Should Harper make public service cuts, as planned?

I think there ought to be public service layoffs--but it should be by increasing efficiency, not reducing services. We all have a friend, or family memeber or neighbour who has a cushy union government job where you don't have to work hard or have any stress. That needs to be eliminated. I know that bureaucrats often complain about their jobs...but if they hate their government jobs so much they should leave and find work elsewhere. That's what us grown-ups do in the private sector. And yes that includes teachers and nurses--just because government employees whine about being overworked and underpaid it doesn't mean they are.

Why do you think nurses and teachers' union are against private schools and hospitals...? Because if it catches on they'll have to work as hard as people do in the private sector.

You don't need to layoff employees. Simply do not fill those positions from retired workers and assign those duties with current staff. Most can take on a fair share within their 36-40 hr work week. I am not saying government employees are lazy, far from it. I just think they can take on more work just like many in the private sector have in the past 3-4 years.
Each department can also find additional savings on waste. I am certain they can reach 6-8% savings which would amount to more than the planned $11 Billion. The fight will be with the Unions where they don't want a reduced force. Stand your ground Harper. I didn't vote for you this time but you will get my vote in 4 years if you are able to make the proper cuts.

before they cut costs and close swimming pools. why nit get rid of the fat in the government? freeze their pay raises. lower their expense accounts and if you are not showing up for work everyday that can come off your pay cheque, just like everyone else. no more fancy trips or expensive lunches unless it is absolutely nessassary. down size each department. clean up your own house first!

Yes, Gov needs to cut back few positions or even better combine 2 positions into 1; for example, those teachers should teach during Fall/Winter/Spring and during Summer they should work in some kind of services such as clean up city or pickup garbage, take care/plant flowers at parks or anything to do with public, fix up public building if qualify, I know some of them work on construction and get pay cash so I very sure most of them qualify to work during Summer as construction workers for government projects, or if they don't want to work they can just sit at home without pay. It will be hard at first but that is the way should be done....oh yes and cut back MP wages too that will work out nicely.....

Efficiency should definitely improve, but it MUST be a top-down process; lay-offs and service cuts are band-aids on a tumour.
Start with hospital CEO (or any other publicly funded executive) compensation for starters, and cap their salaries at about $150 000. Good money considering the median incomes in the country as well as the poverty line. With the savings, re-invest in grass roots workers earning decent, livable wages, but also ensure productivity standards where white collar unions are involved.
Those riding the gravy train on both ends are free to seek employment in the private sector if this doesn't work.
We must remember that budget cuts impact people on a real human level, and that the majority of Canadians can't afford to live without debt anyway, without turning the screws tighter.

There is one operation that you can tell is just squirming, because they know a Conservative Majority is going to mean a signifigant drop in their funding. The poor CBC, with their champions, the liberal party in utter ruin, they know they are about to pay dearly for all those years of cutting remarks about Mr. Harper, and the Conservatives.

Election night, the tittle on MSN reads "Breaking news, NDP to form the Official Opposition." That was not the breaking news at all.

"How will Jack Layton clean up Ottawa with a Conservative Majority?" Really? is that what you people believe?
Know this, in four years when Ottawa is cleaned up, and we have a more accountable, and responsible government in place. The NDP will have had nothing to do with it whatsoever. Mr. Harper has his majority, and EVERYTHING that comes from Ottawa for good or ill, will be thanks to PM Stephen Harper.

In the meantime, I laugh as nearly every article by the CBC in regards to our Federal Landscape, is a desperate cry, and has a tone of impending doom. Not doom to Canada, but doom to the Billion dollar a year Liberal Platform.

Freeze pay for all in public and private sectors plus a roll-back of Elected MPs salaries to 2010 salaries. Cutting also means lost tax revenue and increased EI so poor choice as it does not really save and the initial saving goes out in overtime and bonuses to those remaining. Trust me I have seen that result over 40 years in management. We can all trim our expenses ourselves if we think how we spend without real need or by taking the easier way. Make tough choices ourselves for the benefit of all and Canada.

