Ottawa Mayor Mark Sutcliffe said it is still early to tell how the
public service cuts announced in Tuesday’s federal budget
will impact the city but he will have more to say after he learns
more details
.
Speaking to reporters on Tuesday afternoon, Sutcliffe said he is thinking about families and community members who will be
impacted by the cuts
and the uncertainty.
“Let’s remember these are members of our community who are facing the loss of their livelihood,” he said.
Sutcliffe’s comments came less than an hour after the federal budget was tabled in the House of Commons, where it was announced the public service will lose around 40,000 jobs from its peak in 2023-24.
This is about a 10 per cent reduction of the public service’s headcount, and the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives projected that this could mean a reduction of 15,300 public service jobs in the National Capital Region alone.
Sutcliffe said he wants the federal government to come up with a transition plan for these workers, and to provide details about how much of these jobs will be lost through attrition and early retirement instead of cuts.
“The impact does not have to be enormous if we’re working together on a plan for those employees, as there were during other periods of transition in the public service,” he said.
“If there are supports in place to retrain those workers and launch new careers, if there are other investments that are being made locally that will lead to those people transitioning to different jobs, those kinds of things will minimize the impact.
“But it’s still a significant number.”
The mayor added he’s raised these concerns to Prime Minister Mark Carney before, and he will continue to have those conversations with federal officials.
This includes conversations about diversifying Ottawa’s economy, he said.
Last week, Sutcliffe and Invest Ottawa CEO Sonya Shorey made a pitch to make Ottawa-Gatineau a hub for innovation, investment and jobs for the defence sector.
“I think we need the support of the federal government and the collaboration of the federal government on a plan as we continue to transition Ottawa’s economy and diversify Ottawa’s economy,” Sutcliffe told reporters.
“If the federal government supports us on that and some of the investments that they’re making in defence spending go towards companies in Ottawa, that will help with the transition.”
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