On Friday, October 16th, USJE President David Neufeld and Regional Vice President (RVP) Jeff Sandelli [CSC Community – PBC (West)] met with federal Deputy Minister of Labour, Rob Wright and senior colleagues from the Ministry of Labour.
By way of background, this meeting was in response to a request that USJE had made in regards to ongoing efforts to amend the federal Government Employees Compensation Act (GECA). Since 2023, USJE has undertaken a robust advocacy campaign to engage Members of Parliament from all parties to highlight the urgency of some of these changes. The many MPs with whom USJE has met have been extremely supportive of the proposed legislative changes. These changes would ensure that federal Public Safety Personnel (PSP) would be granted presumptive injury access to Workers’ Compensation when they have incurred a work-related psychological injury, no matter where they live in Canada.
Deputy Minister Wright immediately signaled his support for USJE’s efforts to address the profoundly unequal access to Workers’ Compensation experienced by many federal PSP. In fact, he took the opportunity at the beginning of the meeting to put on USJE’s Presumptive Injury pin. Deputy Minister Wright also acknowledged that trauma informed care and support for frontline members is crucial to the well-being of federal Public Safety Personnel who are not as visible or as well – recognized for their contributions to public safety.
In the meeting, President Neufeld highlighted that within the last year, USJE has met with the federal Minister of Jobs and Families, Patty Hajdu, and the Secretary of State for Labour, John Zerucelli who have also affirmed their concern about the inequity that USJE’s members experience, and are keen to resolve it.
Both Mr. Neufeld and Mr. Sandelli noted that some of USJE’s members work in organizations like the RCMP where Uniformed Members have the benefit of comprehensive organizational initiatives to support their mental health, while federal PSP (public service employees) working alongside these individuals are excluded from these efforts.
Further, USJE emphasized the fact that many USJE members have their Workers’ Compensation applications denied, which only further exacerbates their mental health injuries. USJE also had a senior legal expert from Raven Law in virtual attendance at the meeting, who emphasized that federal legislative changes were the most appropriate mechanism to resolve the current disparity, in addition to other considerations that contained legal technicalities.
Deputy Minister Wright and the recently appointed Assistant Deputy Minister Marc Morin indicated a strong interest in continuing the conversation with USJE via a follow up meeting later in November. They also asked for USJE’s feedback and collaboration on some forthcoming work to develop and implement better upstream psychological supports specifically for federal PSP to mitigate the development of Occupational Stress Injuries where possible. Deputy Minister Wright and Assistant Deputy Minister Morin also responded favourably to an invitation from USJE to accompany President Neufeld and RVP Sandelli on an upcoming site tour of a federal Correctional facility.
This meeting was a crucial step in USJE’s ongoing campaign regarding Presumptive Injury and will assist with the momentum required to improve access to Workers’ Compensation, and related mental health supports.
The opportunity to meet with the federal Deputy Minister of Labour and his team is emblematic of the credibility of USJE’s campaign and the recognition of the need for change.