A 2 year pay freeze and as another wrote, do not replace retirees would make most sense and save a lot of $$$! Lay-offs should definitely not be made! Retirees' (generally less than 1 %), work load can be made up for easily across the remaining personnel.

The beauty of private-sector efficiency is that they have no stake in the lives of laid-off employees, whereas the public-sector does.

A private sector firm can burn an employee up and then let them go with no cost to itself other than retraining the next human-machine to follow the same path.

If a public-sector employee is not paid by the government funded treasury board, they are paid by the government funded employment insurance (and/or re-training and/or welfare and/or all those things that governments pay for when people need help).

I am not advocating keeping dead-weight public-sector employees, just reminding everyone that the public-sector and private-sector have to deal with different issues. The private sector lives in an insular bubble, and so has an easier time "restructuring".

That being said, I once had a contract to do some accounting work for a university student government and I saw ENORMOUS waste, corruption, and obvious inefficiency with their >$2M budget. I am guessing that with a budget several orders of magnitude greater, the federal government experiences the same.

I work for a provincial government and actually worked a coop term during school for the federal government. There is waste but I don't think cutting or downsizing is the way to do it. Here is my list of savings:
1. Get rid of senate
2. Cut MP's pensions for working 8 years and getting 100K per year after that is a complete joke. Most of these people have other pensions and or other jobs. How many other people work 8 years and get 100K per year pension.
3. Promote not spending all budget by not cutting the budget of a department that saves one year the next. Don't give the manager a bonus for doing it either, that is another big joke that happens. Just take the excess money back.
4. Cut foreign aid
5. Encourage departments to find savings.

And there are many more.

The problem is not with the workers in public sectors it is with management. You have a senior manager making six figures and they do nothing. Then they have secretaries and their secretaries have secretaries you have to trim the fat off the top level management they dont do enough work to justify the pay> It is the frontline workers who do all the work and get all the grief and none of the credit.

This whole article is a sham!. First, I agree with getting effeciency in how government works and maybe a few people need to get the axe. Furthermore, I've seen some of the abuses but get rid of those good for nothings that at present are protected by the union structure. All this being said I have a definite problem with 11 billion in cuts at the government level, has these cuts been identified, are there cuts on transfer payments, pension payments and/or cuts to vital departments. We have effectively given this man a carte blanche and I am skeptical that the Canada that I know will be radically changed so that Harper's big shot buddies can feast on tax reductions. I fear less government will also mean less oversight on these so called pillars of industry who have a tendency to rape and pillage caring for nothing but their own pocket books. What I see hear is the culmination of years of propaganda by the corporate world gaining fruitition with ever increasing demands on workers to capitulate benefits and living standards while the captains of industry gourge themselves at our expense. What happen to fairness.

No, Mr Dictator Harper should not cut public services jobs. It sends a message to industry to follow suit and they will. Harper talked about JOB Creation during his election campaign, you don't create jobs by cutting jobs.

Now that harper has a magority goverment, we will be no better than the citizens of Liba.

Throw the bum out rise up canadians as they are doing in other parts of the world and get rid of the dictator.

I agree with Tom G. I work in the public sector as an IT tech and I manage 13 schools (750 computers, 13 servers). In the private sector I might manage 2 or 3 locations or up to 300 computers and a few servers. I work full days and keep schools up and running along with 30 to 40 different programs for students of various levels. In the past I worked 12 years in private sector and at most 10 to 15 programs for computers. The real issue in the public sector is management. I make 50k.. my boss makes over 100k and his boss makes almost 150k. I don't see the justification in their high salaries for what they do. Anyway crap flows down and well I'm at the bottom... as usaual in any workplace.. the fat cats are at the top. Trim off from the top and I'm all for cutting public spending.. but it will never happen because the top is where all the decisions come from. Just like Harper's at the top and will decide who gets cuts.. will he be the first to take a cut? He after all is part of the public sector.

