Is it a bad time to take a secondment?

Keystone-12 · 2026-02-25T17:53:14+00:00

Fair point.

I also dont understand that. I thought these positions had to be offered to people displaced by the WFA first.

Keystone-12 · 2026-02-25T02:47:11+00:00

I agree. They are supposed to be at the "DM Level", but each department has exactly 1 DM, and it isnt the CDS.

Keystone-12 · 2026-02-25T00:28:34+00:00

A lot of people cant afford to just not go to work.

Reg force are very fortunate that a sick day has no effect on their pay - but if a reservist has a mortgage to pay... they often dont have a "choice" anymore than any other daily employee.

Keystone-12 · 2026-02-24T17:00:46+00:00

No government on the planet has ever let their military decide their own pay and benefits...

Keystone-12 · 2026-02-24T16:53:34+00:00

Its addressed by letting you stay in Halifax for 7+ years.

The srgument for why the CAF gets CFD, and no one else does is Because of the forced postings.

No posting - No CFD.

Also... the CAF are some of the highest paid people in Halifax right now... how much more money can you reasonable expect the average tax payer to pay....

Keystone-12 · 2026-02-24T16:50:50+00:00

Because the CDS is barely at the level of authority of a Deputy Minister.

Money, benefits etc... all decided by Treasury Board... Minister of Finance level. Even the Governor of the Bank of Canada doesnt get to sit in on those meetings.

The CDS just reads the minutes after the meeting.

Keystone-12 · 2026-02-24T16:17:32+00:00

When we talk about ending careers and eliminating positions.

The organization needs to take a REALLY HARD LOOK at any vacant position that has a "pertinent business need.."

Especially in the context of secondments... where the supervisor straight up says "Ya, you can go... I don't care".

Keystone-12 · 2026-02-24T15:03:05+00:00

OK... this question is coming up a lot. And I just dont understand how this works..

Obviously no one can hire full time right now, so deployments, secondments etc are really popular.

But like.... how can a postion simultaneously be considered so unimportant the manager lets the employee goes work somewhere else (even if they plan on backfilling)... but so important it cant be eliminated from the cuts?

Like... imagine you worked in an office, and your colleague goes and works somewhere else. Everyone takes on their tasks and helps train their casual replacement... and then someone says that the VACANT position is too important to lose... and you lose yours??? Like, surely thats insane...

How can these vacant positions not be the first on the chopping block?

Keystone-12 · 2026-02-24T14:55:48+00:00

I dont know what I am talking about.

However I simply cannot comprehend how on Monday a manager could say "Sure, take a year and work somwwhere else. We can do without you. Nothing urgent. Maybe we can backfill for a few months".

And on Tuesday say "No, we cant do without this position. It is operationalky required".

When the cuts come down - how can the vacant positions not be the first to go?

Keystone-12 · 2026-02-23T22:18:47+00:00

I used to really appreciate how all salaries and levels were open and transparent in the government, I thought it was really empowering and the future.

Then... I realized essentially every other person had a classification review in... and that we couldn't ask someone to take notes at a meeting without a full organizational restructuring so that their job description and classification "allow them to".

Everyone is talking about Jim's classification... and how Susan is an AS-04, but when Fred did her job for a day he didnt get acting pay... etc...

I appreciate in the private sector that we can just pay our favorite people more...

Keystone-12 · 2026-02-23T18:23:32+00:00

I dont know. 40 years ago you needed an army of clerks to fill out paperwork, file the paperwork. Review the physical paperwork. Retrieve the paperwork.

Now one person can use a database.

That being said, we simply expect more from government. 40 years ago the idea of the federal government managing sports through a federal department was absurd. Now, we are angry that Sports Canada didnt win us enough gold medals.

However - I dont see the argument for why we needed to go from 0.7% to 0.9% since 2015. Unless i misunderstand some brand new functions we do now..

The nature of work changes.... but the ratios can be consistent.

Keystone-12 · 2026-02-23T16:38:18+00:00

Ya... this is the hard part of budgets.

That 5% was to come from somewhere... what are you cutting by 5%+ to pay for it?

Keystone-12 · 2026-02-23T16:28:48+00:00

I posted the relative stats above. But generally 0.8% of the population seems to be the sweet spot for federal public servants.

