Today I want to talk about the support, or lack thereof, for members of our public service by our Department of Human Resources. In recent months I’ve continued to hear from my constituents about their frustration in securing the most basic information, such as records of employment, information needed to initiate retirement benefits, and the list goes on. This is peculiar to me given the millions of dollars that we’ve invested in the best and most current communications in HR management software. It’s also peculiar given the 125 positions at headquarters in the Department of Human Resources.
We're all familiar with the software rollout fiasco which cost managers an unquantifiable amount of time and resources to manage pay, leave and benefit tasks for people who worked under them.
Today I will specifically have questions for the Minister of Human Resources about the support that is offered to those employees wishing to make plans and decisions regarding their retirement options. These are very important decisions for people who serve the government, and they should be shown the respect that they are due.
Recently, through the routine broadcast of training opportunities on the government e-mail, there was a course called Pre-Retirement Planning. The cost of this course was $400, and my question to the Minister is going to be: do we expect retiring members of our public service to pay $400 to take a course so they can plan their retirement? Or perhaps this is just a course for managers who work in the various departments. But I'd like to focus my question today to the Minister on what support is given to members of our public service who are trying to plan their retirement options.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
