Saskatchewan Federation of Police Officers 11 CANADIAN POLICE ASSOCIATION 2018 LEGISLATIVE CONFERENCE This past April, PAO representatives along with their counterparts from across Canada met with MPs, senators and federal ministers as part of the 2018 CPA Legislative Conference. These individual meetings in tandem with a full business agenda provided association leaders with an opportunity to bring an informed message on behalf of our frontline to the members of all major political parties. This year our efforts focused on the three issues outlined below and we will continue to ask for status updates in the weeks and months ahead. The Issue Employment Insurance for Police Personnel on Parental Leave Police officers on parental leave are frequently and routinely subpoenaed during that leave to testify in criminal matters stemming from prior police duties. The practice of numerous police services in those instances was to have the day of the court appearance added to the end of the parental leave, extending it by the amount of time lost for the officer to prepare for and attend court as required. A few years ago Employment Insurance (EI) conducted an examination of this practice and essentially concluded it was a contravention of the EI provisions with respect to applicable earnings. Even though the compensation was provided in time only to make up for the leave lost, EI took the position that it amounted to additional employer provided earnings which were then subject to claw back from the EI payments as income. Therefore if the member claims the court appearance in time compensation from the Police Service employer, it is considered as applicable earnings and deducted from his/her EI parental leave benefit. There is no longer any ability to provide additional time at the termination of the parental leave for police officers in recognition of the time lost to court appearance. Essentially the officers appear in court, lose days off their parental leave which cannot be recouped. The Solution The CPA would like to propose an amendment to the Act and/or regulations governing Employment Insurance to ensure that if a police officer on parental leave is subpoenaed to court as a result of prior police duties, that any compensatory time provided in recognition of that not be unnecessarily clawed back by EI. This amendment would at least provide a reasonable opportunity for our colleagues to recoup the time lost with their families and also recognizes the unique challenges that they face trying to balance their obligations as police officers against those new challenges they face continued Canada’s Minister of Public Safety Ralph Goodale meets with CPA President Tom Stamatakis prior to the Minister’s presentation to CPA delegates gathered in Ottawa
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