Finally the Canadian people have woken & spoken and given Harper an opportunity to prove that he deserves a majority. Time to trim the fat, cut the civil service dramatically, eliminate the redundancy in Provincial and Federal ministries, institute a framework for accountability to eliminate government waste, reduce public employee & MP pensions to be inline with the private sector and get rid of the Senate.

As someone who works as a consultant with government, allow me to pass a comment on the topic of government efficiency.

There are few people, including among government enmployees, who would argue that government is less efficient than private business. However, there is a reason for this. Whereas in business a decision can be made and implemented with a minimum of consultation, this is not possible with government where every interested party, sometimes just a single persistent individual, has to be consulted, placated and accomadated. And if you miss one person, the whole process is repeated when he announces his interest because any accomodation for him will impact others.

This 'inefficiency' is a byproduct of democracy in our increasingly comples society. It is caused by the governed, not the government. The governed aren't going away, they will still raise their objections, want to give their input and demand indignantly of the minister why 'such and such' has happened, so the basic government functions will suffer.

Government employees work very hard, they often work extra hours, and they take their service to the public seriously. It is a pity that their thanks is to lose their work because they are labelled as inefficient.

which way to the soup pot

Cutting headcount without streamlining process: very bad idea.
Streamline the process on design board, then cut the headcount, then launch the streamlined process. Make more sense, doesn't it?

How about we raise taxes for the corporations? just a thought...

Change is inevitable. If we take a look around the world, countries in financial crises or facing "bankruptcies" are having to reduce the size of public service sector. Why not be proactive before we face a similar situation here in Canada?

Also, I believe we need to conduct demands analyses of our community centres. How much is it being used? Are there community centre locations where the demand is low? We have been to health centres where there are hundreds of thousands of empty spaces up for sub-lease. Would the private sector operate in this fashion? It is always easier to spend than it is to make money.

Simonm, attitudes like yours are part of the problem with the bureaucracy--not the solution. The "problem" with democracy as you call it is only part of the problem. I too have worked in government at a provincial ministry, municipality and crown corp. They are full of "dead wood"--noty just at the top but also down to the unionized janitor. People like you make excuses for them so the gravy train continues.

I'll tell you a first hand story. The company I work for sells health related services to the BC provincial government. I wanted to see if we could sell them to the gov't of Saskatchewan too because I knew our service was better than theirs. I called the Sask. purchasing person and explained our service (he was already aware of us) and explained that our service was quicker, cheaper and more effective than the service they were using. Here is a summary of our dialogue...

Me: I'd like to sell you our services and my research shows that our service is cheaper, better and faster than what you are currently using.
Gov't Guy: I'm aware of your company but we currently use the government facility to provide those services.
Me: I'm aware but our service is cheaper, better and faster than what you are currently doing.
Gov;t Guy: I know that but we are using the government facility for those services.
Me: I know that but our service is cheaper better and faster than yours.
Gov't guy: I know but that isn't relevant...we are going to keep using the government facility to provide those services.

Talk about a waste of tax dollars!!! The bureaucrats don't care if they're getting ripped off--it's not their money. I could tell you at least 10 more stories like this from my own experience.

And don't even get me started about the horrible inefficiencies of hospitals!!!

I also work for the government, I agree with duane there are many other places to trim , how about Mr. Harper and his whole cabinet for starters take a 30 % pay reduction for term. Hmmm ok maybe I'm dreaming, however my last pay raise was over 7 years ago and we just fought for a 3 % increase doesn,t seem right? I make under 60 000 a year and with all my overtime the government collects 30% Hmmm ?? Maybe I should go into politcs , I do pick up garbage everyday .

