Federal public service union says Carney needs to invest in employees

We brought in Nathan Prier from the Canadian Association of Professional Employees to share his thoughts about what comes next.

The dust has settled on the 45th federal election and the Liberals will remain in power with a minority government and CTV News Ottawa looks into what that means for the federal public service.

Prime Minister Mark Carney has made new commitments to Canadians that require public servants to make them happen, Nathan Prier, president of the Canadian Association of Professional Employees (CAPE) , told CTV Morning Live Thursday.

“The public servants have been blamed for the deficit, but they’re wrong. So, proportionally the amount that we spend on public servants on the operating budget for the government is actually lower than it was under (former prime minister Stephen) Harper right now,” Prier said.

“The reason that there are more public servants, the reason that the public sector is more expensive right now is because they’ve delivered major new programs because of the pandemic.”

Prier notes that Carney needs to invest in federal public servants.

He says that investing in public servants is the way to tackle the economic threat associated with U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs on Canadian goods. He notes that a strong government response needs people to do the job.

When it comes to the Liberal government’s plans to cut federal public servants, Prier remains optimistic, citing a new leader.

“He seems to be pretty serious about public sector reform,” he said.

The Liberal Party platform promised the party was “committed to capping, not cutting” public service jobs, and the government would launch a “comprehensive review of government spending in order to increase the federal government’s productivity.”

Instead of cutting public servant jobs, Prier recommends reducing outsourcing costs, such as signing contracts with Deloitte and McKenzie.

“That’s the silliest way to reduce costs. You just end up spending more money on consultants,” he added.

Prier says that Carney needs to give remote work rights, bring top talent back and stop the arbitrary cuts.

How much leeway does the new prime minister have with unions?

Carney has “lots of leeway,” Prier says.

“We’re looking forward to collaborating on the massive commitments that he’s just made. He said he’s going to make big investments in healthcare, in housing, (and) in all this building infrastructure,” he said. “And we’re going to make sure that he’s got the best people at the table, and that want to stay in the federal government.”

He adds that federal public servants will need a safety net, as they will be impacted by the U.S. tariffs.

“This is a great time for Canada to really pivot its relationship with the U.S. and to find new trading partners,” Prier added.

The 2024 federal budget outlined plans to reduce 5,000 public service jobs through attrition over four years. In 2024, there were 367,772 employees in the federal public service, according to the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat.