After having the report in their hands since December of 2016 the government decided to release the $740,000 KPMG Fiscal Performance Review on the eve of the house opening for the fall session.

The report is hundreds of pages long but one of the major recommendations is a reduction in the provincial workforce of approximately 8%.

“Our government believes that over the next three years, it is realistic to leverage a number of initiatives including operational efficiencies, alternative service delivery and attrition to decrease the size of the civil service by eight percent in a manner that does not impact the services and outcomes Manitobans expect and rely on,” said Finance Minister Cameron Friesen.  “We believe this approach is reasonable and responsible and is consistent with experiences many are undergoing in the private sector.”

So far, since coming into power in 2016, the conservative government has already seen a reduction of the civil service of about 5%. Friesen says that 8% more staff or approximately 1200 positions will be eliminated over the next three years.

Members of the opposition are not happy with the timing of the report before the house opens

“This is a cynical ploy to drop this report on the eve of a new session,” finance critic James Allum said.

KPMG also produced a second report that the government says they are willing to release after the current changes to healthcare are implemented. The Health-Care Sustainability and Innovation Review will be ready to be released by May 31, 2018.

LINK  |  Read the report

-News 4-

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