The upside of downsizing

Gatineau, it seems, was the place to be during the Conservative government’s downsizing of the public service in this region.

The public service in the National Capital Region grew gangbusters in the 2000s, peaking in 2011 with 116,357 people working on both sides of the Ottawa River — 27,051 in Gatineau and 89,301 in Ottawa. The number of jobs in Gatineau mushroomed by 59 per cent between 2000 and 2011, while in Ottawa it increased by 53 per cent.

Then came the 2012 restraint budget. Treasury Board statistics show the axe fell hardest in Ottawa, which lost 10 per cent, or some 8,780, of its public service jobs by 2014. Gatineau’s public service workforce slipped a mere 1.2 per cent, with some 330 jobs eliminated.

It’s also the first time over the decade that Gatineau has 25 per cent of the public service jobs in the capital region, a target that had eluded government for years.

The government has a longstanding policy, dating back to the Trudeau government in the 1970s, that 25 per cent of the public service should be in Gatineau and 75 per cent in Ottawa.

The government struggled for years to reach that ratio, then based on head count. In 2006, MPs had a big debate on whether the ratio should be based on the number of jobs or the square footage of office space leased or owned by the government for employees.

Then-Minister of Public Works and Government Services Michael Fortier announced a plan to reach the 75/25 ratio based on office space rather than head count. At the time, the ratio was 77/23 and the plan was to hit the target 75/25 by 2013.

Public Works officials say that target was hit and surpassed as public servants moved to new Gatineau office towers at 22 Rue Eddy, 455 Boulevard de la Carrière and 30 Rue Victoria. That puts the ratio (based on office space, anyway) slightly out of sync again: with 72 per cent in Ontario and 28 per cent in Quebec. Kathryn May