Dear members,
After a month of false starts, spring is finally here in the NCR. The recent sunshine and warmer temperatures have brought about a feeling of renewal after a what felt like a long winter. And renewal is a bit of a theme to the main piece of news I have for you this week.
A few changes to our Labour Relations Team
At the end of this month, one of our Labour relations Advisors will be retiring. Jake Baizana joined the PAFSO team “temporarily” in 2022 to fill the gap left behind when Bertrand Myre took on the position of General Manager. Temporarily turned out to be nearly three years of excellent and dedicated work. I want to thank Jake for stepping in when he did and sticking around for all this time. I wish him the best in his new endeavours.
That leads me to the next bit of news for our LRA team. I am pleased to welcome aboard our newest addition to the LRA team, Alain Njima Ekombo. Alain comes to us with an extensive background in conflict resolution, labour relations and human resources. Alain has previously worked as a National Labour relations Officer for the Union of National Employees – Ontario as well as Senior Labour Relations Advisor on the Employer’s side at GAC. His broad portfolio includes collective bargaining, workplace investigations, adjudication, dispute resolution, navigating employment legislation and promoting constructive labour-management relations. Alain started with the PAFSO LRA team a couple of weeks ago, already he is set to take over from Jake at the end of the month.
A new guide to PAFSO’s representation services
Sticking with Labour relations for a moment, I also wanted to mention that our team has published a new guide on our representation services. The guide focuses on how to access our services, what PAFSO’s role is, and what you can expect when working with one of our LRAs. We understand that representation can be a complicated matter at times, and in order to ensure you have the best possible experience, we feel it is important to share this information with you. It is a short document, maybe a 5 to 10 minute read, so please have a look when you get the chance.
April 29th’s PAFSO Breakfast is all about tariffs
Our next virtual breakfast will tackle a very timely topic: tariffs. Joining me at 0900 Ottawa time on Tuesday April 29 will be Rambod Behboodi, former PAFSO member and Senior Counsel at Broadner Gervais LLP. Rambod, who served in GENEV and BREU, will lead a discussion on the current challenges facing Canada–US trade. Use this link to register for what promises to be a very interesting and very timely discussion.
Tickets are on sale for the PAFSO 60 Diamond Jubilee Celebration
And, finally, just a reminder that tickets are on sale for our 60th anniversary celebration, PAFSO 60. The event will take place on Wednesday, June 4, at the National Gallery of Canada. Come join us for a look back at six decades of promoting our profession, and for the presentation of our Diamond Jubilee Award for Foreign Service excellence. You can purchase your tickets through our Eventbrite page: http://pafso-apase60.eventbrite.ca/
Finding Canada’s Place in a Disordered World, Monday, May 12
Our friends at AmbCanada have asked me to let you know about their upcoming conference to be held at the University of Ottawa on Monday, May 12. In collaboration with the University of Ottawa’s Centre for International Policy Studies, AmbCanada will bring together former Canadian Heads of Mission and academic experts to discuss the unprecedented challenges currently confronting Canada’s prosperity, security, and sovereignty. Panelists include Rob McRae, former Canadian Ambassador to NATO, Vina Nadjibulla, Vice-President of the Asia-Pacific Foundation of Canada, and Pascale Massot, Associate Professor at the University of Ottawa’s School of Political Studies.
The in-person conference will take place between 1200 and 1700 on Monday, May 12 at the University of Ottawa’s Faculty of Social Sciences building. For those unable to attend in person, the full proceedings will be live-streamed. Tickets are $20. Registration opens tomorrow and will close on April 30. Click this link to register.
That’s it for this week’s message. As always, please reach out to us if you are having issues with your pay; if you feel harassed or discriminated against; if you have a grievance or a staffing complaint; or if you simply need some clarifications on our collective agreement of the FSDs. We’re here for you. Just send us an email with your name, department and a detailed description of your concerns and we’ll put you in touch with our Labour Relations team. For anything and everything else, just email info@pafso.com and we will get back to you as soon as we can.
I hope you can enjoy some downtime over the Easter long weekend. My next message to you will be on May 2. Until then, take care of yourselves and each other.
All the best,
Pam Isfeld
President
@PafsoPresApase