News - April 2009                   Previous Month         Following Month

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National Office renovations set to begin

CGC boss all but confirms that Bill C-13 is on shaky ground

News Release: Rejection of legislation to gut

the Canadian Grain Commission applauded

National Office renovations set to begin

(Posted April 10, 2009)

The National Office disappears next week…for renovations.

But, don’t panic, it’s only temporary.

As of April 15, National Office staff will get a collective ‘moving experience’ as they pack up files and prepare to embrace telework in a big way. For the next several days, as they prepare to work from home, staff will have limited access to the usual work-based telephones and e-mail service. In short order, however, everyone will have remote access to phones and e-mail and it will be business as usual. Well, almost as usual!

As of April 16th the office will be closed for renovation/expansion work - Office Staff will be working from home and for the first few days (April 15-16) staff will have limited access to email and phone; after that, everyone will have remote access to e-mail and phone/voice mail. Regular mail and faxes will be picked up on a regular basis throughout the renovations.

A partial demolition of the existing office space will begin on April 17, after furniture and equipment have been sent off to storage.

The renovations are expected to take three to five weeks. So, barring any unforeseen hitches, Office Staff will begin reclaiming their office space in mid-May.

Members should note that all staff will be in Vancouver the week of April 20-24 for our regularly scheduled National Council meeting. The following week all our elected officers will remain in Vancouver for the PSAC’s Triennial National Convention.

As you can well imagine, none of us are looking forward to the inconvenience and difficulties inherent in these major renovations. So, we truly appreciate our members’ patience and understanding during this upheaval.

CGC boss all but confirms that Bill C-13 is on shaky ground

(Posted April 7, 2009)

While he couldn’t come right out and say it, the CEO of the Canadian Grain Commission has all but confirmed in a message to staff what we reported last Thursday – that the government’s proposed legislation attacking the CGC is on shaky ground.

Credit the NDP, who took advantage of Thursday’s resumption of second reading in the House of Commons to move a ‘hoist motion’ designed to block further consideration of Bill C-13 during the current – and likely lengthy – Parliamentary session. Kudos should also go to the Liberals and the Bloc Québécois for supporting the NDP motion.

While Members of Parliament ran out of allotted debating time before the NDP motion could be voted on, it must still be dealt with before a vote to either defeat the Bill or send it to a Commons committee for study can be taken. And with Parliament adjourned for a two-week Easter break, the earliest the hoist motion could be considered is April 20.

As Chief Operating Officer Gordon Miles stated in an April 3 message to CGC staff: “Debate on the motion will continue if the second reading debate on Bill C-13 resumes” (our emphasis).

With the economy worsening by the day, and its Afghan adventure tumbling around its ears, the Harper government may well decide it has a few more pressing issues to deal with than attacking the CGC.

News Release: Rejection of legislation to gut the Canadian Grain Commission applauded

(Posted April 2, 2009)

National President Bob Kingston has congratulated the Parliamentary opposition parties for having united to reject Bill C-13, Conservative government legislation attacking the historic role and operations of the Canadian Grain Commission.

In a news release issued today, Kingston urged the Harper government to use the rejection as an opportunity to improve the widely-criticized Bill.

The full text of the our news release can be read HERE.