely,

Debi Daviau,
President, PIPSC

Published on 10 March 2021

20 November 2019
Applause

PIPSC Welcomes the New Federal Cabinet

On November 20, 2019 Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced the composition of his new Cabinet.
18 November 2019
bed bugs

Bed bugs in government offices

As you are certainly aware given the extensive media coverage over the past few days, at time of writing bed bugs have been found in at least 8 government buildings located in the National Capital Region. They have also been reported in federal government buildings in Montreal and Winnipeg. There may be other affected locations across Canada that have yet to be formally identified.
13 September 2019
Vote 2019

Your 2019 Federal Election Toolkit

We have developed this online Election Toolkit that will help you make an informed choice in electing a government that will protect public services and respect the people who provide them.
11 September 2019
Nix Phoenix

An important victory for our members: the government commits $117M to the Next Generation human resources and pay system

On September 6, 2019, the government announced the investment of $117M in the design and delivery of the Next Generation human resources and pay system (NextGen), the much-awaited successor to the disastrous Phoenix.
31 July 2019
Announcement

The Federal Election on the Horizon

Parliament has risen and MPs are back in their home ridings — we are getting closer to the next federal election. With fixed election dates, we can expect Election Day to be Monday October 21, 2019.
10 July 2019
Image representing employment inequality

Letter to the Public Service Commission President about Employment Equity

I recently wrote to Public Service Commission (PSC) President Patrick Borbey about the Employment Equity Promotion Rate Study published by his organization in late May 2019.