Labour Congress president warns of ‘dangerous’ federal public service cuts

The Canadian Labour Congress is warning that Prime Minister Mark Carney’s push for deep government spending cuts could devastate public services and put thousands of jobs at risk.

CLC president Bea Bruske issued a statement criticizing the federal directive for cabinet ministers to find major operational savings, up to 15 per cent in some departments, calling it “a dangerous step in the wrong direction.”

Bruske said more than 10,000 federal public service jobs have already been lost in the past year, with thousands more workers left in limbo. She warned the new round of proposed cuts risks becoming the largest downsizing of the federal workforce in decades, even as the government moves ahead with major defence spending and tax cuts benefiting high earners.

“Canada’s unions will not sit idly while workers and public services are put at risk,” Bruske said, comparing the current plan to the deep austerity measures of Paul Martin’s 1995 budget. She said those cuts weakened health care, housing and employment insurance programs — problems Canadians are still dealing with today.

Bruske also raised concerns about the timing, arguing the government should bolster public services in the face of economic instability triggered by former U.S. President Donald Trump’s new trade war, which she said threatens Canadian jobs in manufacturing, steel, aluminum and the supply chain.