Happy Earth Day!

PIPSC is proud to celebrate Earth Day, April 22, a day to celebrate environmental stewardship and to improve the symbiotic relationship we have with our planet. It’s a great opportunity to get some fresh air and appreciate nature, while observing physical distancing.

For the 100th anniversary of PIPSC, we wanted to give back to our Earth. Since 1920, PIPSC members have held an integral role in collecting data that has confirmed we’re facing a climate crisis. Whether it’s surveying the health of our forests, mapping the stars or protecting the vitality of our marine ecosystems, the services provided by PIPSC members are services that all Canadians rely on.

As soon as it is safe and the pandemic has passed, PIPSC will plant 100 trees across Canada to commemorate 100 years of progress!

This is an exciting opportunity for our movement to make an impact in local communities. You too can give back to the environment. Starting today, we’re inviting the PIPSC community to donate to Nature Conservancy of Canada and Tree Canada. Click either of these links to make a donation.

Pandemics are real. People are real. Jobs are real. Federal deficits are just a construct. Sometimes we forget. Hopefully this time we remember.

We are in the midst of a terrifying and historically significant crisis. To meet the challenge, Canadians have clearly voiced they want the government to use all resources at its disposal to protect them and reduce human suffering. Whether or not the cost fits into existing budget plans is irrelevant.

Containing COVID-19 and protecting those on the front lines is the top priority. But, it also means shutting down entire industrial sectors. Doing so resulted in 4 million people applying for Employment Insurance within a few weeks. These people need to be protected. In the short run they need income support so they can stay home, isolate themselves and prevent the spread of the virus. Eventually, when we come out the other end, it means sustained economic stimulus for years to come.

The immediate response from policy makers has been big, bold and fast. Canada’s COVID-19 Economic Response Plan outlines measures to support individuals, big business and everyone in between. There are flaws, naturally, but also an ongoing commitment to go further and keep people from falling through the cracks. Price tag be damned!

Public discourse about debt and deficits has changed in step with the development of these sweeping policies. Questions about affordability are rare and land as if they were beamed in from a different universe. The threat to the economy does not come from spending, it comes from not spending enough. The real human cost of inaction easily outweighs the cost of increased federal debt. The first phases of the response passed parliament with unanimous support.

In the alternate reality we all lived in a few weeks ago, critical questions would have seemed appropriate. If the finance minister had released a budget with a $185 billion deficit (8.5% of GDP), it would have caused an uproar from the opposition. The 2015 federal election was fought over which political parties would balance the budget and which would run a deficit in the range of 0.9 % of GDP. But that was a different time. Or was it?

It was not. There’s only one reality we live in and, in the last few weeks, policy makers have broadcast loud and clear which one it is. We live in a world where the responsible policy to meet the challenge is to spend whatever’s necessary. “Conventional wisdom” about debt and deficits is completely out of whack and seems petty in hindsight. It may be tempting to compartmentalize debates into two categories, before and after COVID-19, but it would be wrong to do so.

It is crucial that we not return to pre-existing deficit politics once the crisis is contained. There will need to be years of enhanced stimulus spending to ensure people get back to work.

During the 2008 financial crisis, a minority parliament agreed on a substantial fiscal stimulus package. However, shortly thereafter, the Conservative government began dismantling it. They aggressively attacked the deficit, restricting growth at a time when the economy needed investment. Estimates show that austerity measures in 2014-15 alone stunted GDP growth by 0.84% and resulted in approximately 90,000 job losses across the public and private sectors. All for the political goal of balancing the budget before the 2015 election.

Recall that to combat the early 1980s recession federal deficits reached this same peak in the mid-80s (8.1% of GDP). Mobilization during World War II required deficits almost three times as large (22.5% of GDP). The Canadian economy persevered.

