Civil service relocation won’t help anyone: critics
Posted Apr 30, 2012 11:51:58 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Nova Scotia’s opposition parties say the decision to move nearly 100 civil service jobs out of Halifax is a flawed approach to economic improvement.
The NDP government announced Monday that 93 positions in the Justice, Agriculture and Fisheries departments will be relocated to New Waterford, Truro-Bible Hill and Shelburne County, respectively.
Premier Darrell Dexter says there will be some savings involved in the change, mostly related to travel.
“Rather than travelling from here to there, they will be closer to where they deliver the service,” he said. “Nowadays, with modern communication, you can serve all the province from one place.”
Dexter also said the move will give an economic lift to the rural areas in question – but the opposition parties are disputing the extent of the benefits.
PC party leader Jamie Baillie says he likes the idea, in principle, but says the premier didn’t go far enough.
“Ninety jobs pales in comparison to the 1,600 jobs that have been lost outside Halifax in the last three years,” he said. “I believe the time has come to allocate government jobs in a way that’s fair. Ninety jobs doesn’t meet that test.”
Liberal MLA Geoff MacLellan says shuffling the public sector is not the answer to improving Nova Scotia’s rural economy.
“We need a better business environment with taxes, with red tape, with Nova Scotia Power,” he said. “We need to focus on those initiatives that are going to bring these communities alive in terms of what the regional priorities are for job creation.”
NSGEU president Joan Jessome represents about 75 of the affected workers and says she expects a good portion of them won’t make the move.
“They may not want to move to rural Nova Scotia, to areas where they may not have any family, or they may be bound because they have partners working in the HRM,” she said. “It’s not a matter of the job’s going to go, and they’re going to follow it.”
Jessome said she’s puzzled by the change, saying it’s not clear how – or who – it will help.
“I represent about 7000 civil service members across the province in all departments and there are already a lot of government offices in pretty much every community that you can think of,” she said. “So I can’t imagine the benefit of moving 75 people out of the HRM.”
Baillie says in its present form, the change appears to be purely political.
“Let’s be clear: no new jobs were created in Nova Scotia today,” he said. “A handful of jobs were moved around and people deserve better, including the people of Nova Scotia.”
Justice Minister Ross Landry says anyone who doesn’t want to make the move has several options, including a waiting list for another position, and taking a severance package.
The government first announced its intentions to move civil service jobs out of Halifax in its throne speech in March.
