XPost: bc.politics, can.politics   
   From: {~_~}@nyet.ca   
      
   Why 'gag orders' for ANY government department or program?   
   They get into power under "open and accountable" bullshit and then   
   promptly take to silencing and undercutting anyone who dares to reveal   
   what OUR elected government is up to.   
      
   We're living in an era of censorship, oppression, surveillance and   
   autocratic governments.   
   We need to make it stop.   
      
   First step:  Figure out which governments are prone to this kind of   
   people control.   
   Second step:  Plague them with emails telling them you don't accept   
   their actions.  CC your opposition parties.   
   Third step:  Vote them the hell out of office at the first possible   
   election.   
      
      
   __________________________________   
      
   On 3/18/2014 11:12 PM, Cripsie Clark wrote:   
   > March 18, 2014   
   >   
   > Please help us and the clients we serve-BC's under/unemployed.   
   >   
   > On April 2,2A!2, the province of BC rolled out its new   
   > Employment Program of BC (EPBC), along with its new database,   
   > the lntegrated Case Management system (lCM). Just before doing   
   > so though, it had all EPBC case managers and contractor staff   
   > sign a gag order, in which we agreed not to discuss the internal   
   > workings of the program (which is why this is being sent to you,   
   > unsigned, via an anonymous server).   
   >   
   > (Madam Premier, if ICM is so great, WHY THE GAG ORDER? Are you   
   > worried that the taxpayers may find out how much this software   
   > is costing them in cash and resources?)   
   >   
   > While our alleged mandate is to help British Columbians find the   
   > shortest, most direct routeback to sustainable employment, the   
   > effects of working within the EPBC's ever-changing policies and   
   > procedures, along with the ever-increasing administrative burden   
   > of having to try to keep the government's "Quality Assurance"   
   > staff happy in terms of where and how data is entered into the   
   > ICM is seriously impeding our ability to meet the needs of our   
   > clients. Moreover, EPBC contractors are paid on a fee-for-   
   > service basis, which over the past two years has resulted in an   
   > ever increasing pressure on staff to be creative in their   
   > billings and a predominant focus on the part of our employers to   
   > ensure maximum profitability for their agencies, effectively   
   > resulting in the needs of our clients taking a very distant back   
   > seat. (NOTE: Prior to April 2, 2012, case managers were not   
   > responsible for worrying about billings-that was the work of   
   > their employers-and could focus their attentions entirely on   
   > assisting clients with getting back to work, which is, after   
   > all, what we were trained to do.)   
   >   
   > The ICM initially came with a reported price tag of   
   > S186,000,000. By early 2013, ongoing revisions to the ICM were   
   > rumoured to have cost British Columbians an additional 5200   
   > million. God knows what the figure is now. Meanwhile, in order   
   > to ensure that case managers and staff are entering data   
   > correctly and in the right "applets," the agencies have had to   
   > hire additional administrative staff to ensure "data compliance"   
   > and, more recently, staff to go through every case manager's   
   > files on an ongoing basis, trying to anticipate and/or meet the   
   > needs of the government's Quality Assurance staff, who also   
   > audit all of our files to ensure every "1" is dotted and every   
   > "t" is crossed. The focus of agency staff meetings is on   
   > billings, the latest changes to EPBC policies and procedures,   
   > Quality Assurance requirements, billings and sustainability for   
   > the agencies and so forth. ln short, BC taxpayers are paying   
   > through the nose and then some, for a system that is seriously   
   > broken and has long since ceased to be driven by the needs of   
   > the clients.   
   >   
   > Case managers and staff are burning out and jumping ship at an   
   > ever escalating rate, due to a sincere desire to help our   
   > clients with their employment needs that is increasingly   
   > thwarted at every turn by: the ever changing, ever growing, and   
   > entirely unmanageable administrative burden of the ICM; the   
   > relentless onslaught of ever changing policies and procedures;   
   > the constant changes to in-house policies and procedures that   
   > occur as a result of trying to meet contractual obligations and   
   > the demands of 'Quality Assurance Gone Wild,; the acute and   
   > growing pressure on case managers and staff to maximize billings   
   > and profitability for their employers; and an ever increasing   
   > sense of overwhelm, incompetence and exhaustion in the face of   
   > it all.   
   >   
   > Christy Clark and her government may argue that this is all   
   > being done in the name of transparency and accountabilityto the   
   > tax payers of this province, but I can assure you that if the   
   > taxpayers understood what is really going on in this sector and   
   > how much it is costing them, they would be outraged, and rightly   
   > so. Hundreds of millions of dollars are being spent on this   
   > program, but it is certainly NOT making it easier for British   
   > Columbians to get back to work or get the training that they   
   > need to do so.   
   >   
   > And for the record, while our business signs, cards, letterheads   
   > and so forth are littered in government logos, the case managers   
   > of this province do not have the benefit of a government wage   
   > nor pensions. We work for private and/or non-profit contractors   
   > who, far too often, have become so preoccupied with their profit   
   > margins that the needs of their clients and staff have come to   
   > take a very distant back seat. lt is no wonder that so many Work   
   > BC case managers are taking stress leaves, seeking jobs with   
   > WorkSafe (for significantly better wages, a pension and no ICM)   
   > or changing careers altogether.   
   >   
   > Please help us - there's a huge story here, if only journalists   
   > & the public would pursue it.   
   >   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)