Speaking in a year-end interview with iPolitics, Turmel said the government is cutting back everywhere and reducing the public service without a clear and defined program.
“If you erode the services, people turn away from those services and automatically go towards another sector,” Turmel said. “They will let services go and, at that point, people turn towards the private sector.”
Job services are one area where Turmel sees that happening.
“We have more and more private job sector services that do research for jobs,” said Turmel, a former head of the Public Service Alliance of Canada. “It is one example of the privatization of certain services.”
Turmel said she is also seeing more private sector consultants being called in to do research.
“Internally, we’re hiring more and more consultants for research, for work. That doesn’t help.”
Turmel’s comments come as the government is in the midst of a strategic and operating review, an exercise that Treasury Board President Tony Clement has dubbed the deficit reduction action plan.
Turmel said she supports the idea of program review, adding it is something that a government should do periodically. However, she believes the government is making a mistake by setting budget reduction goals of five and 10 per cent, rather than focusing the exercise on how to improve government services.
“I have always said that the review of programs is good. You should always review your programs. But that is not the message that is sent by this government. The message that is being sent is that we cut 10 per cent everywhere. In a difficult economic situation, the federal government’s response is to cut when we should create jobs and we should also respond to the needs.”
At the same time as it is trying to save money by squeezing the public service, the government is preparing to give corporate Canada a tax break, Turmel pointed out.
“Their plan is to cut, they want to find money. However…they are going forward with tax cuts for large companies. They are doing that and at the same time they want to go look for money internally.”
Across the country, and in Turmel’s own riding of Hull-Aylmer — home to many federal public servants — the tension is palpable, she said.
“There is an insecurity, a very big insecurity…Also a great disappointment because those people are engaged with their jobs, they are engaged towards the population.”
At a time when the government should be doing more environmental research, it is cutting researchers in the environment department, she said.
“Service Canada — everything that touches employment, job creation, primary services — they are cutting.”
Turmel admits she doesn’t know what exactly will be cut when the results of the strategic and operating review are unveiled in the next federal budget. Nor is she about to give the government any suggestions.
The one thing she does know is that it won’t be possible to make the kinds of cuts the government is talking about without cutting federal public servants.
“You will have a much smaller public service, which will be much more stressed out,” Turmel said. “Which will not have the time to develop the politicies necessary to support our national and international actions.”
“To give you concrete examples: immigration, passports, national defence, agriculture, research on the environment. If you reduce all those sections, with the internal waiting lists you will have an enormous stress, but externally you will not be able to respond to the demand.”
Sitting in the ornate carved wood Centre Block office that NDP Leader Jack Layton only got to occupy for a few weeks, Turmel admitted it has been a tough year. There was the joy of winning a seat in the House of Commons and watching her home province back the NDP en masse, followed by the pain of losing Layton a few weeks later. Still learning the ropes as an MP, she suddenly found herself thrust into the job of interim leader.
But despite recent public opinion polls showing the NDP has slipped in popular support in Quebec as the party’s leadership race unfolds, Turmel remains optimistic.
“A poll is a poll. The MPs have returned to their ridings and will do work on the ground. In mid-January I will do a tour — I will be in Quebec for eight days, meeting people.”
Among the messages Turmel will bring to Quebecers is that the NDP shares their concerns about the economy, job creation and infrastructure, while the Conservative government’s priorities are abolishing the firearms registry and its omnibus crime bill.
Throughout it all, Turmel keeps her eye on the goal — to position the NDP as the government in waiting for 2015.
“Since the election we have 102 MPs who advance the ideas and the vision of a better Canada and it will be up to the new leader to continue. The caucus is very solid for the moment. It will be very solid with a new leader.”
“It will be a question of continuing the work that began on May 2.”
Original Article
Source: iPolitico
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