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MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIR ON SHARED SERVICES
August 25, 2005
Dear Members
Some of you may have heard or read about plans by the federal government to centralize job functions within government in the areas of administration, technology, finance and HR. This was initially announced in the 2005 federal Budget but the news in the media is that significant progress is being made on this file and that a recommendation to create a so-called Shared Services organization will be discussed by departmental heads and Treasury Board this fall.
The media buzz around Ottawa has focused on the potential elimination of 41,000 jobs, generating angry responses from some union leaders and denials by senior government officials. The reality is probably somewhere in between, but we do know with certainty that there is a plan for more shared services within the federal government and that it will have an impact on the entire federal public service.
As part of ongoing discussions between the Association and senior federal politicians, I have met with the Comptroller General of Canada, Mr. Charles-Antoine St-Jean, on various occasions this summer to talk about a variety of issues concerning our membership.
Those issues included the necessity of having a highly motivated financial management group, and the importance of attracting and retaining good financial officers. Also on the table for discussion at these meetings was the issue of classification renewal for our group and on together working towards finding solutions to address classification issues. Mr. St-Jean has indicated that this plays an integral part in ensuring success in achieving his own vision for our group, which we share.
At the latest meeting on August 18th, we also had the opportunity to discuss the shared services initiative and how this fits into his and our visions of building a stronger financial management system. The Comptroller General informed us that the government is currently undertaking an aggressive recruitment initiative to hire more financial officers in order to strengthen financial management in the federal government. He further said that in the area of financial transactional process, financial officers could possibly feel some impacts of the initiative, and if such were the case that those financial officers' tasks would shift more towards providing more value-added financial services such as financial analysis and oversight.
Most importantly, he has assured us that if shared services was ever to materialize, there would be no downsizing of our members and that if by chance any of our members were affected, that they would be move to areas in financial management that was in alignment with his vision of comptrollership.
The Comptroller also acknowledged comments made by us alluding to the importance of having the financial officers embedded in the program instead of at arms-length in a different organization, as that is where financial officers gain the best appreciation for the program and hence be better equipped to provide meaningful guidance with the balance of effective financial oversight.
I hope that this information is useful to you I would also encourage you to provide any information that you receive about shared services to your Association so that we can pass it on to the rest of the membership. You can send your comments on these or any other issues directly to me by e-mail at misaacs@acfo-acaf.com.
As more information becomes available on shared services and other issues related to the financial community we will keep you informed.
Sincerely,
Milt Isaacs,
Chair
Globe and Mail Articles :
 Federal shakeup targets 41,000 jobs
Civil servants up in arms over proposal to cut jobs
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