Public sector workers in Ottawa brace for bad news in the federal budget

Federal public servants are anxiously waiting to see what’s included in Prime Minister Mark Carney’s first federal budget. CTV’s Austin Lee reports.

With the clock ticking down to the release of Mark Carney’s first federal budget as prime minister, no city is watching closer than Ottawa.

“Definitely some cuts, it seems like, for the government at the federal level. I think the writing was on the wall before the election on that,” said Chris Bazos, a public sector worker in the nation’s capital.

“I don’t know what the severity is going to be. We have no real idea.”

Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne was in Saint-Tite, Que. Monday, keeping alive a pre-budget tradition of buying new shoes, where he reiterated the government’s promise to deliver “generational investments” in the budget.

“We’re moving from reliance to resilience, from uncertainty to prosperity. We’re going to do the kinds of things that will make this country stronger,” he said. “Everyone will see themselves in that budget.”

Champagne also says there will be “no surprises” when he tables the budget Tuesday.

His comments come nearly a week after he said the government needs to “bring back the civil service to a sustainable level”, pointing to pre-pandemic levels.

Champagne’s comments then sparked concern from the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC), warning that could lead to 70,000 jobs cut from the public service.

Carney has described the budget as one of “austerity” and “investment”, but PSAC argues, public service workers are needed to deliver on those promises.

“I truly believe that this vision that the prime minister has, and the government has, is not going to be fulfilled unless it has those strong public services,” said PSAC National President Sharon DeSousa.

“I think [the government] is going to shoot itself in the foot if it doesn’t have that infrastructure in place.”

For some government workers, layoffs are nothing new. Still, the prospect of widespread cuts has many on edge.

“I hope the cuts aren’t as severe. I went through the 2012 workforce adjustments, so I hope they’re not as severe as that,” said Steve Partridge, a public sector worker in Ottawa.

“From what I’ve heard, that’s not going to be the case, but we’ll see tomorrow. Like everybody else, I’m just waiting patiently to see what’s in the budget tomorrow.”

As workers wait to see which departments could be impacted by job cuts, some economists say they may have to wait beyond Tuesday.

“Budgets are ‘good news’ documents. That’s usually how governments want to spin them, the measures they are taking to help Canadians,” said David Macdonald, Senior Economist at the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.

“You generally don’t include in those documents the bad news, which is how you are paying for those new investments.”

Macdonald adds even the prospect of layoffs within in the public sector could have an impact on the local Ottawa economy.

“Folks may not be laid off, but they may be concerned that they will be laid off and so, as a result, they’ll just spend a lot less on the local economy,” he said.

“They may keep those dollars in a savings account instead of spending them with local businesses, going out to eat, and ordering local services.”

The budget will be released at 4 p.m. ET and with the Liberals holding a minority government, they will need support from some opposition members of parliament for the budget to pass.

If the budget does not garner that support, Canadians could be heading back to the polls for another federal election.

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