After COVID-19 is contained, there will be economic fallout. In response, we need to protect the people who lost their jobs for the sake of limiting the spread of the virus. If we can’t tolerate higher deficits, these people will face very real hardship. We need to prioritize the real impacts of higher unemployment and poverty over the intangible costs of increased debt.

Collectively, we seem able to grasp the irrelevance of deficit politics during the critical moments in history, but then we forget. The job of the federal government is to do everything within its power to mitigate the negative effects of the impending downturn. Government has fiscal capacity to spend as much as necessary. That means providing swift, broad and bold support right now and prolonged stimulus spending in the coming years.

Originally posted on National Newswatch on April 10, 2020.

You are making Canadians proud. And it is not going unnoticed.

You are providing critical IT, healthcare, procurement, working on the front line to deliver more supplies and services, developing a vaccine, approving medical devices, ensuring the food chain stays up and volunteering to do other critical tasks!

"In this time of crisis, Canadians are witnessing the extraordinary value of our public servants, many of whom are PIPSC members. You’ve not only reassured Canadians, you’ve given us confidence and hope that together we can overcome the pandemic. While working from home or from virtually abandoned offices, you’ve not only kept the services going, you’ve volunteered to help repatriate Canadians, built an income relief program from scratch, and financially secured Canadians who saw their incomes disappear in a matter of days. Canada has, bar none, the best public service in the world. Thank you for your outstanding efforts."

Greg Fergus, MP Hull-Aylmer

This week we specifically celebrate our members involved in the Canada Emergency Relief Benefit (CERB).

Members at CRA and SSC have been working around the clock to build the system and update their processes to handle the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB).

Thousands of our members volunteered as call center agents to assist CERB applicants without hesitation. They all came together and delivered what Canadians needed when they needed it. In one day alone, 788,510 people successfully applied for the CERB, processing an estimated 1,000 applications per second. The rapid delivery of the CERB was a complete in-house operation – public servants stepping up to take care of everyone in Canada.

Our AFS members completed a project that was estimated to take 9 months in 2 weeks – tested and implemented!

As we know, the government needs in-house experts. Not higher cost, lower quality outsourced services.

Your contributions have been recognized by the Canadian Government, the Canadian Labour Congress and the Canadian people, who are truly grateful and deeply impressed. Thank you to all of our dedicated and hardworking members who continue to deliver critical government services. 

Every day, PIPSC members like you work to protect Canadians, keep them safe and perform critical services.

During these unprecedented times, we rely on our public service professionals more than ever. From nurses to agricultural workers, IT professionals to scientists, we thank you for the work you do.

Recognize a fellow PIPSC member or share your own story about how we are working hard for Canadians during the COVID-19 crisis.

We will collect these stories to share on social media. Let’s celebrate the amazing work you do.

If you are a PIPSC member with a story to share about your work or the work of another PIPSC member, please let us know by submitting the form below.

Before starting her day ensuring the welfare of New Brunswick livestock, Dr. Nicole Wanamaker wakes up bright and early to care for her children and tend to her dairy farm. 

Nicole is the Chief Veterinary Officer for the province of New Brunswick’s vet service. She works to protect Canadians by ensuring the health and welfare of our animals.   

“As the manager of the provincial veterinary service, I want to ensure that New Brunswick animals entering the food chain are safe for human consumption,” Nicole says. 

From cows to chickens, her team of 20 field veterinarians test and treat animals in every corner of the province. According to Nicole, having a provincially funded veterinary service is integral to rural farmers who otherwise may not be able to afford care for their animals. 

She and her team make sure help is there when farmers need it and at a rate they can afford. 

“As a provincial vet service, all of our fees are standard, be it driving five minutes from the clinic or two hours from the clinic, it’s still the same visit fee and hourly professional fee.” 

On a daily basis, mobile veterinarians who treat large livestock experience an array of challenges. 

“Some of the hazards that large-animal veterinarians face are things like getting kicked or bitten or shoved or pushed into things, as well as sharp injuries,” she says.  

