Dear members,
Although there’s definitely been a lot going on in the news, and we’re quite busy working on a few longer horizon items, I don’t have a lot of concrete information to report to you this week. I hope to have more in the coming weeks, and in the meantime, here are a few updates.
Monday’s Federal Election results
The big news this week is the outcome of Monday’s federal election. In a result that was unimaginable just a few months ago, Mark Carney secured a solid minority victory for the Liberal Party. What I found most interesting is how he led a campaign very heavily focused on issues central to our profession: political and economic sovereignty, international trade, and Canada’s place in the world. It has been quite a while since we have seen those issues at the forefront of an election campaign, and I hope this is an indication of a renewed appreciation for the value and role of diplomacy. I look forward to finding out how it will ultimately translate into greater respect for the Foreign Service and a renewed relationship with the Employer and Treasury Board.
Regardless of which party holds the reins of government, our mandate is unwavering. PAFSO remains committed to representing the interests of our members, protecting the standards of this profession, and promoting the effective functioning of Canada’s professional Foreign Service. You can count on us to build effective relationships with the political level and to advocate for you and for our profession.
We look forward to sharing our priorities with the new government, seeing how and where the Foreign Service fits into their vision for Canada on the international stage, and working with Prime Minister Carney and his team to serve Canada and Canadians.
All about tariffs with Rambod Behboodi
Last Tuesday I had the pleasure of hosing Rambod Behboodi at our most recent PAFSO Virtual Breakfast on a subject central to our work. Rambod is Senior Counsel at Broadner Gervais LLP as well as a former PAFSO member who served in GENEV and BREU. He led us in a deep dive on tariffs and the challenges currently facing Canada’s relationship with our neighbour to the south. In case you were unable to join us, a recording of this very enlightening session is available to watch here on our YouTube channel.
Tickets are on sale for the PAFSO 60 Diamond Jubilee Celebration
And, finally, just a reminder that space is limited for PAFSO 60. We have a set number of tickets available for sale, and they are going fast, but we have realized that we do have room to allow for the purchase more than two tickets each. So if you would like to have additional guests join us on June 4 at the National Gallery of Canada to celebrate our 60th anniversary you can purchase your tickets on our Eventbrite page. It will be a great opportunity to celebrate PAFSO’s six decades of promoting Canada’s professional Foreign Service, and to honour the nominees for our Diamond Jubilee Award for Foreign excellence.
That’s all I have for you for this week’s message. In the meantime, you can always 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.
We’ll chat again on Friday 16 May. Until then, take care of yourselves and each other.
All the best,
Pam Isfeld
President
@PafsoPresApase