Finance committee  As far as the rationale goes, I'm sure you would have to ask the CRA. But for our purposes, we think that they should be able to bargain it. When you bargain, you don't necessarily get what you want. But the fact of the matter is that once you do get the pieces in the collective

Finance committee  I think you got it pretty close—bang on—and that's exactly what we're looking for. The fact of the matter is, you're correct. Under normal circumstances, unions can bargain with employers, except if your employer happens to be an agency of government or government itself. No ot

Finance committee  If we take them out, the problem would go away.

Finance committee  Sorry, I didn't catch the first part.

Finance committee  Yes, we think that it's fine where it is. There are a couple of problems that Betty has addressed in the staffing—

Finance committee  When it was Revenue Canada, it came directly under the Treasury Board. When we negotiated a collective agreement, it was with Treasury Board. When they changed over to the agency, the first thing we had to do.... It was a brand-new organization and had to go through a certificati

Finance committee  Okay. I just want to say that in addition to the terms and conditions of employment that I spoke about earlier, which were concluded in 2000, the PSAC has concluded two collective agreements with the CRA, one negotiated without strike action and the other following several days

Finance committee  There are two presentations. Michèle is going to be doing the presentation for the Professional Institute.

Finance committee  We're doing a tag team here. She said that I can go first; I said that she can go first.

Finance committee  Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. On behalf of the Public Service Alliance of Canada, thank you for giving us this opportunity. I have with me Betty Bannon, who's the national president of the Union of Taxation Employees. I want to first of all thank the standing committee for

Bill C-2 (39th Parliament, 1st Session) committee  Quite frankly, as a labour organization, we already do that. On questions of harassment, when there's harassment in the workplace, we have a responsibility to get to the bottom of it and to get the employer to investigate the harassment, and then disciplinary action is sometimes

Bill C-2 (39th Parliament, 1st Session) committee  Number one, I don't think our members are essentially at the level to be meeting the lobbyists. It would normally be people who are more senior than them, because our members implement decisions and, at a very minuscule level, make decisions. We were listening to the lobby group

Bill C-2 (39th Parliament, 1st Session) committee  That's how I understand it happens. We make recommendations. They have a list to pick from, and they pick from the list.

Bill C-2 (39th Parliament, 1st Session) committee  I think you've captured our position very clearly. That's exactly where we feel they need to go. The board is an experienced body and the people who are appointed to that board come from a variety of different backgrounds, mostly labour relations, either legal or working for un

Bill C-2 (39th Parliament, 1st Session) committee  The Public Service Labour Relations--