The union representing Canada Revenue Agency workers is proposing a series of pay bumps worth more than 30 per cent of current wages to keep up with inflation — a move described by observers as both “unprecedented” and “crazy.”
The Union of Taxation Employees (UTE) is proposing the following wage increases, on top of a one-time nine per cent wage adjustment:
4.5 per cent effective Nov. 1, 2021.
8 per cent effective Nov. 1, 2022.
8 per cent effective Nov. 1, 2023.
When compounded over three years, the four proposed hikes would result in a “historic” wage increase for the largest workforce within the federal public service, at nearly 55,000 employees in 2022, said union president Marc Brière.
About 35,000 of those employees are represented by UTE.
Brière said the proposal aims to address an imbalance between CRA employees represented by UTE and the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA), which has approximately 14,000 employees.
I’ve never heard of demands anywhere close to this.– Jock Climie, Labour lawyer
The two agencies used to function as one between 1999 and 2003 where employees were paid the same rate. Once they became independent of each other, it created a wage gap of nine per cent because CBSA uses the Excise Act.
“They used to sit side-by-side in the early 2000s. They were the same group and occupation, the same classification, and then making the same amount of money,” Brière said.
As of 2021, wages at the CRA have ranged between $41,658 and $121,923, compared to the CBSA which range from $64,849 and $135,509.
This graph shows how wages compare for similar administrative positions within the two agencies.
However, it appears CRA employees’ wages may also lag behind other federal agencies deemed outside the government’s core public administration.
Direct comparisons are difficult to pinpoint due to differences in roles and salary designations. This chart does show what a mid-level CRA employee makes after three years, compared to administrative counterparts in the next three largest federal agencies.
The discrepancy doesn’t add up with the work CRA employees have been asked to do, said Brière, especially in recent years because of the pandemic.
“We have people that are specialized. The Income Tax Act is complex and they are doing great work. They have proven it during the pandemic, not only administering the income tax programs but even the emergency programs, which is not in our portfolio,” he said.
It’s a big ask at the centre of tense negotiations between the union and CRA management, which have both failed to reach a collective agreement.
UTE announced nationwide strike votes earlier this month that will take place from Jan. 31 to Apr. 7.
The CRA has filed a complaint against the Public Service Alliance of Canada—Union of Taxation Employees with the Federal Public Sector Labour Relations and Employment Board, arguing the union has failed to “bargain in good faith” and “make every reasonable effort to enter into a collective agreement.”
CRA workers are asking for an “unprecedented” pay raise
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The Union of Taxation Employees (UTE) is proposing a series of wage increases, which critics say puts unfair pressure on Canadians.
Living costs justify proposal, says union
Until now the biggest wage increase for CRA employees was 3.2 per cent per year from 2000 to 2003, which amounted to a nearly 10-per-cent bump over three years. Its lowest was one per cent per year in 2014 and 2015.
Brière argues this time is different because of inflation and the high cost of living.
“People are having a hard time out there to make ends meet and so that’s why we’re asking for a new contract with decent wage increases,” he said.
It’s an “unprecedented” request, according to Jock Climie, an Ottawa-based labour lawyer who has negotiated bargaining agreements for unions and federal agencies for more than 20 years.
“I’ve never heard of demands anywhere close to this,” Climie said.
This could be a sign of things to come with increasing inflationary pressures causing unions and employees to become “more aggressive in terms of their demands,” he added.
Franco Terrazzano of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation says the proposed pay increase for CRA workers would ‘gouge’ taxpayers. (Craig Ryan/CBC)
Critics say proposal is ‘crazy’
On the other side of the negotiating table, CRA management says the wage proposal would be costly to taxpayers and the threat of a strike during tax season puts unfair pressure on Canadians.
Some other critics agree.
“Everyone struggled through the pandemic but these government employees did not struggle … in the same way that their neighbours, who will have to pay higher taxes to fund these union negotiators’ demands,” said Franco Terrazzano, the federal director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, which lobbies for lower taxes.
He said the union is using inflation as “an excuse to gouge Canadian taxpayers that can’t afford these crazy demands.”
The union and the CRA are scheduled to attend Public Interest Commission hearings on Jan. 27 and Feb. 20 with the Federal Public Sector Labour Relations and Employment Board.
The board is expected to put forward recommendations on how the two parties can reach an agreement this spring, but the recommendations are non-binding.
CALGARY – MEG Energy says it earned $167 million in its third quarter, down from $249 million during the same quarter last year.
The company says revenues for the quarter were $1.27 billion, down from $1.44 billion during the third quarter of 2023.
Diluted earnings per share were 62 cents, down from 86 cents a year earlier.
MEG Energy says it successfully completed its debt reduction strategy, reducing its net debt to US$478 million by the end of September, down from US$634 million during the prior quarter.
President and CEO Darlene Gates said moving forward all the company’s free cash flow will be returned to shareholders through expanded share buybacks and a quarterly base dividend.
The company says its capital expenditures for the quarter increased to $141 million from $83 million a year earlier, mainly due to higher planned field development activity, as well as moderate capacity growth projects.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 5, 2024.
Premier David Eby is proposing an all-party committee investigate mistakes made during the British Columbia election vote tally, including an uncounted ballot box and unreported votes in three-quarters of the province’s 93 ridings.