Ok, first, bashing the politicians has actually never gotten us anywhere, and reading through most of these responses to teh article simply proves this further. If you really want to sovle the problem, the first step is to identify the "actual" problem or problems in the first place. The systemic waste of government has long since been a Liberal virtue, and unfortuneatley passed through the generations and through the parties. Stop blaming public employees for waste, and stop labelling them as lazy. If it wasn't for the fact that private sector corporations are a large cause of wasted spending, we wouldn't need serious cutbacks. Here is a list of reasonable "corrections" to alleviate some of the fiscal irresponsability of government and corporations alike.
1. Wage freeze across the board for all public sector employees in Canada, with the exception of inflation. (Government causes inflation, they need to deal with it, not the tax payers)
2. Roll back wages in public sector for all top management employees. The income disparity between workers and their respective managers is ludicrously high.
3. Cut paper use down in all public sector offices - most have electronic systems and continue to print and waste paper.
4. Cut back on corporate tax breaks - they are not passed on to the consumer or the emplyees - why is it becoming such a "bad thing" to force a company to dig into their own pockets/profits. Since when do we allow the protection of their profits for business?
4. Cut IMPORTS as much as possible - this nation relies far too heavily on imports
5. Fine companies excessive amounts for breaching environmental laws, and any other laws. Most companies account for the piddly little fines imposed on them as an operational cost, and then return it to the government for a tax break.
6. Reduction in immigration - educate the fine citizens of this nation first! Employ the people of the nation first.
7. Cut foreign aid and provide instead "workers" to help.
8. Prize freeze on all products for a period of 5 years. Wage increases ismply mean price increases which equates to less value for a consumer, more taxes for government and more profits for corporations.
9. Force corporations to manufacture within Canada, as much as is reasonable, and remove imported products of the same make. Thsi will create jobs, and industry.
10. DO NOT BAIL OUT CORPORATIONS - if their management elects to run the company into the ground, then so be it - they fail. Why is it my problem that GM provides a poor quality vehicle at an outragues, unaffordable price? This is GM's problem, and if it were up to me, I would have let them close, then maybe they would be better suited to listen to the people who buy their products. Ok enough about GM.
11. A complete system overhaul of the public safety net of Welfare, and Employment Insurance
12. Cut ALL OIL imports, remove Canada from OPEC, and refine our own oil here. No more selling it to the U.S, just to buy it back at an inflated price.
13. Actually make an attempt to prohibit price gouging by corporations, standardizing goods and services across Canada.
14. Increase the value of the Canadian dollar on teh world market. For retailers, your time has come, you have been overcharging Canadians for long enough. Time to close up shop, or lose it, or simply price fairly.
15, Removal of the Senate - this is a pointless part of Canadian Government with nothing more than figurehead value.

This list could go on and on and on and on, but in Canada, who's going to listen, moreso, who will actually do a dam thing about what the people actually want and need. If none of you have realized by now that our government is by the U.S. and the Corporations, you are certainly, and exessively naive.

We can no longer carry the bloated government service. We need to hire and promote department managers who meet their budgets and cut costs. We need to review and change the pensions, maternity leave, and other policies that are so much more generous than the private sector. Only then will we be able to maintain our existing level of service.

YES, CUT THE JOBS. CUT THE WAGES. LESS JOBS, MORE PEOPLE GO ON UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE. LESS JOBS LESS INCOME TAXES TO COLLECT AND WITH FAMILIES OF 4 OR 6 THEN THEY GET GOVERNMENT ASSISTANCE MONEY. CUT EVERYTHING INCLUDING COPS, NURSES, DOCTORS, GOVERNMENT RUN OFFICES SO THAT ALL THOSE BUILDINGS WILL BE EMPTIED OUT. LESS INCOME TAXES TO COLLECT. JUST GIVE MORE SUBSIDIES TO PRIVATE CORPORATIONS. GIVE THEM MORE TAX CUT INCENTIVES. THAT WAY, THE PRIVATE COMPANIES MAKE MORE MONEY AND PAY LESS TAXES. THEN WE CAN ALSO CUT MP SALARIES, COUNCILORS, MMP SALARIES, PROVINCIAL PREMIER SALARIES AND EVENTUALLY, MR. HARPER'S SALARY TOO CAPPED AT $175,000. HE SHOULD ALSO ELIMINATE WASTE BY NOT HAVING TOO MUCH PERKS AND BODYGUARDS BECAUSE THAT COST MONEY TOO. ALSO GIVE A LOT OF TAX SUBSIDIES TO PRIVATE CORPORATIONS LIKE ESSO, SHELL, AND OTHER OIL COMPANIES FROM ALBERTA. THE GOVERNMENT ALREADY DOES THAT. THAT WAY THOSE GREEDY BASTARDS MAKE MORE MONEY AND PROFIT THAN OPEC. THAT'S THE WAY TO RUN THE COUNTRY. CUT CUT CUT FROM PUBLIC SERVICES AND GOVERNMENT OFFICES AND GIVE GIVE GIVE TO THOSE REALLY FILTHY WEALTHY RICH OIL COMPANIES.

