Ottawa

The quiet cuts

The RCMP will close forensic labs in Halifax, Winnipeg and Regina. The consulate in Buffalo will be closed. The British Columbia government is unhappy with the planned closure of a Canadian Coast Guard station in Kitsilano. And a team of pollution monitors will be cut.

Meanwhile, the Parliamentary Budget Officer continues his quest for greater clarity.

Late last week, the government sent parliamentary budget officer Kevin Page a letter refusing to release details of budget cuts. Page said the letter, which his office will publish online today, cites privacy provisions in union contracts to say details cannot be released until long after the budget has been voted on.

Page said those same unions have told him they have no problem with details of cuts being released as long as individuals are not named. Page is now working on a public response letter. “My view is that parliamentarians absolutely need this information sooner rather than later,” Page said Monday in an interview with The Chronicle Herald. “It’s just not right for public servants or even the government to say ‘We can’t give it to you.’”

Mr. Page reports that if include planned cuts from 2010 to the present, the Harper government is reducing spending by $10.8 billion and eliminating 26,800 jobs.

See previously: The quiet cuts

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