Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thank you, colleagues.
One hundred thirty-five affected positions is not a last resort, in my estimation. I’m left feeling that the government has acted in a high-handed manner: job cuts already in place and funding for programs deleted as of April 1, well before the budget is approved.
The following quote appeared in a northern newspaper last month, and I have to agree with it: “It” — job cuts — “would imply that the decision-making process is being done outside of the formal budget process.”
Yes, it was only notification of possible job losses, but the public interprets such actions to mean that the budget is final, that it’s a done deal, even before we debate it in the House. There’s a saying that perception is nine-tenths of the law, and the government would be well advised to remember that in the future.