Campaigns

In one month – on October 19, 2017 -  it will be the second anniversary of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government. It is also day that the federal government has chosen to impose as a deadline for employees of the Vegreville Immigration Centre. 

Recent media coverage claims that nearly half of public servants paid by Phoenix have reported problems. However, this new data cannot be accepted at face value.

Sister Marianne Hladun was on Newstalk 770 out of Calgary today to discuss the Phoenix pay debacle. You can listen here. Select 11:00am and fast forward to about the 38th minute (image attached).

The NDP Critic for Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship—along with a small group of politicians—travelled to Vegreville on Wednesday, July 19 to sit down with affected workers from the Vegreville Case Processing Centre (CPC).

PSAC National President Robyn Benson has met with the Ministers of the cabinet working group on Phoenix to discuss recommendations by the union for fixing pay system problems.

The latest update on Phoenix, shows a large remaining backlog of cases. Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) provided the latest information on the public service pay system in a media teleconference on June 2. “We are not surprised,” said Robyn Benson, PSAC National President. “It’s been almost 18 months since the government launched Phoenix and it feels like we are nowhere near the end of this mess.”

PSAC welcomes the news that the government has heard our demand to hire more staff for the Miramichi pay centre and the satellite pay centres. The government must also ensure that the Phoenix programming problems are addressed; otherwise federal public service workers will continue to experience disruption in pay.

Workers will take to the street today to rally against the attack on rural Alberta communities like Vegreville, where the federal government plans to close the Case Processing Centre (CPC) and move it to Edmonton at a cost of $46.6 million.  

Today, in the House of Commons, Serge Cormier (Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship) stated that "a letter was sent from our department to the union, dated March 1, 2017, outlining the costs requested by the member opposite." (See the transcript below)

With recent revelations that moving the Vegreville Case Processing Centre (CPC) to Edmonton will cost taxpayers millions extra, the union representing workers at the Vegreville CPC is reaffirming the call to reverse the closure and to invest in rural Canadian communities.