Preparations are underway for the influx of 110 new employees in Melville, Sask., after the federal government transferred the administration of the Agri-Stability program to the Saskatchewan government.
The program will be delivered from Melville by 2010 and mayor Walter Streelasky said his city is getting ready.
“There’s a lot of work going on behind the scenes,” he said.
Last week, Agriculture Canada employees in Winnipeg and Regina learned their jobs would be moved to Melville and Kelowna.
The relocation is part of a plan where Saskatchewan and B.C. are assuming delivery of Agri-Stability, a risk management program jointly funded by the provincial and federal governments.
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The transfer is expected to affect 356 employees in Winnipeg and 84 in Regina.
The Regina office will close June 30, 2010, and the Winnipeg office will remain open with fewer staff.
Manitoba will become the only western province that will not administer Agri-Stability, because Alberta already delivers the program through the Agriculture Financial Services Corporation.
Streelasky said the move is great news, but not a surprise. Bob Bjornerud, Saskatchewan’s minister of agriculture, had publicly talked about administering the program from Melville.
“We were informed that this was going to happen,” said Streelasky, who added that Melville is well suited to take on the task.
“We are the head office for the Saskatchewan Crop Insurance. I think it’s a very good fit when Agri-Stability comes and works with Crop Insurance.”
Bob Kingston, national president of the agriculture union in the Public Service Alliance of Canada, said the union was also aware that the move was in the works, but was surprised by the number of job losses in the Winnipeg office.
“As you see by the numbers that the department has put out, Winnipeg is definitely going to feel a big impact,” he said.
Agri-Stability is a shared cost program, which permits a province to take over delivery if it can provide an equivalent program.
The union is concerned that this decision is a political one, which takes one large office in Winnipeg and replaces it with several smaller and less efficient service locations.
“We think the politics takes away from the best use of resources and the best delivery of the program,” Kingston said.
“Essentially, you’ve got the provinces recreating an infrastructure that already exists at the national level.”
Kingston noted that he doesn’t know how many jobs will be relocated to Kelowna, but PSAC is working with Agriculture Canada to ensure that employees find different work within the department in Regina or Winnipeg.
Another option is moving to Melville or Kelowna, to continue their employment with Agri-Stability.