SG,

You are right about #1, #5, #10 and #15. But every other comment you make is exactly wrong!! Have you ever taken say a first or second year university economics course?? I don't say it to be mean or smug. But I really do think that if you formally studied some economics you'd be able to have more informed opinions about public matters. Not meaning to be cruel...just saying.

Seriously, get a book like Economics for Dummies. It will take only 2-3 days to get through but will give you a good start in truly understanding why things work the way they do.

It's not your fault...Economics classes should be a mandatory part of high school curriculum!!!

I agree with cutting public service but only as people retire - don't hire new. When the fishermen on the cost lost jobs "nobody in public sector complained". When the farmers lost money during the "BSE" scare "public sector didn't complain" and remember the farmers are facing flooding and cannot at this time get on the fields to plant. And when the auto-industry lost jobs " those same public service personel didn't complain". Everybody faces lay-offs at one time or another, did the public service cry out when NORTEL went under of course not. Our society is overwhelmed with administration that have parties, go to and stay at cushy places for meetings and even have lunches provided for the on the tax payers time. It is time to get over it - the recession is here and "EVERYONE" must sacrifice so why not public service.

Process(management) has become king over product and when we figure that out it will likely be too late. Some systems need product--no nurse, pharmacist, or lab tech would have a job without a heart surgeon or anesthesiolgist. No plane would fly without a pilot! Life could go on without five year plans and stakeholder inclusion! The bullshit has gone too far. Management is luxury--product is necessary.In 25 years the money and credit will run out and all the manger with business suits and power suits won't remone and appendis, do a C/section or fedd a nation. Remember Socrates--when his prediction of society failure came to pass the swine executed him!

cut what we dont need, too much money is being squandered by governments.

Yes lets follow the American Republican model, it's worked so well for them over the past decade. Go after the middle class blue collar well paying union jobs. Then once those people are living on less use their anger as leverage to go after the middle class public service workers. Then as you cut corporate taxes, increasing the bottom line of the multi-nationals who no longer have any concern for the people of Canada, and your tax revenue shrinks, use the rising deficit to get the public to agree to cut our govt. programs that mostly benifet the middle class and poor. Voila you have a pre WW1 society of the rich and poor, little or no health care, EI etc unless you can pay for it etc.

i agree with roger dodger above with 23 yrs. of hospital employment what i have seen is almost criminal to us the the canadian tax-payers . the government keeps saying that health care is uunsustainable yet just in waste from food, linin. supplies from bandages to toothpaste to medications, are a huge waste more on the floor than in the patient . nurses stock piling linen from diapers to gowns ,sheets, pillow cases. i could go on and on and of course not enough house-keepers to properly clean so people do not get infections and end up having to re-enter the hospital sicker than the first time they came in . but like above sh--t runs down hill so cut the lowest paid ones at the bottom which is what happened and guess what hospitals are full of infections. housekeepers are working 2 to 3 areas and nothing is working properly cause it is all hidden , i could go on for ever but i have to go to work .