Open Letter to Reg Alcock

December 12, 2003

The Honourable Reg Alcock
President of the Treasury Board
L'Esplanade Laurier, 9th Floor
140 O'Connor Street
Ottawa , Ontario  K1A 0R5

Dear Mr. Alcock:

              I want, first of all, to congratulate you on your appointment to the presidency of the Treasury Board, and to assure you that the members of the PSAC employed by the government of Canada want to work with you to ensure that the government delivers a full range of services to the Canadian public.  

              The PSAC and our members who are directly employed by the government of Canada were surprised to learn that the government has divided its management responsibilities into three departments and agencies under three separate Ministers.   While we have yet to comprehend the logic of the decision, we nonetheless need to address issues related to program review and financial accountability within the federal public sector.   In addition, we also need to address with you, on an urgent basis, the transfer of responsibilities for collective bargaining and public service modernization to the department of the Public Works and Government Services and the Privy Council.    

              With regard to program review, I must raise with you a serious and evolving concern within our membership over your government's commitment to a process that has failed in the past.   We are seriously concerned over the potential impact on federal public sector workers, the delivery of services to Canadians from coast to coast to coast.

              As I said in a December 3, 2003 letter to Paul Martin who was sworn in as Prime Minister earlier today:  

“In the light of your announcement before the Montreal Board of Trade that program review, as outlined in the 2003 federal budget, will become an ongoing and continuous part of the government's planning cycle, I, and many of the PSAC members who have communicated with me over the past few weeks, fear that your government is on the verge of repeating the mistakes of the 1990s. Our members take this position, because “program review” as announced in the 2003 budget was constructed as a specific financial target—$1 billion per year—regardless of its consequential impact on the delivery of service. In fact, and on the basis of its implementation in the mid 1990s and again this year, “program review” is a misnomer. What has happened in the past is that the Minister of Finance and/or the President of the Treasury Board announce expenditure restraint of a specific dollar amount and departments and agencies are told to reduce expenditures by their share of the cut. In short, little, if any, attention is paid to the “review” part of the process. This has given rise to speculation within our membership that program review will, once again, disrupt service to the public and the lives of thousands of federal workers.”

              In light of the above, I would like, on behalf of the PSAC, to request a meeting on an urgent basis to deal with the transfer of Treasury Board responsibilities to Public Works and Government Services and the Privy Council.   In addition, I would urge you, as the President of Treasury Board, Minister with direct responsibility for program review and financial accountability and the Chair of the new Expenditure Review Committee of the Cabinet, to initiate a comprehensive consultation process with the PSAC prior to the development of the 2004 federal budget and main estimates.  

Sincerely,

Nycole Turmel
National President