Fed Job Cuts

[Said1]

Federal jobs may be cut: McCallum

Sandra Cordon
Canadian Press


October 22, 2004

OTTAWA -- Federal civil service jobs will likely be cut and others shifted from Ottawa to various regions of Canada as the Liberal government searches for more efficient ways to do business, says Revenue Minister John McCallum.

Despite the fact the federal government recorded a whopping $9.1 billion budget surplus last year, the Liberals are committed to finding greater efficiencies, McCallum told The Canadian Press.

And that will likely mean eliminating some federal jobs and moving others away from the National Capital Region as the government tries to free up spending from existing programs for new priorities.

"This is not about reducing the size of government. . .but it is about reallocation and you can't do a reallocation and have every job remain unchanged, so there will be some people affected," McCallum said in an interview.

"I can't guarantee that when you're dealing with $12 billion in savings. . .that not a single job will be lost."

McCallum, former chief economist for Royal Bank of Canada, is currently supervising the Liberals' plan to find $12 billion in savings from existing federal programs for reallocation over five years.

Since the idea was introduced more than one year ago, Liberals have frequently insisted that expenditure review isn't designed to slash spending but is simply an effort to make better use of taxpayer dollars.

Link