News release

August 10, 2005

Federal government centralization exercise strictly improv

OTTAWA – While all the details of the federal government’s latest centralization exercise are not yet known, the union representing the largest number of federal public sector workers says it’s clear that the government is making it up as it goes along.

“Once again, the government is relentlessly and incomprehensibly looking at restructuring the public sector, says PSAC National Executive Vice-President John Gordon.  “They are doing it without consulting the people who provide the services to Canadians and they are not acknowledging the impact this will have on smaller communities where jobs might be lost.  They are only looking at the bottom line and possible savings.  And even on this point, government documents warn that services will not improve and costs will not be lower.”

“This is an old story with a new wrapping that is riddled with contradictions”, says Gordon.  “On one hand, the modernization of the public sector which started in 2003 gave local managers more responsibility for staff management.  On the other hand, the new plan to centralize services such as computer support, finances, human resources and office supplies will reduce departmental accountability. This clearly shows the government has no consistent vision or direction for the public service.”

According to Jerome Turcq, PSAC’s Regional Executive Vice-President in Quebec, Canadians have already gone through the experience of a major restructuring of the federal public sector in the 90’s.  “More than 45,000 jobs were lost.  The negative impact on service to the public was tremendous and the remaining workers had to deal with serious increases in workloads.  A few years later, almost two third of these jobs are back. With a growing population with expanding needs, cutting jobs at this time will reduce the level of services for all Canadians.”

“In addition,” adds Gordon, “if a single agency is responsible for these tasks, it will open the door to more privatization of public services. The profit that private firms will want to make from these contracts will offset any potential savings that could result from this exercise. There will no financial gain for Canadian taxpayers, and service to the public will inevitably suffer.”

“We want to make sure that the smaller Canadian communities will not pay the price for this, with fewer jobs and resulting economic hardship,” concludes Gordon.  “We are asking for meetings with government officials to make sure they understand the full implications of their plan and the impact this will have on services to Canadians.”

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For information:     Pierre Lebel, Communications Officer, PSAC

(613) 560-5482

41-100805