President’s 2022 New Year’s Message

I want to thank you for entrusting me with the great honour and responsibility of being president of our union.

For those of you who don’t know me, I have worked for over two decades in the federal public services as an environmental engineer, and have been active at PIPSC for almost as long. 

Most recently I served on the PIPSC Board of Directors, where I focused my efforts on member engagement, open communication, and representational services. 

As your new president, my priorities include:

  • Safe workplaces, both physical and psychological
  • Equity, diversity and inclusion
  • Work-life balance
  • Collaborative but firm approach to bargaining
  • Open communication and engagement with our members

I will base my approach on an overarching principle: that an informed member is an engaged member. 

With this in mind, I want to begin my mandate by:

Listening to and addressing all members’ needs

No matter what job you do or where you do it, you deserve good service. We need to provide high-quality support to every member – whether you work for a big employer or a small one, whether you work remotely, on-site or both.

Giving special attention to the “member experience”

When you contact your union, you should feel heard, empowered, and secure in your knowledge that PIPSC has your back. I will look at how to improve member contact with our union, and how to best address issues to make sure you get the services you need.

Reviewing how we can better support our consultation teams

I will equip our consultation teams to tackle health and safety, discrimination, and harassment issues.

Improving the timely and transparent flow of information

I will make sure you can access all the information you need, when and how you need it.

Please contact me at any time at president@pipsc.ca if I can be of service.

I wish you and your families all the best for 2022.


21 July 2017
Recently, I sent an opinion piece to the Globe and Mail about our members’ ongoing problems with the Phoenix pay system and what I consider to be one of the root causes of the debacle: outsourcing.

12 June 2017
The recent recommendations of yet another consultants’ report on Shared Services Canada (SSC) demonstrate that, when it comes to federal government outsourcing, there’s no shortage of private sector advice.

6 June 2017
Next week, June 11-17, is National Public Service Week (NPSW). Since 1992 it’s been an occasion to recognize and celebrate the contributions Canada’s public service professionals make to society. The Professional Institute supports this celebration of our members’ accomplishments. In fact, we first proposed it.

2 June 2017
“Today’s update by Deputy Minister Lemay indicates that the government has again failed to plan ahead -- this time for entirely predictable increases in the numbers of employee payroll adjustments needed to implement new collective agreements,” said PIPSC Vice President Steve Hindle.

26 May 2017
The announcement this week that the federal government will temporarily hire an additional 200 staff, invest a further $142 million over three years, and introduce even more measures to expedite fixing Phoenix is welcome, if long overdue, news.