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  • I do not remember a single part of the Liberal election platform that said "We won't cut funding in public services". The only thing I can remember being exclusively off the table were cuts to Provincial transfers.

    It would be nice if the article cited those promises, but that is the Ottawa Citizen (Post media) for you.

    • Here's the platform.

      We are also committed to capping, not cutting, public service employment. Federal workers deliver essential services to Canadians and are critical to helping Canada meet this moment of crisis. As part of our review of spending we will ensure that the size of the federal public service meets the needs of Canadians.

      • I think it is important to read the whole thing and not cherry pick.

        The federal government has been spending too much. There are federal programs and processes that aren’t working as well as they should, and projects that need to be reviewed as we adjust to the priorities of this challenging moment. We need to be efficient and effective in all that we spend, while empowering a world-class, tech-enabled public service.

        A Mark Carney-led government will launch a comprehensive review of government spending in order to increase the federal government’s productivity. This review will focus on clear targets by departments and Crown Corporations with an iterative process that deploys best approaches across the public sector. A portion of these savings will be redeployed to invest in technology and people in order to improve the quality of what the federal government does, such as reducing the time it takes to process an EI payment. Some examples of what the review could focus on:

        Amalgamating service delivery so there is one point of access for Canadians in how they interact with government programs, that meets the customer service standards we have come to expect in a digital enabled economy.

        Consolidating grants and contributions that serve similar purposes and are delivered to the same organizations across multiple departments, increasing impact.

        Better leveraging technology to improve the automation of routine tasks and inquiries from the public and reducing the need for additional hiring. Significantly reducing reliance on external consultants, while improving the capacity of the public service to hire expertise in-house.

        Better managing litigation and contingent liabilities and improving asset management practices.

        Following the initial results of this review, we will institute a permanent process to link spending and outcomes across departments and continuous improvement in spending control. We will focus performance on a smaller and clearer set of things that matter to real people, such as the number of homes built and how long it takes to get an EI cheque.

        As part of this review, the government will consider where AI can be leveraged to enhance productivity in government. We will look at every new dollar being spent through the lens of how AI and technology can improve service and reduce costs.

        We are also committed to capping, not cutting, public service employment. Federal workers deliver essential services to Canadians and are critical to helping Canada meet this moment of crisis. As part of our review of spending we will ensure that the size of the federal public service meets the needs of Canadians.

        Additionally, recognizing that it’s time to change the way Canada does procurement, we will modernize our defence procurement to ensure our Forces can buy the tools and equipment they need, in a timely way, working with trusted partners.

        As a result of the main investments and savings proposed in this plan, direct program expenses are projected to grow at an average rate of less than 2% per cent per year through 2028-29. This compares to a compound annual growth of nearly 9 percent over the previous decade. This is what spending less, and investing more is all about.

        From the article:

        On July 7, Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne sent letters to ministers asking them to find 15 per cent savings over three years in their departments. He has asked them to come up with savings of 7.5 per cent during the 2026-27 fiscal year, with an additional 2.5 per cent the year after and 5 per cent in 2028-29.

        I am not seeing a promise broken here. The departments are being asked to come up with savings, and those savings are not "Lay off everyone" as is being suggested by the Unions. We currently do not know what each department will look to trim.

    • Here's a direct quote from the PBO on June 5th when asked about the Carney Liberals' planned tripling of the defense budget and simultaneous tax cuts:

      “To balance or to pay for these types of additional spending there would need to be severe cuts to the public service, significant cuts,” Giroux said.

      https://ottawacitizen.com/public-service/carney-spending-public-service-cuts-pbo

      The Liberals' platform explicitly talked about capping the size of the public service, not cutting it. It's frankly ridiculous to pretend they never said this.

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