Prime Minister Stephen Harper's officials note the PMO has significantly cut the size and cost of the office over the past few years and is leading by example in finding savings during a time of fiscal restraint.
Public-sector unions and opposition parties have been attacking the government for months about federal spending cuts, insisting the Conservatives are misguided in where they're searching for billions of dollars in savings.
With that in mind, the Liberals recently asked the government in a written question about how many people the Prime Minister's Office employs, as well as how many of those staffers make $100,000 or more a year and the number of people making $50,000 or less.
As of Feb. 1, 2012, the number of full-time employees in the PMO was 94, with 21 of them making $100,000 or more a year, according to the answer delivered last week. Also, there were 23 people in the PMO with an annual salary of $50,000 or less.
"It certainly seems to have been a mushrooming institution since 2006," Liberal party deputy leader Ralph Goodale said Thursday.
"The government's conservative principles seem to apply to everybody but themselves. Lead by example be damned."
The cost of Harper's office soared 30 per cent between 2007-08 and 2009-10, from around $7.6 million to $9.89 million, according to federal public accounts.
Harper's officials stress the latest numbers (which haven't been officially released) show overall spending in the office has decreased 22 per cent since 2009-10 to around $7.7 million in 2011-12.
The number of full-time employees has decreased from 105 in 2009 to 87 today, while total spending by ministers' offices is also down 18 per cent since 2009-10, according to Carl Vallee, Harper's press secretary.
"The Prime Minister's Office is leading by example and has become significantly smaller and less expensive in the past three years," Vallee said Thursday, defending the senior officials making more than $100,000.
"The prime minister's senior team consists of individuals with diverse experience in law, academia, the private sector and the public sector, as well as in their home communities across Canada."
The size of the PMO continues to draw fire from opposition parties as well as public-sector unions, whose members are girding for thousands of layoffs across the country. The March federal budget said 19,200 federal jobs will be eliminated over the next few years.
This week alone, more than 7,500 federal employees received notices that their positions may be "affected" by job cuts. Not all of the notified workers will be laid off, however; many will be shuffled within their units or transferred to another department.
Original Article
Source: ottawa citizen
Author: Jason Fekete
No comments:
Post a Comment