Procedure and House Affairs committee  Thank you, Chair, and thank you to the committee for allowing us to appear today. The Public Service Alliance of Canada represents 180,000 members. We are the largest union in the federal public service. Bill C-76 proposes extensive changes that have a significant impact on ou

Procedure and House Affairs committee  I don't have an exact breakdown in front of me, but with respect to the $390,000, you're right. It was just a little over $390,000. A lot of it was spent on paying an external company—

Procedure and House Affairs committee  —to create materials and to place ads, which included billboards, and radio spots obviously. We created a micro-website as well, with videos, downloadable posters, and action letters, etc., for our members to use.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  That's part of the presentation. What we can do is going to be limited under what's being proposed in the bill. We believe that it's not only our democratic right but our responsibility to be able to communicate to our members, many of whom—approximately 140,000 of the 180,000 we

Procedure and House Affairs committee  I don't share the dim view, obviously, on unions.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  No, it wasn't. I certainly share the view that we shouldn't be restricted on our freedom to speak, and to speak on behalf of our members.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Yes, and I'm going to refer this to Ms. Ballantyne.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Yes.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  I can tell you what happened to the airplane. The airplane was basically taken down as a result of a request.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  No. It landed safely in Ottawa as a result of a request to land the plane. As to exactly what that cost us, I don't know just off the top of my head. It was in the air for a short period of time.

Government Operations committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair and committee members, for the opportunity to meet with you today. Representing over 120,000 federal public service workers, our main focus is on internal staffing processes. In 2003, the Public Service Modernization Act, or PSMA, made changes to the Public

Government Operations committee  Go ahead.

Government Operations committee  I spoke about favouritism, and it's the old-fashioned favouritism, as both of us said in our remarks. It comes down to who you know. It's not necessarily the best qualified people getting those jobs, and our members see that. They see that in just about every staffing process. Th

Government Operations committee  Exactly.

Government Operations committee  Some of the barriers start with the actual process itself, as far as accommodating goes. A lot of the staffing processes involves tests, and if there's a disability involved in doing that test, oftentimes you're simply—