In my Member’s statement I talked about morale and the $135 million in budget reductions. Since the announcement has come out

from the Premier that there will be $135 million in reductions and staff cuts, we have all had staff come to us and ask us, “Is my job going to be gone tomorrow? Do I need to start looking for another job?” As indicated in my statement, I think cutting jobs is the last thing we should be doing. It should be the last course of action with respect to bringing our spending in line.

I'd like to ask the Premier to commit to work with staff and to assure them that if any job cuts do occur, they will be as a last resort, and that we as the government will make every reasonable effort to reduce our spending without cutting jobs.