PARLIAMENT HILL—The Harper government has targeted $720-million worth of program and operating cuts over the next year for a range of areas that include sensitive agencies such as the federal nuclear safety watchdog, the public health agency, another agency that tracks hazardous materials and an as yet unexplained 20 per-cent reduction in the budget for Environment Canada.

The cuts are buried in 519 pages of main spending estimates Treasury Board President Tony Clement (Muskoka-Parry Sound, Ont.) tabled along with the federal budget and are among a total of $10.4-billion in spending reductions, most of which are a reflection of recession-fighting infrastructure programs coming to an end.

The secretariat that supports the Treasury Board Cabinet Committee provided The Hill Times with a breakout summary of the total reduction in spending due to program cuts or reductions, separate from the spending reductions that will be due to the lapse of infrastructure programs.

The figure prompted opposition MPs on Tuesday to renew calls on the government to provide more detail on the spending cuts it has already set for the coming fiscal year—as well as $4-billion in annual cuts that were promised in the budget.

“Where’s the plan?” NDP MP Peggy Nash (Parkdale-High Park, Ont.) told The Hill Times.

Anabel Lindlad, a senior communications adviser with the Treasury Board Secretariat, said in an email that “the main estimates present levels of planned spending for activities approved by government.” She added: “They do not provide information on those activities or programs that have not been approved. However, as noted in the 2011-12 main estimates, program and operating votes have decreased by about $720-million compared to the 2010-11 main estimates.”

Almost all of the government’s security and public safety programs are increasing either modestly or substantially, including a 21 per cent hike in spending for the Correctional Service to $2.98-billion. The Canada Border Services Agency is receiving a 14 per cent increase, to $1.84-billion, and the Office of the Correctional Investigator, responsible for hearing complaints from offenders, is going up by 21 per cent, to $4.3-million.

But spending by the Department of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness is being reduced by 5.9 per cent to $414.6-million. The budget of the Security Intelligence Review Committee, which monitors the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, is set to increase by only 0.5 per cent, while the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Public Complaints Commission will receive a spending increase of only 0.4 per cent.

The National Research Council will have its spending cut by 7.8 per cent to $690,836,000. Spending by the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission is set to drop by 10 per cent to $118,264,000. A spokesman at the commission said specified funding to deal with nuclear licence fee exemptions for hospitals and university and risk mitigation after the 9/11 terrorist attacks is ending. But the spokesman told The Hill Times: “The [commission] is currently working with the government to ensure that it is adequately funded to meet its mandate.”

Opposition MPs said the total amount of spending reductions for programs and services over the next year, which appeared in the spending estimates with otherwise no specific announcements of details from the government, demonstrate the government should consult publicly over its wider spending cuts planned for next year and subsequent years.

“They say they are going to find all of these cuts in a review, but we don’t have a plan in terms of what their goal is. It sounded like the $4-billion a year was just pulled out of thin air," Ms. Nash, her party’s finance critic, said. "If there was that much money to be saved, why didn’t the Conservatives save it before? They’ve been the ones in office, supposedly managing these programs, so what we want to hear is where is the plan, how is this going to affect the services and programs that Canadians need? Is their safety going to be affected? Is our environment going to be affected, is food safety, health?”

Liberal MP Scott Brison (Kings-Hants, N.S.), his party's finance critic, said the selection of many institutions and programs for cuts suggests Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s (Calgary Southwest, Alta.) government may be focusing the reductions along political lines, rather than supporting programs that deserve merit.

“We recognize the need for expenditure review and fiscal restraint, but we believe that these decisions need to based on fact and evidence, not on ideology and politics,” Mr. Brison said.

The Hazardous Materials Information Review Commission is targeted for a 20 per-cent reduction in its spending, to $4.5-million from $4.7-million. Among the other agencies where cuts are planned, the Public Health Agency of Canada is set to have its spending cut by 8.2 per cent to $622-million.

tnaumetz@hilltimes.com
The Hill Times