REVP in Edmonton

Friends,  This Monday, March 8th is International Women’s Day. This year’s theme is “Choose to Challenge.” It is rooted in the need for all of us to be responsible for our own thoughts and actions - all day, every day.

RE: Black History Month Friends, February is Black History Month. It is a month to reflect on and celebrate the enormous contributions made by Black Canadians. One example close to home is James Calbert Best; among many other achievements, Best co-founded and became the first President (1957 to 1966) of the Civil Service Association of Canada (CSAC), which evolved into the Public Service Alliance of Canada.

Thursday, December 3, 2020 Friends,  This coming Sunday is December 6, the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women. For members who do not know, this national day of remembrance was established after the 1989 shooting of 14 women at École Polytechnique in Montréal, also known as the Montreal Massacre. 

During these unprecedented times, your REVP and union want your feeback on how we adjust to our new COVID reality. In order to do this, we are asking members to complete an online survey. PSAC Prairies has had some successful new approaches since the start of the pandemic such as the numerous skills training webinars provided in the winter and spring while our respective communities went into lockdown. However, it is important to hear directly from the membership on what your union is doing well and what we could improve on.

RE: National Aboriginal Veterans Day, Remembrance Day Friends, Today I would like to take a moment to acknowledge National Aboriginal Veterans Day, Sunday, November 8, 2020 and Remembrance Day, Wednesday, November 11, 2020. Both are days that encourage Canadians to remember and pay tribute to the people who sacrificed their lives for their country as well as those who fought and survived the often unspeakable horror of war. 

RE: Orange Shirt Day Friends, Today I would like to take a moment to acknowledge Orange Shirt Day. For those of you who are not familiar, Orange Shirt Day was established in 2013 out of the work of the St. Joseph Mission (SJM) Residential School (1891-1981) Commemoration Project and Reunion events that were held in Williams Lake, BC. 

RE:  Labour Day 2020 This year will be a very different Labour Day. Normally we would be joining other labour unions for a parade in our respective regions and connecting with each other in person at the annual barbeque. However, with the coronavirus pandemic, that is not possible. 

Federal Public Service workers have always been committed to showing up for Canadians. In these difficult times, that hasn’t changed. The contributions and value of the public service and public service workers have only become more apparent.  However, from Paul Samyn’s Monday night COVID-19 email introduction, readers might get the impression that workers at Service Canada were on vacation while Canadians can’t get access to the vital services that they need. Nothing could be further from the truth. 

You may not have heard about it, but this week is National Public Service Week. Every year for one week,  the federal government  celebrates its more than 300,000 employees. It usually comes and goes without too much fanfare, but this year should be different.  All Canadians should be encouraged to recognize the public sector workers helping our country weather the brutal impacts of COVID-19. 

The National Board of Directors met on Monday, April 27, 2020, and confirmed that: the 2021 PSAC National Triennial Convention will be postponed until 2022; and the PSAC Regional Conventions and PSAC Component Conventions will be postponed until 2021. With this decision, the 8th Triennial Prairie Regional Convention that was scheduled to be held in Regina June 12-14, 2020 has been rescheduled for spring 2021.