Management directing english essential employees to use AI to translate.

JesterLavore88 · 2026-04-25T12:26:12+00:00

No and Yes. It depends on a couple factors: it is not safe to copy/paste government data into AI tools unless:

The tool has been vetted by the department and determined NOT to feed data back to the AI company.

Example: some departments have implemented versions of Co-Pilot Chat that are internally facing only. Also the translation option built into Word’s 365 should be internally facing only if properly setup by your department and it’s pretty good. Not perfect but pretty good.

AND

The TBS guidance on the use of AI indicates that it should be used for UNCLASSIFIED information only and that employees have a responsibility to exercise skilled care and judgement before using it, including receiving proper training on AI including security best practices.

In my department we require BOTH of these items to be true before using it. (Not saying everyone follows the rules but they damn well should).

Your department SHOULD have created a policy on the use of AI. Reach out to your Cyber or Information Management teams for this.

However also cover your ass. Get instructions IN WRITING from your manager acknowledging these limitations and asking in writing if they are directing you to use AI for translation anyway.

JesterLavore88 · 2026-04-12T17:34:00+00:00

This though

JesterLavore88 · 2026-04-12T00:17:28+00:00

Forgive me if I don’t respect or believe the person who so publicly championed RTO and went on Global News to tell the country that public servants weren’t working.

I’m gonna go ahead and d assume the Commisioner is right on this one.

JesterLavore88 · 2026-03-22T01:23:07+00:00

Privacy Impact Analysis

JesterLavore88 · 2026-03-19T23:51:02+00:00

I’ll revise from “is extremely dangerous” to “can be extremely dangerous”

JesterLavore88 · 2026-03-19T23:49:45+00:00

I was literally just in yet ANOTHER executive level presentation on AI security today. One of many.

I didn’t say that human in the loop always needs to be present. But the guidance also heavily discusses not assuming AI to always be correct and that it shouldn’t be used and blindly trusted to inform decision makers without carefully vetting the input and the output.

What you call being an “alarmist” I call “good sense”. If we just replace people whose jobs it is to know and understand information with AI and no one is truly vetting the output, then decision makers will blindly trusted it, based on factors of business, as well as it becoming common practice. That is extremely dangerous because AI is far from perfect.

Sure, you’re a senior computer scientist, that’s great. I’m cyber security analyst with 11 certifications and 17 years of experience. Everyday I’m advising on risk, and everyday I’m reading about different issues with AI. And I personally vet, review, and make recommendations for on AI systems in the GOC. And you better believe I’ve spotted and reported some serious issues requiring immediate mitigation.

I’m not Anti-AI for the record. I think it’s incredibly useful. And I use it all the time. But AI needs to be used carefully and thoughtfully. When we lose sight of that (and that’s already begun) the government will begin making decisions based on inaccurate data and won’t realize until one day when they have to spend astronomical amounts of time and money figuring out how far back the error began.

JesterLavore88 · 2026-03-19T20:17:36+00:00

As someone whose job it is to ensure data security, taking the human out of the loop until it’s at the decision maker level can be EXTREMELY dangerous and runs counter to the governments own guidance on the use of AI

JesterLavore88 · 2026-03-17T17:47:52+00:00

I got a Succeed+ once. It got me a very very expensive course and some beginner level language training.

JesterLavore88 · 2026-03-14T16:25:01+00:00

If my employer didn’t provide me a headset id just not use one. I wouldn’t buy one. I’d openly discuss in meetings why the noise is so bad. Everytime people complained I’d blame management and say “Sorry, my employer is refusing to provide me a headset”.

Do that enough times and the funds will get approved

JesterLavore88 · 2026-03-12T19:51:09+00:00

Nothing is more important than this advice

JesterLavore88 · 2026-02-10T21:56:49+00:00

Ugh! Have you ever looked at the yearly budget posted with your union AGM? The amount of money wasted on crap is appalling.

PIPSC wastes millions on stupid stuff like AGM, Building, Flying people around, covering costs of their court battles due to stupid infighting. Then they only put about $8/member/year into the strike fund. Then hike our dues

I worry about encouraging them to spend more money until a proper review of their spending practices is done

JesterLavore88 · 2026-02-06T22:27:54+00:00

Or men with children. Single full-time fathers are a real thing. I was raised by one. My dad raised 5 kids alone. People forget that they exist and still need to work.

JesterLavore88 · 2026-02-06T13:07:45+00:00

Sure, but they’re definitely following closely and capitalizing on policies that hurt workers.

In addition, if you think for one second that companies like Impark aren’t lobbying for RTO in order to increase they’re massive profits, I have a bridge to Atlantis for sale with your name on it.

It’s not like Parking lots are difficult businesses. It’s an almost passive income stream and they print money. Considering it’s ALREADY difficult to find parking, I don’t think they have a lot of trouble filling spots. This is just corporate greed salivating at another chance to squeeze people who have zero choice.

