Throne Speech confirms fears of federal public sector cuts
Judging from the Throne Speech, the Harper government’s strategy for containing the deficit will focus on attacks against quality public services through spending freezes, more expenditure review and deregulation.
The speech was clear that the government plans to balance the budget by restraining federal program spending overall. It will do this by freezing the total amount that government departments spend on salaries, administration and overhead, and by aggressively undergoing a review of all departmental spending.
More deregulation is also on the horizon, which could mean job cuts in the public sector and a significant reduction in the quality of the goods and services that Canadians receive. The government plans to compromise environmental protection by deregulating the approvals of projects in mineral resources and energy, including crude oil and uranium. It also plans to deregulate small- and medium-sized businesses, and it will continue its plan to eliminate the long-gun registry. Aggressively pursuing free trade agreements, including with Colombia, will also impact jobs and increase deregulation here in Canada.
Although there was no specific announcement that it will attack our members’ pensions, there was nothing in the speech that explicitly guarantees that it will not reduce pension benefits and/or increase contribution rates. But more glaring is that there was no mention in the speech of improving the retirement security of all Canadians, something that we have also been calling for along with the broader Canadian labour movement.
The Throne Speech confirms our fears that this government will be tackling the deficit on the backs of public-sector workers. We shall know the details on how it plans to do this in tomorrow’s budget announcement, but it is clear that we must continue our organizing and mobilizing efforts in the face of the on-going attack against quality public services.
In solidarity
John Gordon
PSAC National President
Date Modified : 2010/03/03
