Review of the Employment Equity Act

March 23, 2021

The Honourable Filomena Tassi, P.C., M.P.
Minister of Labour
House of Commons
Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0A6

By email: Filomena.Tassi@parl.gc.ca

Dear Minister Tassi:

I would like to express my appreciation for your decision to review the Employment Equity Act. This legislation was created some 35 years ago and while it has undergone modest amendments over this period, this is indeed the right time to introduce more substantial changes to it that will help protect and empower Canadians from the four designated groups it covers – women, Indigenous Peoples, persons with disabilities and members of visible minorities.

I understand that you plan to create a working group that will study how to modernize the federal Employment Equity regime. I am asking you to include Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada (PIPSC) representatives in this committee.

As the bargaining agent for over 60,000 public service professionals employed by the federal and provincial governments, PIPSC has for many years worked to raise awareness, provide support and collaborate with employers to remove potential workplace barriers for our members who belong to these groups. We have held constructive discussions with the Treasury Board on the issue of Employment Equity in the past and I believe our experience in this regard would be of great benefit to both the working group and to our members.

I thank you for your immediate attention to this matter and I look forward to your response.

Sincerely,

Debi Daviau
President

Published on 29 March 2021

15 January 2019

2019: The Year Ahead

The New Year will see the Institute continue to be very active in defending the interests of its members, and I would like to take this opportunity to keep you informed of some of the key issues we will be facing over the next twelve months.

11 January 2019

Scott Brison’s departure is a loss for Canada’s public service

Like many Canadians, I was sorry to learn yesterday that Treasury Board President and Minister of Digital Government Scott Brison is leaving Cabinet and will not be seeking re-election later this year.

4 December 2018

More Reasons to Smile: Improvements to Member Dental Plan Benefits

While PIPSC, alongside our union partners at the National Joint Council Dental Care Board of Management, is still negotiating hard to improve the majority of our members’ dental plan (NJC Component 55555), I am very pleased to announce that we have nailed down the following significant improvemen

30 November 2018

Phoenix: Work on the Next Generation Human Resources and Pay System is Underway

Earlier this year, in its 2018 Budget, the federal government announced its intention to replace the catastrophic Phoenix pay system with a new, functional alternative.

10 October 2018

The Public Service Hiring Process

On October 4, 2018 I made a presentation to the Government Operations Committee of the House of Commons about the current state of the federal public service hiring process. This was very timely, as the government had just released its own study of the issue.

1 October 2018

Extension of pension deadline proposed for Canadian Nuclear Laboratories

On September 26, 2018 Member of Parliament Daniel Blaikie (Elmwood-Transcona, NDP) introduced Private Member’s Bill C-414, which seeks to extend by one year the deadline by which employees of Canadian Nuclear Laboratories can continue contributing to their public service pension plans.