The proposal comes after B.C.’s chief electoral officer blamed extreme weather, long working hours and a new voting system for human errors behind the mistakes in last month’s count, though none were large enough to change the initial results.
Anton Boegman says the agency is already investigating the mistakes to “identify key lessons learned” to improve training, change processes or make recommendations for legislative change.
He says the uncounted ballot box containing about 861 votes in Prince George-Mackenzie was never lost, and was always securely in the custody of election officials.
Boegman says a failure in five districts to properly report a small number of out-of-district votes, meanwhile, rippled through to the counts in 69 ridings.
Eby says the NDP will propose that a committee examine the systems used and steps taken by Elections BC, then recommend improvements in future elections.
“I look forward to working with all MLAs to uphold our shared commitment to free and fair elections, the foundation of our democracy,” he said in a statement Tuesday, after a news conference by Boegman.
Boegman said if an independent review does occur, “Elections BC will, of course, fully participate in that process.”
He said the mistakes came to light when a “discrepancy” of 14 votes was noticed in the riding of Surrey-Guildford, spurring a review that increased the number of unreported votes there to 28.
Surrey-Guildford was the closest race in the election and the NDP victory there gave Eby a one-seat majority. The discovery reduced the NDP’s victory margin from 27 to 21, pending the outcome of a judicial review that was previously triggered because the race was so close.
The mistakes in Surrey-Guildford resulted in a provincewide audit that found the other errors, Boegman said.
“These mistakes were a result of human error. Our elections rely on the work of over 17,000 election officials from communities across the province,” he said.
“Election officials were working 14 hours or more on voting days and on final voting day in particular faced extremely challenging weather conditions in many parts of the province.
“These conditions likely contributed to these mistakes,” he said.
B.C.’s “vote anywhere” model also played a role in the errors, said Boegman, who said he had issued an order to correct the results in the affected ridings.
Boegman said the uncounted Prince George-Mackenzie ballot box was used on the first day of advance voting. Election officials later discovered a vote hadn’t been tabulated, so they retabulated the ballots but mistakenly omitted the box of first-day votes, only including ballots from the second day.
Boegman said the issues discovered in the provincewide audit will be “fully documented” in his report to the legislature on the provincial election, the first held using electronic tabulators.
He said he was confident election officials found all “anomalies.”
B.C. Conservative Party Leader John Rustad had said on Monday that the errors were “an unprecedented failure by the very institution responsible for ensuring the fairness and accuracy of our elections.”
Rustad said he was not disputing the outcomes as judicial recounts continue, but said “it’s clear that mistakes like these severely undermine public trust in our electoral process.”
Rustad called for an “independent review” to make sure the errors never happen again.
Boegman, who said the election required fewer than half the number of workers under the old paper-based system, said results for the election would be returned in 90 of the province’s 93 ridings on Tuesday.
Full judicial recounts will be held in Surrey-Guildford and Kelowna-Centre, while a partial recount of the uncounted box will take place in Prince George-Mackenzie.
Boegman said out-of-district voting had been a part of B.C.’s elections for many decades, and explained how thousands of voters utilized the province’s vote-by-phone system, calling it a “very secure model” for people with disabilities.
“I think this is a unique and very important part of our elections, providing accessibility to British Columbians,” he said. “They have unparalleled access to the ballot box that is not found in other jurisdictions in Canada.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 5, 2024.
WINNIPEG – A public memorial honouring former judge, senator and chair of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission into residential schools, Murray Sinclair, is set to take place in Winnipeg on Sunday.
The event, which is being organized by the federal and Manitoba governments, will be at Canada Life Centre, home of the NHL’s Winnipeg Jets.
Sinclair died Monday in a Winnipeg hospital at the age of 73.
A teepee and a sacred fire were set up outside the Manitoba legislature for people to pay their respects hours after news of his death became public. The province has said it will remain open to the public until Sinclair’s funeral.
Sinclair’s family continues to invite people to visit the sacred fire and offer tobacco.
The family thanked the public for sharing words of love and support as tributes poured in this week.
“The significance of Mazina Giizhik’s (the One Who Speaks of Pictures in the Sky) impact and reach cannot be overstated,” the family said in a statement on Tuesday, noting Sinclair’s traditional Anishinaabe name.
“He touched many lives and impacted thousands of people.”
They encourage the public to celebrate his life and journey home.
A visitation for extended family, friends and community is also scheduled to take place Wednesday morning.
Leaders from across Canada shared their memories of Sinclair.
Premier Wab Kinew called Sinclair one of the key architects of the era of reconciliation.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Sinclair was a teacher, a guide and a friend who helped the country navigate tough realities.
Sinclair was the first Indigenous judge in Manitoba — the second in Canada.
He served as co-chair of the Aboriginal Justice Inquiry of Manitoba to examine whether the justice system was failing Indigenous people after the murder of Helen Betty Osborne and the police shooting death of First Nations leader J.J. Harper.
In leading the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, he participated in hundreds of hearings across Canada and heard testimony from thousands of residential school survivors.
The commissioners released their widely influential final report in 2015, which described what took place at the institutions as cultural genocide and included 94 calls to action.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 5, 2024.
