Democracy Gone Astray

Democracy, being a human construct, needs to be thought of as directionality rather than an object. As such, to understand it requires not so much a description of existing structures and/or other related phenomena but a declaration of intentionality.
This blog aims at creating labeled lists of published infringements of such intentionality, of points in time where democracy strays from its intended directionality. In addition to outright infringements, this blog also collects important contemporary information and/or discussions that impact our socio-political landscape.

All the posts here were published in the electronic media – main-stream as well as fringe, and maintain links to the original texts.

[NOTE: Due to changes I haven't caught on time in the blogging software, all of the 'Original Article' links were nullified between September 11, 2012 and December 11, 2012. My apologies.]

Monday, June 13, 2011

With 6,000 jobs on chopping block, watchdog warns of deeper cuts

The Conservative government is planning to chop at least 6,000 jobs over the next three years, even before it draws up a more aggressive plan for erasing Canada’s deficit.

Parliamentary Budget Officer Kevin Page released the figure Monday in a report based on recently released data from Ottawa.

Last week, all departments released “plans and priorities” documents that outline future spending and staffing plans. The PBO combed through the reports to arrive at the tally.

In Monday’s report, the budget office suggests MPs should ask officials why staffing levels are on the way down, while personnel costs are scheduled to rise.

Former Treasury Board president Stockwell Day has previously said Ottawa’s personnel costs are on the rise partly because an ageing workforce is running up higher employee drug plan costs.

The PBO was looking for details on a pledge in the 2010 budget to freeze the government’s operating budget for three years. Yet the savings outlined in these latest government documents are not enough to meet that target, according to the PBO.

Full Article
Source: Globe & Mail 

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