Liberals backtrack on ditching attrition plan started by PCs

Liberal Leader Dwight Ball on Wednesdaybacktracked on an earlier promiseto abandon anattrition planthat the Tory government outlined in its2015 provincial budget.

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The PC attrition plan would only see eight out of 10 retiring employees replaced from 2015 to 2020, and would result in $300 million in savings.

On Tuesday, Ball had said a Liberal government would not follow through on the attrition plan.

But on Wednesday, while speaking on CBC Radio's CrossTalk program, Ball saidhis party still plans to save $300 million throughattrition,butthey will not honour the PC government's plan to phase out two jobs for every 10 employees who retire.

If indeed someone retires anyone that's working in the system now, their jobs are safe.- Liberal Leader Dwight Ball

"What that would mean is that over the next four years, over a mandate of a Liberal government, we would work with labour, we would work with our front-line workers," said Ball.

"If indeed someone retires anyone that's working in the system now, their jobs are safe."

When asked on how many jobs would be cut as part of the attrition plan, Ball remained coy.

"It's hard to determine what the number would be because the salaries change, some of those would be management positions as an example, not all frontline workers," he said.

"It's hard to put a number on it, because it's a dollar value on it, therefore you know different positions would come with a different dollar amount."

Ball's Liberalshavealso promised to find an additional $380 million in savings over the next four years.

Statements have changed since Tuesday

Ball's statements about seeking savings throughattritionappear to be different from his comments Tuesday.

• 1,420 jobs to be removed from public service by 2020

• Liberals promise $270-million larger deficit

"We're not going to be following their attrition plan. You know, this 10 people [out], eight back in, that's not the way we do business," Ball said at a campaign stop on Tuesday.

Ball also said Tuesdaythat he was planning to look for an alternative and toexamine efficiencies in staffing.

"I don't like those numbers. I don't like those ways of treating our front-line workers," said Ball.

"Where there's opportunities to do the work by a different mechanism, if that's the case, then we would look at that."

Davis calls Ball's plan a'fantasy'

PC Leader Paul Davis, speaking toCBC News Wednesday,hadstrong words for Ball's budgetplan, saying thathe doesn't understand where the $380 million dollars in spending cuts will come from if they're not coming from job losses.

"Their plan is inconceivable, they cannot do what they say they're going to do, it's a fantasy plan, it's magical," said Davis.

"There's no way they can reduce $400 million without cutting jobs. Jobs are 70 per cent of the cost of government. You can't do it."

Davis said the spending cut promises remind him of what happened when the Liberals cut jobs in the 1990s.

Their plan is inconceivable, they cannot do what they say they're going to do, it's a fantasy plan, it's magical.- PC Leader Paul Davis

"People packed up their cars, they packed up their trucks, they boarded up their homes, and they headed to the mainland," he said.

"That's what willhappen if they get elected on Nov. 30."

Cuts can come from areas other than jobs, says Ball

Although Davis believes that there's no way that Ball can meet his plans to reduce spending without cutting jobs, Ball said no should pay attention to Davis.

"When we talk about reducing government waste, which is what he is talking about here, we are not talking about individuals, we are not talking about cutting jobs, that's not the case at all," said Ball.

"This is about making better decisions, it's about better management, it's about putting in place a new public tendering way of doing business in our province so we get best value for money, it's about less overruns in projects right now, it's just about doing things better."

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