I'm not opposed to the concept, but the devil's in the details. As long as it's independent, outside, not confined to the department....
The difference with a grievance that's based on the collective agreement is that we can bring it to an independent tribunal or adjudicator at the end, but if it's a staff relations grievance that's not related to a collective agreement provision, it stops at the deputy head, so it's still contained within the department.
I'm not opposed to what you're saying, but there's a lot of work to be done to get to the point at which that solution would be effective. I think you'd want to test the broader powers with PSIC before you start going outside again.