Public Service Alliance of Canada BC

Prime Minister Stephen Harper today established an Advisory Committee of nine eminent Canadians to advise him and the Clerk of the Privy Council on the renewal and future development of the Public Service of Canada. The Advisory Committee will also report annually as part of the Clerk’s report to the Prime Minister on the state of the Public Service, which is tabled in Parliament.

“The public service must continue to adapt to meet the changing realities of Canadian society and be well equipped to best serve Canadians in the coming years,” the Prime Minister said. “This is particularly true as the current baby boom generation retires. The future development of the Public Service requires sound advice, innovative solutions and strong support from both within and outside government.”

Read more at pm.gc.ca.

OTTAWA - The Conservatives may talk about transparency but the Speech from the Throne was far from clear on the details of the government’s plans for the upcoming session of Parliament according to the Public Service Alliance of Canada.

“The Speech was long on rhetoric but short on specifics,” says PSAC National President Nycole Turmel. “PSAC members will be waiting for the real news when the government tables its Accountability Act and its first budget.”

According to Turmel, “the Conservatives are promising ‘real protection for whistleblowers’, but we have yet to see just what that means. Real protection for our members means a guarantee of no reprisals and real penalties levied against anyone who breaks that guarantee.”

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Things aren’t all bad for former Liberal MP Reg Alcock, after being unseated in a surprise defeat Monday night.

After 12 years, two months, and 20 days in office, the outgoing Treasury Board president will collect an estimated $83,897 in an annual pension, or approximately $6,991 per month. Manitobans also needn’t mourn for losing Independent MP Bev Desjarlais, who’ll walk away from serving the Churchill riding since June 1997 with an estimated $40,072 pension per year.

According to the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, 66 MPs who were defeated in Monday’s election or left politics before the vote stand to collect $74.6 million in pensions and severance. Four of the 66 retiring MPs, all of them Liberals, could each collect more than $3 million before they turn 75, estimates calculated by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation suggest.

Alcock rounded out the top 10 list of pension-getting ex-MPs: he’s set to receive more than $1.9 million by the time he hits the age of 75.

Read more at the Brandon Sun.