The specter of the Liberals' 1995 budget cuts looms over public sector unions as Prime Minister Mark Carney prepares to present his first budget on Tuesday.
The number of federal civil servants has grown significantly over the past two decades under both Conservative and Liberal governments, and the number of federal bureaucrats has surpassed pre-pandemic peaks.
Finance Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne, who will present the Carney government's first budget on Tuesday, suggested the size of the federal workforce is not “sustainable.”
But federal union leaders who spoke to Global News say there is resistance to cuts to government services, arguing that cutting jobs is not the most effective way to rein in the government's operating budget.
“Last year, at the end of the (Justin) Trudeau administration, we're still seeing a pattern where the resources and support that public servants need to do their jobs properly are being stripped away in the name of cost containment… And as they're stripped of those resources and support, the public sector is being blamed for inefficiency,” Nathan Prieur, president of the Canadian Association of Professional Employees, said in an interview.
“And it is Canadians who ultimately suffer the consequences.”
Under Trudeau, the Liberals enjoyed a period of relative labor peace after public sector unions battled Stephen Harper's Conservatives over spending overhauls and job cuts. The Trudeau Liberals also enjoyed the support of major private sector unions during their time in office.
That could change, Prieur agreed, if the Carney government aggressively cuts public sector spending.
According to a recent report from the Parliamentary Budget Office, the number of full-time equivalent positions in the federal public service was approximately 441,000 in the 2023-24 financial year, down from a pre-pandemic peak of 382,000 in 2019-20.
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The term “full-time equivalent,” or FTE, does not refer to the actual number of people in government employment, but to a calculation based on assigned hours of work.
While federal departments expect the number of full-time employees to decline to 415,000 in 2027-28, the PBO noted that projections tend to be “revised upward,” meaning departments don't always find the savings they expect in their planning reports.
Carney's message to Canadian voters last April included calls to get federal spending under control, signaling restraint after years of Liberal deficit spending under Trudeau.
Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre vowed before the election to cut the public service, arguing that the federal bureaucracy had grown too large under Trudeau's Liberals. The election saw Poilievre lose his Ottawa district, home to many government employees.
Carney's platform included a promise to balance the federal operating budget by 2028 and adjust “the way (the government) conducts itself to best take advantage of (Canada's) talented public service and new technologies.” In July, Carney also asked his ministers to submit plans to cut department spending by 15 percent over the next three years.
Sharon DeSouza, president of the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC), is concerned that Carney's approach could lead to layoffs of tens of thousands of public sector workers, harming local economies as well as federal programs.
“There are always savings, don't get me wrong, there are ways to do things better and smarter, but we can't look at it from a one-size-fits-all approach,” DeSouza said.
“We have to look at each department, the work they do and how to ensure that work continues.”
Carney's choice of Canada's top bureaucrat, Michael Sabia, an experienced man who has worked at the highest levels of both the private and public sectors, has done little to assuage these concerns. Sabia, who previously served
Canada's Deputy Minister of Finance during the Trudeau years publicly expressed his desire for cultural change in the public service.
Last month, Carney talked about saving money on public sector wages through “attrition” – rather than filling positions left behind by workers seeking other opportunities or retiring.
But on Wednesday, Finance Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne told a news conference that Canadians faced “headwinds” and must be prepared to make “tough choices.”
He explained that government processes need to be improved, better technology needs to be used, and some things will have to be combined. He said the changes would be accompanied by a “workforce adjustment.”
“But you do it compassionately, you do it with integrity, you do it intelligently. And I think that's what Canadians expect from us and that's what we're going to deliver to Canada,” he said.
According to a recent analysis by the Canadian Center for Policy Alternatives (CCPA), the largest job cuts are expected in the CRA, Employment and Social Development, and Citizenship and Immigration departments.
Sean O'Reilly, president of the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada (PIPSC), said his union has ideas on how the government can cut operating costs without cutting public employees from the workforce, but that the government has yet to consult with his organization.
“The services that our members provide to Canadians, that all public servants provide, are key to their health, safety and well-being. And I am concerned that any impact on the public service impacts services to Canadians,” O'Reilly said.
With a file from Global's Gillian Piper and Grace Huntley.
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