Provincial ministers from across the Atlantic region are joining forces and speaking out against the impact of federal workforce funding cuts.

Minister Chyrstia Freeland recently suggested that the provinces can access the revenue claimed through changes to the capital gains tax to make up for the $625 million shortfall in the recent federal budget, but that’s not sitting well in the region.

In a joint statement, the Atlantic Ministers call that statement “disingenuous” since the Capital Gains funding won’t be available for another year or so.

The programs provided through federal workforce funding were designed to help people including those with disabilities, Indigenous Canadians, women and recent immigrants get the training and support needed to gain meaningful employment.

According to the Atlantic Ministers, many of those employment opportunities, which benefit some 120,000 people and 8,500 businesses and organizations across Atlantic Canada, are now in jeopardy thanks to the cuts.

Minister Gerry Byrne has called a meeting of all his provincial and territorial counterparts on the matter this afternoon.