The province’s finance minister is making no apologies for taking what he calls a different and balanced approach to reducing the deficit.

Public sector workers represented by NAPE have ratified an extension to their current contract. That means no layoff provisions for at least another two years. The Fall Fiscal Update showed that revenue for the province has dropped by about $392-million, contributing to the ballooning of the deficit to about $943-million—up from what was $575-million on Budget Day.

Tom Osborne says government has had great success through reducing the size of the public service within core government.

He adds that in 2015, the number of employees in core government was well over 9,000 and they’ve reduced that number by over 900 positions within the departments – not including their agencies, boards and commissions.

Osborne claims that right now, within the departments of core government, they’re essentially back to what employment numbers were in 2005.

Government Still Looking for Solution to Ballooning Deficit

When asked how government would slash away at the deficit without public sector layoffs for at least the next two years, Osborne says the exchange of information has been ongoing and processes put in place so they can focus on agencies, boards and commissions as they have with core government.

He says the approach they have taken with core government was not to shock the delivery of public services – it’s a gradual reduction in the size of the public service, however, a notable one within departments. If they can achieve that in their agencies, boards and commissions as well, Osborne claims they will see a much greater reduction in the size of the overall public service.

Government focused on attrition. The reason for that Osborne says, is because if 1,000 people were laid off while the economy is still trying to rebound – and half of those people left the province, the “bumping process” takes months, and in some cases a year or more.

Osborne believes that can lead to disruptions in the delivery of public service and create uncertainty in the economy.

The finance minister says that way, the person who ends up out the door is the youngest of the province’s public service, who then take their family, spouses and children and they leave the province – something he says they’ve seen previously.

Osborne is taking what he calls a balanced approach, and an approach he won’t be apologizing for.

Osborne Reflects on ‘Productive’ Talks with Most Other Unions

Meanwhile, Osborne says government has had very productive talks with other unions on collective agreements.

Some of the unions were waiting for the ratification process with NAPE to wrap up before moving forward, and Osborne says they put talks on hold out of respect to everybody.

Now that it’s done, he looks forward to getting back to work.

Dialogue with other unions will continue, with the exception for CUPE, who Osborne says has served notice, and they’ll go through that process too.

However, he wouldn’t say much more about it.

Osborne says he does not negotiate in public, and it’s up to the unions to dialogue with their members as to when they’re sitting at the table and what the issues are.

The finance minister says overall, it’s been a very positive experience… with just about every union.