Parks Canada, responsible for running national parks and historic sites, was the hardest hit as the axe fell again on federal departments, this time hitting more than 4,000 workers.
More than 1,600 Parks Canada employees were told their jobs could disappear as the department eliminates 638 positions.
All lock operators and masters on the Trent-Severn and Rideau Canals in Ontario and the Chambly Canal in Quebec got notice that their jobs were in jeopardy. While not all will be out of work, union officials said it will mean a shorter season and shorter days for the canal operations, which promises to hit not just boaters but the dozens of businesses that rely on tourist trade fuelled by canal traffic.
“This will have a devastating effect not only on our members but on the multiple businesses along the canals and the waterways and tourism,” said Christine Collins, national president of the Union of Canadian Transportation Employees.
“Thousands of families and their businesses are dependent on these tourism dollars that are created during the canal seasons,” Collins told reporters Monday.
But the cuts are hitting parks and historic sites nationwide. Nova Scotia’s Fortress of Louisbourg — touted by the Canadian Tourism Commission as a “signature” destination — is facing the loss of 120 jobs. Banff National Park, another prime tourist destination, is losing 40 jobs.
And in a year when the Conservative government is marking the War of 1812, the union said parks staff are being axed at two Ontario forts that date back to the battle — Prescott’s Fort Wellington and Fort George in Niagara-on-the-Lake.
In all, 3,827 employees represented by the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) were given notices Monday that they could be laid off. So far, 11,957 PSAC members in all could see their jobs disappear.
As well starting Monday, word was going out to more than 600 federal workers represented by the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada (PIPSC) that their positions will also be affected by the budget belt-tightening. Close to 3,000 PIPSC members have now been hit as a result of the 2012 federal budget.
“The government has initiated these wholesale changes to the public service in an environment lacking of accountability and transparency,” PIPSC president Gary Corbett said in a statement.
NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair said the Conservatives should be providing Canadians with more information on the impact of the federal job reductions on programs and services. “It’s slight of hand, it’s a shell game, you can never tell in advance” what the government is doing, he said. “That’s the biggest problem we have with the Conservatives, it’s transparency.”
Slashing workers from the government payroll will hurt Canada’s economy, PSAC national president John Gordon said Monday as the total of federal employees facing cuts reached more than 12,000.
“We’re astounded by how quickly and mercilessly this government is moving to put people out of work and cut the services Canadians across the country rely on,” Gordon said.
“The government is doing this without listening to Canadians about the impacts or telling Canadians what this will mean for the services they rely on,” said Gordon. “And make no mistake about it, this will hurt the economy.”
Where the notices went out
The Public Service Alliance of Canada and the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada got official word Monday that more than 4,000 of their members could lose their jobs in the latest round of federal cuts. Here’s where the notices went out Monday:
• 1,600 at Parks Canada
• 914 at Human Resources and Skills Development
• 196 at Transport Canada
• 35 at Justice
• 728 at Statistics Canada
• 304 at Library and Archives Canada
• 17 inmate rights and redress workers at Correctional Services Canada
• 535 at Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development
Original Article
Source: Star
Author: Les Whittington and Bruce Campion-Smith
No comments:
Post a Comment