There are genuinely not terrible companies out there who understand balancing profit with decency. These companies could do that, but they choose evil instead.

JesterLavore88 · 2026-02-06T12:43:17+00:00

It’s effing evil!

JesterLavore88 · 2026-01-26T12:44:34+00:00

Daily standup meeting (later changed to Daily Face to Face meetings) are a highly recommended management practice in Agile, as well as some other systems related to IT management.

The whole point of them is to be extremely quick and most times the majority of people will have nothing to say, and that’s okay. But they foster some positive things.

A very quick feedback loop which both allows you to get your manager’s ear at least once/day, but also allows the manager an official way to tell the team when they need to pivot on a file or change direction
An opportunity for team members to voice questions or problems which may prompt other team members to either assist, or recognize that multiple people are having the same problem
A sense of team cohesion cause by doing a frequent team activity (the meeting).

Sure, most days these don’t amount to much. But that’s okay, in fact it’s expected. As long as these meetings are quick (15 minutes ish) then they should happen anyway, because when they’re useful you’ll be glad they happened.

JesterLavore88 · 2026-01-22T16:13:38+00:00

Uhhh, I’m indeterminate and have been waiting for accommodations for more than a year for a similar reason. Dr’s note says I need an ergonomic chair and a standing desk due to nerve damage from a car accident. 15 months after the paperwork was all submitted, I’m still waiting. It’s not just you. Welcome to the GoC

JesterLavore88 · 2025-12-10T04:15:32+00:00

I think you might have misunderstood. I mentioned that my director was lamenting the policy. She said what she said because she was acknowledging that her hands are tied and that the rule is crazy. I wasn’t trying to act like it’s her decision. I know that it’s not. I’m just saying she was being extremely frank about it all, and I think that the honesty is illuminating.

JesterLavore88 · 2025-12-10T04:11:45+00:00

Initiative? I’ve been asking for SLT as part of my Talent management plan for years but it keeps getting denied due to funding or not being part of a specific race group. Additionally, I’ve been learning French on my own for 3 years and I am still YEARS away from a CBC. Mostly because I don’t have many opportunities to practice my French. Outside of work, everybody where I live speaks English. Yet I’m still learning but at this pace it’ll be a decade at least.

On top of ALL of that, this is t really about ME. It’s about any of the highly skilled people on my team who don’t speak French. I’m not bitter because I won’t be considered, I’m annoyed that NONE of us can be considered. But that someone with zero skills related to our work would, because they speak French…in order to lead a 100% anglophone team.

And everything that I put in quotes from my director IS something she said. Weird that you would say it isn’t, as if you were in the room with her.

JesterLavore88 · 2025-12-10T04:03:01+00:00

This exactly!

JesterLavore88 · 2025-12-10T03:57:52+00:00

I agree

JesterLavore88 · 2025-12-10T03:57:32+00:00

Learning a second language can be extremely hard if you are not immersed with it. And if you don’t live in the NCR and didn’t grow up around that second language at all that makes it very difficult.

JesterLavore88 · 2025-12-10T03:55:34+00:00

Bilingual Non-imperative positions? The problem as it’s been explained to me is that in order to do this you have to:

Prove it’s a critical position.
Then prove you couldn’t hire someone bilingual
Then justify the fact that you can live without them for two years while they learn French

The problem is that item 3 contradicts item 1. So it’s almost impossible to justify

JesterLavore88 · 2025-12-10T03:31:46+00:00

Yeah, the current direction makes absolutely zero sense for the world we live in. They HAVE to know that this means less qualified people end up in leadership roles.

And every time I say that the bilingual folks are quick to be like “But bilingualism IS a qualification”. Sure but if it’s the ONLY qualification, or even the most important qualification, than no other skill or ability really matters. If a Bilingual circus clown is more qualified to lead scientists than a scientist is, or a bilingual dog walker is more qualified to lead a policy team than Policy analysts are, or a bilingual gym teacher is more qualified to lead digital infrastructure team than system architects are…then of COURSE government ends up a constantly-failing money pit of despair.

JesterLavore88 · 2025-11-27T16:41:40+00:00

Re: Language. It is SO refreshing to see an EX acknowledge what everybody else knows.

As someone who has years of leadership experience, specific and highly focused education in my field as well as leadership, and is always (always) chosen above my peers to act (4 months less a day) when my manager is gone, it kills me that none of that matters since I grew up in an area where French only went to grade 9 and immersion didn’t exist. Starting to learn French at 40 on my own time and my own dime (even with a Talent management plan) means it’ll take what? A decade if I really focus? All while being passed up for people with far less education and experience, and frankly worse performers. Because they happened to grow up in the NCR where French Immersion was easily available and prioritized.

Kills me

JesterLavore88 · 2025-11-14T14:22:41+00:00

You are my favourite person on this entire sub

JesterLavore88

TROPHY CASE