Federal government job loss numbers after announced budget cuts are moving targets, but union sources say hundreds of positions are on the line at Agriculture Canada and affiliated agencies.
The Public Service Alliance of Canada agriculture union says as many as 100 food inspector positions are being cut from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency as Ottawa begins to reveal the results of the March 29 budget plan to cut more than $5 billion from the deficit.
Union president Bob Kingston also said April 11 that the department plans to get rid of its environmental services branch that amalgamated the Prairie Farm Rehabilitation Agency with environment several years ago.
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The remnants of the environmental services branch will be rolled into the department’s research branch that also is expected to take some staffing hits.
“The numbers that are coming out are devastating,” Kingston said in an interview. “We are still sorting through them.”
Early reports are that as many as 842 Agriculture Canada employees could lose their jobs over the next three years of cuts.
Huge job losses at Health Canada also could affect the Pest Management Regulatory Agency, although final numbers are not yet available.
PSAC says food safety could be one of the budget cut casualties with food inspector position cuts.
“This decision will make the inspector shortage worse, not better,” Kingston said in a PSAC statement.
“And because the government has failed to consult its own inspectors, they are cutting food safety blindly with little understanding of the consequences.”
New Democratic Party agriculture critic Malcolm Allen said the CFIA job loss could be more than 300, including inspectors and technicians.
“These cuts are just another scary reminder that Conservatives care more about funding their backwards priorities rather than protecting Canadians’ safety and trust in the food industry,” he said.
Agriculture Canada has not made a public statement about cuts that it expects, but on April 11 agriculture minister Gerry Ritz issued a statement that said the cuts are part of a transformation to a more efficient public sector.
He said the health and safety of Canadians through the food system will not be affected.
“Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency are transforming the way they do business and changes being announced today will reduce barriers to growth and help spur the long-term economic prosperity of our agriculture and food industry,” he said.
It is agriculture’s contribution to budget balancing, and farmer support will continue.
“Our new streamlined approach will provide the sector with efficiently and effectively delivered programs that will meet the priorities of farmers and the industry,” he said in the statement.
With a projected 10 percent cut in Agriculture Canada funding, the department will be one of the hardest hit within the federal bureaucracy over the next three years.
“Our savings are fair, balanced and moderate and will be implemented over a number of years,” said Ritz.
