Public sector union slams Sault job cuts. Bryan responds

The Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) is criticizing the Conservative government for cuts made to the number of public sector jobs in Sault Ste. Marie and nationwide.

Ottawa-based PSAC represents thousands of workers in federal government departments, associated agencies and Crown corporations across Canada.

The cuts have been felt locally, said Sharon DeSousa, regional executive vice president for PSAC (Ontario), speaking to SooToday from her Toronto office.

"In Sault Ste. Marie there have been about 85 jobs lost (in waves since 2012)," DeSousa said.

"There has been a series of cuts that have come down and we have to keep in mind these are really good paying full time jobs in the public sector, with benefits."

PSAC's DeSousa said the Conservative government is making reductions in the public service as a way to eliminate the deficit and go into surplus.

DeSousa said PSAC is determined to make cuts to services and jobs an issue in the federal election of 2015.

Sault Ste. Marie MP Bryan Hayes responded to PSAC comments.

"For PSAC to make statements like that, I think they should be very clear in terms of attrition versus layoffs, and my question back (to PSAC) would be how many jobs were through attrition, people being close to retirement being offered a significant early retirement package, and also benefits upon retirement," said the Conservative member.

"Perhaps 85 positions were impacted, but 'impacted' does not necessarily mean job loss… there were not 85 job losses in Sault Ste. Marie."

"How many people were hired by other departments?  Some of these employees were probably shifted to other departments where vacancies occurred," Hayes said.

"It's really important to note that within the public service there are 8,000 retirees every year and I know since 2012, already over 2,500 employees who lost their jobs or were laid off through deficit reduction have been re-hired across Canada."

Nationwide, PSAC says the Conservative government has cut in areas concerning environmental protection, national parks, national defence, science and research (affecting agencies such as Statistics Canada), Fisheries and Oceans Canada, border security, Canada Revenue Agency, employment insurance,  food inspection, Veterans Affairs and agriculture.

"In Sault Ste. Marie, there have been cuts to Natural Resources Canada, which has lost more than 40 jobs through layoffs or attrition, and it's really sad because many of the labs have been affected through budgetary cuts," DeSousa said.

DeSousa said locally, there have also been cuts to departments such as Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Parks Canada and Service Canada.

Hayes clearly objected to PSAC statements.

"If there were 40 Natural Resources Canada jobs lost in Sault Ste. Marie, I have no doubt some of these people would have been knocking on my door, and I had nobody from Natural Resources Canada knocking on my door about a job loss."

"If there are (public sector) jobs going to be impacted in Sault Ste. Marie I'm going to fight to keep those jobs in Sault Ste. Marie," Hayes said.

"I was aware of some jobs where there was an intention to shift them to southern Ontario, and I fought hard and kept certain jobs that were going to be shipped to southern Ontario in Sault Ste. Marie."

"I will continue to fight on behalf of all jobs in Sault Ste. Marie, but at the same time I will also fight for an efficient, effective public service and that's what we're called to do as members of parliament."

Hayes said government department officials have indeed been told to find cost effective ways to deliver services as the Conservative government works towards eliminating the deficit and moving into a surplus, but he said the quality of services in areas such as Employment Insurance (EI) has not been affected. 

"We're working towards an efficient government and we're working towards balancing the budget, and there will be a surplus, and that will result in tax savings for all Canadians," Hayes said. 

"It's really important that we look to outside the public sector and we look to Canada's job growth since we formed government," Hayes said.

"Since the depths of the recession…the Canadian economy, and I would suggest with the policies of our Conservative government, has created 1.1 million net new jobs, we have the best job growth in the G7, and 80 percent of those jobs are full time and in the private sector, and 70 percent of those are in high wage industries."