OTTAWA — Veterans Affairs staff are bracing for as many as 500 job cuts.
The third round of cuts in the department is rumoured to be planned for later this month, though the government will not confirm if this is the case.
The government eliminated 278 full-time positions by the beginning of May but still has 506 more to cut, according to the Union of Veterans Affairs Employees.
Union president Yvan Thauvette said staff expect notices to go out shortly after the House of Commons rises this month or before it resumes in September.
“Most of the time they don’t want questions to be asked, so that’s why they send the letters when the House is not sitting,” he said.
The department has also quietly killed a quarterly performance report card that measured how well services were being delivered. The corporate performance reports also polled veterans on their satisfaction with the department.
The last report went out in November 2011, one month after the government confirmed it was planning to cut more than $200 million from the Veterans Affairs budget.
The department says it still publishes its service standards and an annual performance report each fall. It did not provide a reason for cancelling the quarterly reports, which it described as an internal management tool.
In its last annual report, the department indicated that it had met or was close to meeting all of its targets.
Many of the upcoming cuts will come from eliminating eight regional offices. That plan was previously announced, but will not be completed until February 2014.
In Cape Breton, 14 positions will be cut as the department shuts down its Sydney office.
Charlottetown, where the department is headquartered, could be especially hard hit. It has already lost 73 positions but is in store for a reduction of 159 more, the union says.
A further 42 positions would be cut elsewhere in Atlantic Canada, where 26 positions have already been eliminated. Triple-digit cuts are also planned for Ontario, Quebec and the West.
The department last reported having 3,577 positions at the end of the 2011-2012 fiscal year. The department spent $3.5 billion that year.
The department says it hopes to reduce most of its positions through attrition and voluntary retirements.
“With close to 700 employees eligible to retire in the next two years alone, we are confident that the bulk of our required reductions can be achieved through good human resource management,” said department spokeswoman Janice Summerby.
The government also says fewer staff are needed because there are fewer veterans.
The cuts, particularly to the regional offices, have sparked public resistance. Last month, more than 150 people in Cape Breton protested the closing of the Sydney office.
The government plans to cut a total of 19,200 jobs across all federal departments by 2014.
Original Article
Source: thechronicleherald.ca
Author: PAUL McLEOD
The third round of cuts in the department is rumoured to be planned for later this month, though the government will not confirm if this is the case.
The government eliminated 278 full-time positions by the beginning of May but still has 506 more to cut, according to the Union of Veterans Affairs Employees.
Union president Yvan Thauvette said staff expect notices to go out shortly after the House of Commons rises this month or before it resumes in September.
“Most of the time they don’t want questions to be asked, so that’s why they send the letters when the House is not sitting,” he said.
The department has also quietly killed a quarterly performance report card that measured how well services were being delivered. The corporate performance reports also polled veterans on their satisfaction with the department.
The last report went out in November 2011, one month after the government confirmed it was planning to cut more than $200 million from the Veterans Affairs budget.
The department says it still publishes its service standards and an annual performance report each fall. It did not provide a reason for cancelling the quarterly reports, which it described as an internal management tool.
In its last annual report, the department indicated that it had met or was close to meeting all of its targets.
Many of the upcoming cuts will come from eliminating eight regional offices. That plan was previously announced, but will not be completed until February 2014.
In Cape Breton, 14 positions will be cut as the department shuts down its Sydney office.
Charlottetown, where the department is headquartered, could be especially hard hit. It has already lost 73 positions but is in store for a reduction of 159 more, the union says.
A further 42 positions would be cut elsewhere in Atlantic Canada, where 26 positions have already been eliminated. Triple-digit cuts are also planned for Ontario, Quebec and the West.
The department last reported having 3,577 positions at the end of the 2011-2012 fiscal year. The department spent $3.5 billion that year.
The department says it hopes to reduce most of its positions through attrition and voluntary retirements.
“With close to 700 employees eligible to retire in the next two years alone, we are confident that the bulk of our required reductions can be achieved through good human resource management,” said department spokeswoman Janice Summerby.
The government also says fewer staff are needed because there are fewer veterans.
The cuts, particularly to the regional offices, have sparked public resistance. Last month, more than 150 people in Cape Breton protested the closing of the Sydney office.
The government plans to cut a total of 19,200 jobs across all federal departments by 2014.
Original Article
Source: thechronicleherald.ca
Author: PAUL McLEOD
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