The federal government will expect public servants back in the office three days a week beginning later this year.
A federal government source who is not authorized to speak publicly about the matter confirmed to Radio-Canada what the French-language newspaper Le Droit first reported Monday.
The source said the policy shift is due to come into effect in September, but added that could change.
It’s a major alteration to the twice-a-week hybrid model that prompted some 155,000 Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) members to walk off the job last year in what their union called a “watershed moment” for workers’ rights.
“Now, you will be protected from arbitrary decisions about remote work by the government,” PSAC said in a statement last June.
Ten months later, both PSAC and the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada (PIPSC) say they’ve been blindsided.
“It absolutely catches us by surprise,” said Stéphanie Montreuil, head of public affairs for PIPSC. “It came with no warning and no consultations from our part.”
Montreuil said some members are still heading into the office only to participate in virtual meetings.
“We’ve advocated for presence with purpose,” she said.
Ottawa’s Queen Street appeared nearly deserted on Monday. Ontario Premier Doug Ford has urged federal workers to return to the office and boost the local economy. (Stu Mills/CBC)
3 days ‘a good start,’ Ford says
In Ottawa on an unrelated visit Monday, Ontario Premier Doug Ford reiterated his call for federal public servants in the capital to get back to the office and breathe life back into the city’s often deserted downtown.
“Three days is a good start,” Ford said, reacting to the news. “When you’re coming here, go out for lunch, maybe go into a store, pick something up, go to the mall — that’s what we need, that’s what stirs the economy.”
Treasury Board President Anita Anand did not comment on the report.
But Minister of Public Services and Procurement Jean-Yves Duclos said individual ministries would maintain the final word on how employees return to the office.
“All departments need to contribute to the conversations that are taking place with Treasury Board,” Duclos said.
The 2024 federal budget set a 10-year target for cutting Public Services and Procurement Canada’s office portfolio in half. (Stu Mills/CBC)
Neither PIPSC nor PSAC would speculate about how members of the two giant unions might react to the news.
In downtown Ottawa, public servant Tannis Labelle wasn’t keen on the idea of returning to the office for a third day.
“It adds to my work day, it takes away from my family life — I think it’s a waste of time,” she said.
With that anticipated reduction of federal government office space and no firm plan for an end to hybrid working on the horizon, many public servants are questioning not only when they’ll return to the office, but where and even how.
EDMONTON – RCMP say a second suspect has been arrested in the killing of an Alberta county worker.
Mounties say 28-year-old Elijah Strawberry was taken into custody Friday at a house on O’Chiese First Nation.
Colin Hough, a worker with Rocky View County, was shot and killed while on the job on a rural road east of Calgary on Aug. 6.
Another man who worked for Fortis Alberta was shot and wounded, and RCMP said the suspects fled in a Rocky View County work truck.
Police later arrested Arthur Wayne Penner, 35, and charged him with first-degree murder and attempted murder, and a warrant was issued for Strawberry’s arrest.
RCMP also said there was a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of Strawberry, describing him as armed and dangerous.
Chief Supt. Roberta McKale, told a news conference in Edmonton that officers had received tips and information over the last few weeks.
“I don’t know of many members that when were stopped, fuelling up our vehicles, we weren’t keeping an eye out, looking for him,” she said.
But officers had been investigating other cases when they found Strawberry.
“Our investigators were in O’Chiese First Nation at a residence on another matter and the major crimes unit was there working another file and ended up locating him hiding in the residence,” McKale said.
While an investigation is still underway, RCMP say they’re confident both suspects in the case are in police custody.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
RICHMOND, B.C. – The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team says the 26-year-old son of a man found dead on British Columbia’s Sunshine Coast has been charged with his murder.
Police say 58-year-old Henry Doyle was found badly injured on a forest service road in Egmont last September and died of his injuries.
The homicide team took over when the BC Coroners Service said the man’s death was suspicious.
It says in a statement that the BC Prosecution Service has approved one count of first-degree murder against the man’s son, Jackson Doyle.
Police say the accused will remain in custody until at least his next court appearance.
The homicide team says investigators remained committed to solving the case with the help of the community of Egmont, the RCMP on the Sunshine Coast and in Richmond, and the Vancouver Police Department.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
VANCOUVER – Mediated talks between the union representing HandyDART workers in Metro Vancouver and its employer, Transdev, have broken off without an agreement following 15 hours of talks.
Joe McCann, president of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1724, says they stayed at the bargaining table with help from a mediator until 2 a.m. Friday and made “some progress.”
However, he says the union negotiators didn’t get an offer that they could recommend to the membership.
McCann says that in some ways they are close to an agreement, but in other areas they are “miles apart.”
About 600 employees of the door-to-door transit service for people who can’t navigate the conventional transit system have been on strike since last week, pausing service for all but essential medical trips.
McCann asks HandyDART users to be “patient,” since they are trying to get not only a fair contract for workers but also a better service for customers.
He says it’s unclear when the talks will resume, but he hopes next week at the latest.
The employer, Transdev, didn’t reply to an interview request before publication.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