Nicole does her best to ensure her team has the resources they need to succeed, but being a woman in science and having a rigorous line of work can make it hard to build a healthy work-life balance. 

PIPSC helps retain veterinarians in rigorous environments by bargaining for better salaries and more flexible work time to support members. According to Nicole, there is a shortage of Canadian veterinarians interested in working with large livestock. For this reason, it’s important that people in the field receive proper compensation, training and protection for their jobs. 

“PIPSC has stepped in to make sure we have personal protective equipment, such as steel toe boots, coveralls, and has made us more aware, as veterinarians, about some of the hazards and working conditions,” she says.  

Nicole is proud to be a PIPSC member and is proud of the great work she does bringing veterinarians from across New Brunswick together.

“What I’m most proud of in my career is the fact that, as I am now manager of the provincial vet service, I can connect veterinarians across the province and provide a service to livestock owners that is necessary and universal,” she says.  

It's PIPSC members like Nicole who protect our public health and safety every day.

Working on the front lines in Ontario’s hospitals during the COVID-19 pandemic response? Understand your rights and responsibilities in situations that may arise. Ontario’s Occupational Health & Safety Act (OHSA) requires employers to:

• keep a safe and well-maintained workplace
• take all reasonable precautions to protect workers from illness and/or injury
• provide information about the hazards in the workplace, proper safety equipment, training, and competent supervision

As workers, you have a corresponding duty to work safely and not take risks, report hazards, and use equipment and protective devices properly where required.

On March 27, Premier Jason Kenney suggested that federal public servants were refusing to go to work after a case of COVID-19 was linked to a meat processing facility in Drumheller, Alberta.

Premier Kenney was quoted saying:

“We’re seeing a huge increase in demand for those products and we can’t have the CFIA essentially impairing our entire livestock industry by people refusing to go on the job... For heaven’s sake, we have millions of Canadians who are losing their jobs right now who need government benefits,” he said. “I would ask folks across the broader public sector to realize in a way they’re fortunate that they continue to get a paycheque when many in the private sector are being laid off by the millions right now.”

President Debi Daviau sent a letter to Premier Kenney making it clear that we support our members at the CFIA and our members in Alberta. They are working through extremely difficult circumstances to make sure that people in Canada can access the public services they rely on. Our members have and always will put the safety of Canadians first.

In reality, in the case in question, workers were prevented from entering the Harmony Beef facility by CFIA managers – unionized workers did not unilaterally decide to walk off the job, as was suggested.

In the letter, President Daviau further underlined that our members, and those of our CFIA colleagues represented by the Agriculture Union, will remain at their posts and continue to perform their critical work despite the threat posed by COVID-19. She reminded the Premier that it is paramount that their work environment is deemed safe by public health authorities.

President Daviau called on the Premier to "cease from making offensive and inaccurate statements. Our members and all employees at the CFIA are first-line defenders of our citizens’ health and well-being. They are needed by all Canadians and they are committed to getting the job done."

We are currently facing a tragic global pandemic, this is not the time for petty attacks on public servants. PIPSC is committed to working with all employers to get through this crisis effectively and expects the same in return.

Read President Debi Daviau's letter to Premier Kenney.

The PIPSC Board of Directors met on March 27, 2020, to review and further assess how we can do our part to adhere to government and health agencies’ COVID-19 recommendations and restrictions. 

PIPSC in-person union activities are postponed until June 30, 2020. The Board of Directors will re-assess this decision no later than June 12, 2020. 

Some activities will be moved online. Unfortunately, some trainings have been cancelled. Any travel arrangements that have been made by PIPSC will be cancelled directly by our team. 

In these unprecedented circumstances, the Board of Directors has suspended all associated by-law due dates or requirements of constituent bodies that may be impacted by the postponement of events. Further details will be shared directly with constituent body executives in the coming days.

During this stressful time, we want to thank PIPSC members for their cooperation. Our team will work with constituent bodies to make alternative arrangements.