The federal government and unionized workers are preparing to lock horns over double-digit wage hikes to account for higher inflation and rules for remote work in what is shaping up to be a heated series of contract negotiations.

As the union representing tens of thousands of federal public servants prepares to hold strike votes across the country, one expert in labour negotiations says we should be prepared for more contract disputes thanks to high inflation.

Un ancien fonctionnaire fédéral ne croit pas que les Canadiens soient prêts à organiser des élections fédérales dans un avenir proche. Michael Wernick a occupé pendant 25 ans divers postes de haut rang dans la fonction publique.

The former head of the federal public service says neglect and underinvestment in recordkeeping is undermining the government’s “lofty language” about its commitment to open government, and making it harder to locate documents people ask for under access-to-information law.

n his new book, Michael Wernick shares insights gathered over 13 years in the top echelons of the Canadian public service. He talks to Mia Hunt about one chapter of Governing Canada: A Guide to the Tradecraft of Politics in particular

When Michael Wernick retired as Clerk of the Privy Council in spring 2019 after nearly 40 years in the federal bureaucracy, including three as Canada’s top public servant, he could have written a memoir about his experiences with four prime ministers and dozens of senior politicians.

The country’s former Clerk of the Privy Council says the last several years have shown that the price of entering into the political ring is “going up.”

Brian Mulroney was the prime minister the first time Michael Wernick sat at the back of a cabinet committee room, taking notes. One time the young civil servant found himself transcribing John Crosbie’s remarks as the powerful fisheries minister recited arguments Wernick himself had put into Crosbie’s briefing notes.