With less than a week before Parliament resumes, speculation is ramping up about what the federal government will cut in its upcoming fall budget. Read MorePublic Service Notebook: Unions want Prime Minister Mark Carney to keep his promise to “cap, not cut” the federal public service.
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Public Service Notebook: Unions want Prime Minister Mark Carney to keep his promise to “cap, not cut” the federal public service.
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With less than a week before Parliament resumes, speculation is ramping up about what the federal government will cut in its upcoming fall budget.
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Observers say the budget, which is expected to be released in October, will provide more details about Prime Minister Mark Carney’s spending review that is seeking 15 per cent in savings from many departments over three years.
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Countless lobbying groups, members of the public and businesses have participated in the budget consultations the government held this summer. The unions that represent federal public servants have also weighed in with their pleas.
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Along with that news, here are four public service stories from the past week we’ve been following so you don’t have to.
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Public sector union submit proposals for spending review
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The Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) has outlined nine recommendations for the federal government in its submission on the upcoming spending review.
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At the top of the list for the largest federal public service union was a request to not cut public service jobs and programs.
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“A fair fiscal framework can and must support a healthy, modern, and equitable public service,” the union said in its submission. “However, if Canada is to move forward in a progressive, hopeful manner, making positive changes to ensure the health of the public service is necessary.”
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PSAC said the federal government can find savings by reviewing its approach to remote work. Most departments and agencies currently require employees to work in an office three days a week.
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PSAC’s also recommended reducing the government’s real estate and its reliance on consultants as ways to find savings.
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To help the government meet its defence spending goals, PSAC recommended moving what are known as “non-public funds” staff, who provide services to the Canadian Forces, into the core public service. This could make them employees of the Department of National Defence.
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In the submission, the union slammed the government for reducing or abandoning “significant revenue sources” such as the Digital Services Tax and the capital gains tax increase.
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“In other words, fiscal pressures are largely a problem of the government’s own making,” the submission said.
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PSAC called on the government to establish different wealth taxes and to revisit “regressive personal income tax cuts that disproportionately benefit the wealthy.”
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The Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada (PIPSC), the second-largest federal public service union, told Carney to “keep the promise, stop the cuts,” a reference to the Liberal election campaign promise to “cap, not cut” the federal public service.
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In its spending review submission, PIPSC warned that the 15 per cent cut over three years, would add another “destabilizing shock” and will “jeopardize critical public services.”
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PIPSC also advocated for decreasing reliance on external consultants and offloading office space by expanding remote work.
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Meanwhile, the Canadian Association of Professional Employees (CAPE), the third largest federal public sector union, pointed to remote work rights, cutting back on consulting costs and trimming the number of senior manages in the public service.
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“Federal workers are burning out at a rapid clip because of the ideological cuts that this government and the last one have imposed, and it costs Canadians more than it saves, both in dollar terms and in service/program quality,” Nathan Prier, the president of CAPE, said in a statement.
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Sabia goes to Washington
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Last week, Michael Sabia, the clerk of the Privy Council, was reportedly on the ground in Washington D.C., meeting with Trump administration officials about tariffs.
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Sabia was leading a Canadian envoy seeking “agreements in some of these strategic sectors,” Carney told reporters last week.
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“We are holding constructive and fruitful discussions,” Carney said in french. “And like I said, we have a very good team, especially through the clerk of the Privy Council.”
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Aluminum, steel, auto and lumber have been some of the hardest hit sectors by U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs. Currently, aluminum and steel face a 50 per cent tariff.
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The Privy Council Office did not confirm whether Sabia remained in Washington for talks this week.
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Treasury Board to launch a public registry on AI projects in government
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The Treasury Board is launching an artificial intelligence registry to track the ways the government is using the technology.
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The registry is emerging from Treasury Board’s AI hub, otherwise known as the AI centre of excellence that was outlined in the federal government’s AI strategy, which will help knowledge sharing across government while avoiding duplication.
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The federal government has said the registry, which is still under development, will help with public transparency.
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The federal government is already using AI in many parts of the public service. This includes a Translation Bureau project that is using a automated translation system for low-risk documents.
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Fisheries and Oceans Canada has also been using AI tools to find lost fishing gear; Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada has been using the technology to predict crop yields; and Transport Canada has introduced AI screening tools to identify high-risk air cargo.
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TBS did not answer questions about when the registry will be made public by deadline.
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Job losses at Public Health Agency of Canada and Library Archives Canada
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Last week, the Public Health Agency of Canada announced that it was cutting roughly around 10 per cent of its workforce, citing readjustments after the COVID-19 pandemic.
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The agency told CBC last week that the job losses were linked to a recalibration rather than Carney’s forthcoming spending review.
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The losses amount to around 320 jobs.
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Meanwhile, Library and Archives Canada announced last week that it will cut around 70 indeterminate positions that that will undergo a workforce adjustment process over the next several months, according to CTV.
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Library and Archives Canada is set to move locations, with much of its operations shifting to the new downtown library that is a joint project with the Ottawa Public Library.
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When it comes to the upcoming spending review, Finance Minister François Philippe Champagne has been vocal about how the government plan might include layoffs, noting that the government “will find adjustments.” Meanwhile, Carney has signaled that an austerity budget is right around the corner.
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“I think a leaner and more efficient government to provide services to Canadians, this is needed as you’re looking to rebuild this nation,” champagne told reporters last week.
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— With files from the Canadian Press
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