On November 7, the Treasury Board presented a plan to CAPE and other bargaining agents to refocus budget spending. This proposal – developed unilaterally without consultation and no program review guiding decisions – leaves workforce adjustment as a likely outcome in the near future, despite previous commitments that any job losses would be felt only through attrition.
CAPE is vehemently opposed to any measure that include cutting the jobs of federal employees simply for the sake of cutting spending. The government should prioritize more effective ways to reduce spending by focusing on where the biggest cuts can be achieved. This means, among other things, implementing a robust remote work policy to free up government spending on unnecessary and expensive office buildings, which could potentially reduce federal spending by billions of dollars per year.
“The most effective way to reduce government spending is to end the preposterous in-office mandate and allow employees to telework,” said Nathan Prier, CAPE president. “This is not only the most obvious solution – it’s the easiest to implement with the least impact on services. Let’s downsize the government’s real estate footprint, let’s cut down on sketchy contractors like ArriveCan that lead to stunning waste, and let’s reduce the ridiculous amount of senior management that is the cause of real bureaucratic bloat. Workforce adjustment should be the last thing on the table.”
The government’s plan to escalate its arbitrary 2023 $15.8 billion cost reduction scheme now rests on cutting jobs with no clear plan. The Stephen Harper government arbitrarily cut for the sake of cutting, only to see outside contractors swallow up billions of taxpayer dollars with no oversight – because the work still needed to be done. CAPE encourages Canadians not to fall for the scam that the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives called “the shadow public service” – where taxpayer dollars flow from accountable public sector jobs to unaccountable and nepotistic private contractors in the name of cost containment.
CAPE will continue to escalate pressure on the Treasury Board and all departments throughout this ill-conceived process to ensure that reductions are achieved through the scaling back of unnecessary spending, including real estate and contractors – not workforce adjustment.
We are committed to ensuring that our members can continue to deliver the quality work that Canadians rely on. This arbitrary austerity plan will only drive federal public sector union organizing efforts to win remote work, eliminate the shadow public sector, and deliver for Canadians.
