Remote Meeting with Minister of Digital Government Joyce Murray

As we continue our best to represent and advocate for our members despite the current situation with COVID-19, we wanted to share with you an important meeting we held by teleconference with Minister Joyce Murray. 

On March 12th, I had an already scheduled meeting with Minister Murray concerning her new Digital Government portfolio. We decided to do the call by teleconference and it went very well. Given that we had an established relationship with her from her time in the last Parliament as President of the Treasury Board, we were easily able to engage in some very interesting and fruitful dialogue. 

We discussed the need to keep the NextGen project, the replacement for Phoenix, moving along quickly and effectively. The Minister assured us that the project was her top priority and that PIPSC and our own government IT members would remain key partners. I also discussed the need with her to move forward on a feasibility study for the Canadian Revenue Agency to switch more quickly to the SAP solution.

I was very pleased to hear the Minister's focus on training and professional development of our IT government community. We know it is a priority for our members and key to successfully digitizing and modernizing the government’s IT systems. Minister Murray actually brought it up before I could, which I found very reassuring. She told me about her plans to push for more resources for digital training. I expressed our desire to work in partnership with her. Please stay tuned for more details on this!

In closing it was a successful first meeting and we are looking forward to continued work together to the mutual benefit of our members. Despite the current situation with COVID-19, my team and I here at PIPSC are doing our best to continue serving you, our members, during this difficult period. 

Debi Daviau,
President


24 April 2018
Like all Canadians, members of the Institute are shocked by the senseless deaths and horrific injuries that occurred yesterday afternoon in Toronto. Our thoughts are with the victims and their families.

6 April 2018
Last week I had the opportunity to meet with the National Capital Region Liberal Caucus. I was grateful for the warm reception I received and know that many of the Members of Parliament rearranged their schedules to be able to attend. I used this opportunity to raise PIPSC’s continued concerns with the disastrous Phoenix pay system.

14 March 2018
Following tremendous pressure on the part of public service bargaining agents, the government has finally introduced some much-needed flexibility in the recovery of overpayments caused by Phoenix.

28 February 2018
I am pleased to report that yesterday’s federal Budget committed $16M towards the building of an alternative pay system to replace the disastrous Phoenix.

27 February 2018
With “tax season” fast approaching, the government has recently updated the information available online regarding three types of financial claims linked to the Phoenix pay system: requesting an advance for government benefits; reimbursement for tax advice; and claims for out-of-pocket expenses.

20 February 2018
Last week I was invited to meet with the Cabinet level working group on the Phoenix pay system to discuss potential solutions. I last met with the Cabinet committee in June 2017 and since then we have sadly seen little to no progress – in fact the problems continue to mount.