The Senate yesterday said it will offer staff “recognition awards” like gold bracelets to help employees “feel a strong sense of belonging” to the institution that has run its budget up 70% since 2016..“The goal of the Senate employee recognition program is to align recognition with organizational values (service, integrity, diversity, respect), support high employee engagement and recognize employee contributions that drive high organizational performance and create a respectful, fair, inclusive workplace where employees feel a strong sense of belonging,” the Senate wrote in a notice..The Senate currently has 753 employees and political aides on the payroll, the equivalent of eight staff for each of the 89 current senators. The Senate payroll has grown by a third in the past six years..The program would see employees offered prizes valued up to $400 depending on seniority. Managers said they wanted a “good selection of high quality service recognition awards,” preferably Canadian made, like a “14 carat white gold bracelet.” No budget was disclosed..Reports submitted last December 15 to the Senate budget committee proposed $126.7 million in total yearly spending, a 70% increase from the 2016 budget of $74.6 million. “This has got to stop,” Senator Donald Plett (MB.), Leader of the Opposition in the Senate, said at the time..“Now would be the time to start leading by example,” said Senator Plett. “I do not think our Senate in the last seven years has led by example.”.“We don’t have more senators,” said Plett. “Our services have not improved. And yet our budget has gone up 70%. I don’t know what private organization would get away with what we are asking the public to allow us to do. I am really disturbed by this.”.Senator Colin Deacon (NS), a Liberal appointee, said members “can find a huge amount of savings” if they looked. “We are a publicly-funded monopoly,” said Deacon. “We don’t have an incentive to change.”.“That’s a problem,” said Deacon. “I think we have to recognize that and start to revisit how we do our business.”.“We’re not a private business, that’s true,” said Senator Claude Carignan (QC). “We’re not a private sector business and thank heavens because in a private business you have to look at your revenues and manage it.”.“When you don’t have revenues you have to live with the consequences,” said Carignan. “Here we’re lucky. We only have to manage expenses. So could we please do it properly?”