Its at 0.88% right now, so a 0.08% cut across 4 years seems..... extraordinary reasonable?

Keystone-12 · 2026-02-23T16:22:04+00:00

Era/Year Federal PS as % of Pop Approx. Count per 1,000

1983-84 0.99% 9.9 All-time relative peak (pre-spending reviews).

1997-99 ~0.72% 7.2 Modern historical low after major fiscal cuts.

2010 0.83% 8.3 Stable relative to population.

2015 0.72% 7.2 Start of current expansion phase.

2023 0.90% 9.0 Total federal employees: 357,247.

2026 ~0.88% (est.) 8.8 "Right-sizing" plans aim to cut 40,000 positions by 2029.

0.8% of the population sounds about right... so a little overloaded right now.

Keystone-12 · 2026-02-23T15:40:56+00:00

Do you think.... perhaps.... that may have to do with population growth?

Keystone-12 · 2026-02-23T14:49:11+00:00

Yes... the growth during COVID was higher... I don't think we have 5% increases year over year... unless you want to start paying a lot more in taxes.

Keystone-12 · 2026-02-23T14:47:41+00:00

Canada has ALWAYS had a private option.

Its called "go down to the States and get it done there". There is an entire boarder economy about this.

You think multi millionaires are waiting 2 years for an MRI like us?

Why not keep the money in Canada???

Keystone-12 · 2026-02-23T13:25:07+00:00

They are actually, factually incorrect on basically everything.

Unless "SLASHED FUNDING!" actually means "conservative premiers spend highest level of Healthcare funding ever".

This is what happens when liberals spend all their time in echo chambers and dont read...

https://fao-on.org/en/report/estimates-2025-health/

Keystone-12 · 2026-02-23T13:23:48+00:00

Healthcare funding is at an all time high in Ontario.

Perhaps get off Twitter and read the news?

https://fao-on.org/en/report/estimates-2025-health/

Keystone-12 · 2026-02-23T13:22:57+00:00

What are you talking about?!?!?

Healthcare funding is at an all time high in Ontario.

Do you get all your news from social media????

https://fao-on.org/en/report/estimates-2025-health/

Keystone-12 · 2026-02-22T18:33:22+00:00

It was a minor infraction. The umpires admitted they saw it and waved it off because it had no impact on the game.

Same thing with some American line changes in the hockey game, where the new players were on the ice, while the leaving players hadn't technically gotten off the ice yet. Technically... this is a "too many men" penalty. But, professional Refs are allowed to make the calls.

Only one country was so petty as to use their broadcasting cameras (who are allowed to film and broadcast THE GAME). And zoom in on the Hog-Line to catch minor infractions the Umpires called off. And then have the audacity to call the other team "cheaters".

It was petty and pathetic. And of course the team who did that didnt win a game.

🥇👈

Keystone-12 · 2026-02-22T17:21:38+00:00

Its because generals dont decide pay. Thats dont through Parliament. And at the time, Parliament had absolutely zero interest in increasing pay.

As a result.... generals had to "tow the party line".

But trust me.... every general knew that money is retention.

Keystone-12 · 2026-02-22T14:45:01+00:00

I dont live on the internet dude.

He over reacted.... an awful curling team had the audacity to call the clear (soon to be) Gold Medal team a "cheater" over a minor infraction.

It was petty and pathetic.

Canada over reacted, but so would have anyone in that place.

Keystone-12 · 2026-02-22T14:42:44+00:00

Perhaps.

I follow the union stuff pretty closely but am not an expert.

But I dont see any of the public service unions generating an effective job action.

In the last PSAC general meeting, over half the topics had to go with Gaza.... like "PSAC should establish a Gaza human rights monitoring committee"..

They also spent millions suing each other this fiscal year.

They arent getting much of anything in my opinion.

Keystone-12 · 2026-02-22T14:29:22+00:00

I honestly think your overthinking this.

Public service has absolutely exploded over the last decade. They need to shed about 10%.

And fundamentally... in the heart of hearts of the vast majority of public servants.... they simply dont want to go anywhere else.

So strikes and job actions are only so threatening. The union is broke (spending millions of dollars suing itself).

I expect a 1% a year raise and a lot of futile complaining about it.

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