Experience AREVP | Smith for AREVP

Union Experience

PSAC-NCR Treasurer (2024 - Current)
PSAC-NCR Member-At-Large (2023 - 2024)
President, GSU Local 70019 (2024-Current)
Vice-President, GSU Local 70019 (2022-2024)
Strike Captain at Treasury Board Strike/CRA Strike (2023)

PSAC-NCR Education Committee. 2nd Vice-Chair-Person Position (2022-2024)
PSAC-NCR Health and Safety Committee (2023)
PSAC-NCR Hardship Fund Committee (2023)
PSAC-NCR Finance Committee (2022-2025)

International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW)

Participated in various organizing campaigns to certify and unionize new workplaces (2013-2023)
Member of the Political Action Committee (2016-2023)
Co-founder of the Local 586 NextGen Charter
IBEW Instructor specializing in apprentice education

Demonstration Experience

Police Liaison
Marshal and providing Marshal training)
Development and implementation of strike escalation tactics including delayed entry to employer premise and providing strike escalation training
Speeches to crowds
De-escalation training
March route coordination and logistics

Academic Credentials

Masters of Global Management (Royal Roads University)

Graduate Certificate in Project Management (Royal Roads University)

Construction and Maintenance (Electrical) Diploma (Algonquin College)

4 Years - English Major (Ottawa University)

A Vision for the Future

While I now consider PSAC my union home and family, I spent a decade active in the IBEW organizing and certifying new workplaces, participating in the Local 586 political action committee, co-founding Local 586 Next Gen, and instructing new apprentices through the IBEW education program. These were formative experiences where I learned about the value of organizing, political action, growing our movement, and mentoring new members.

Within PSAC, I have been active in my Local GSU 70019 since 2022, first as Vice-President and now Acting President. During my time on the executive, I have developed and implemented a program to reduce our RANDs from 600 to 180 using various new communication technologies, organizing principles, as well as the good old fashioned phone call.

When I joined PSAC after the IBEW I was a bit surprised to learn about RAND status members– and that as a union we have so many of them. At the IBEW, I come from a strong culture of checking off memberships as a core component of union democracy. Members need to know the benefits of their union and that they themselves are core to the functioning of the union– or else someone like Pierre Poilievre can pass legislation that gives them an option to opt out, and they might take it.

The former Director of Communications for Stephen Harper recently wrote in the Ottawa Citizen, “public servants need to think about how to best serve their future new masters. It’s the best way to avoid their own extinction-level event.” In my mind, I think he’s talking about the Conservatives most recent policy book which “supports right to work legislation to allow optional union membership.” They want to give members the ability to opt out of the union and paying dues.

How many RAND members out there, who haven’t ever heard from us, do you think would take that option today– if given the choice?

That’s why I’ve been working with other locals to help address their RAND numbers and get more members checked off and in good standing. Members need to be hearing from us now— not just in a moment of crisis, when they’ve been given an option to leave. They need to hear about all the incredible work that’s going on in the union to defend member rights and fight for improvements– and be invited to join and participate in that work. But if they’re RAND and we don’t have their contact information, and they’re not receiving updates or invites to local meetings or AGMs or rallies, they’re not being given a pathway to participate. And someone like Poilievre can exploit that.

As our local worked to implement new communications tools to increase our members in good standing from 68 to 90 per cent (in a local of almost 2000 members), this also meant that our 2024 Annual General Meeting saw increased participation with attendance nearly doubling compared to previous years– representing an increase in member engagement and a more robust and healthy union democracy. Which is exactly what can help guard against attacks like making union membership optional as promised in the Conservative policy book.

At GSU Local 70019, I also developed a dues increase resolution and presentation which resulted in a unanimous local dues increase in the wake of the Treasury Board/CRA strike. Our executive proposed increasing our dues from a flat rate to a percentage-based rate that would put us on track to recoup the ~$280,000 paid out in top ups – all in time before the next strike, should it come to that. And considering the Conservatives hostility towards the federal public service, and their track record of cuts and contracting out, I didn’t want us to be unprepared for what might come to pass in the next round of bargaining.

In a political climate where the former Director of Communications for Stephen Harper is threatening PSAC with an extinction-level event, we need leadership with a proven track record to lead not only when the times are calmer, but also when it’s a crisis, and especially when we need calculated, well-thought-out escalation.

During the Treasury Board/CRA strike I demonstrated these qualities when as workers we organized an escalation to delay entry to the Treasury Board HQ. This entailed setting up teams at the doors of Treasury Board and delaying entry of the workers going inside, negotiating and de-escalating with the employer representatives on-site, and strategically escalating when the employer was sneaking people in through the parking garage. I then worked to onboard these skills to nearby picket lines including the Prime Minister’s Office, 234 Laurier, and others.

I also had the opportunity to train striking members at the recent Non-Public Funds strike on how to set up this escalation tactic and address tensions on the picket line.

Although these escalation tactics are important, I also understand how to de-escalate. I have been a police liaison and protest marshal in Ottawa on behalf of the NCR, as well as for community groups many times in the last year. I have also provided marshal training to members to ensure that as a group we know what steps are required to keep our groups safe during protests and marches.

And with the coming storm on the horizon, with the very real possibility that we will be bargaining with a Conservative majority government, I think we need to be prepared to fight.

Because when I think about the Harper-era cuts, the contracting out, the job losses, the attack on sick leave, rollbacks on wage increases, the contempt they showed for the collective bargaining process, I think about where we’re at and where we need to be– and how do we get there?

By mapping our workplaces, our members, our strengths, our vulnerabilities, and systematically organizing together to make our union strong and prepared.

How do we get prepared?

I think it’s by asking ourselves and each other what we will do if entire departments like Women and Gender Equality are cut, or all the various Indigenous initiatives across the federal public service are cut, or when the already weak anti-racism initiatives are cut– what will we do when jobs are disappearing and being contracted out, when we’re facing a hostile and indifferent employer at the bargaining table, when the government introduces back-to-work legislation or imposes binding arbitration?

How do we get ready for these scenarios and what are the steps involved?

How do we build unity and solidarity across our union, should some of us face worse attacks than others?

Have we learned the lessons from the 2023 TB/CRA strike and implemented changes at the local and regional level? How are locals being supported in implementing these changes?

I am ready to step up when needed to face these challenges in a collaborative and consensus-building way that recognizes the strengths of our union and the critical areas we need to keep improving upon.

I am a strategic planner who also recognizes the importance of financial continuity, and that’s why as the current PSAC-NCR Treasurer I am well-positioned to ensure continuity in the region. Being so close to the financials of the NCR will ensure that in the event I am called on to replace the REVP in the region, I can be as knowledgeable and prepared as possible to ensure that the disruption to the region is minimized.

As Treasurer, right now I’m working with the Finance Committee to implement improvements and accountability mechanisms as well as templates for making regional budgeting more accessible and understandable.

To prepare for the AREVP election, I have considered the potential time requirements for the position and have adjusted my union obligations so that I have the capacity to do the job, if called upon, and so that I may focus on supporting our current REVP, Ruth Lau MacDonald, in whatever capacity requested.

Because we must face what comes next together.

If you have any questions, comments, concerns, ideas, or suggestions about my candidacy, I’d love to hear from you. I can be reached at 1smith.christian@gmail.com or 613-979-7204.