Veterans Affairs staff concerned
OTTAWA — While veterans and the public were being assured two years ago that budget cuts would not affect services at Veterans Affairs Canada, internal documents show departmental officials weren’t sure how they would manage with fewer offices and staff.
The Conservative government ordered billions of dollars in spending cuts across all departments in its March 2012 federal budget, but did not reveal at that time it was moving to close nine Veterans Affairs offices and eliminate more than 800 positions.
Even Veterans Affairs employees were surprised and, according to an April 4, 2012, email between senior managers David Robinson and Mary Chaput, “in all cases” disappointed they weren’t given advance notice.
The nine offices, which officially closed amid angry protests from veterans and unions just last month, were located in Kelowna and Prince George, B.C.; Saskatoon; Brandon, Man.; Thunder Bay and Windsor, Ont.; Sydney, N.S.; Charlottetown, P.E.I.; and Corner Brook, N.L.
Documents obtained by Postmedia News show the government deployed a carefully crafted communications strategy two years ago to try to douse surprise and outrage as news of the closures and layoffs spread.
Bureaucrats were instructed to provide pre-approved, cookiecutter responses as requests for information came in, assuring the public the government was still committed to helping veterans and indicating that service would actually increase.
“By making greater use of new technologies, reducing the number of hands involved in our decision-making processes and eliminating routine administrative and public-servant-to-public-servant jobs, we will improve our service to veterans,” the bureaucrats were to say.
The department and government, led by Veterans Affairs Minister Julian Fantino, continue to voice many of the same messages used then.
Yet separate documents show senior managers were actually still grappling with the details.
“Employees and their managers share a responsibility to transform the way we do business in all parts of the organizations,” reads a document in reference to how the department could provide the same level of service with 800 fewer employees.
“Units will need to look at what they can do differently and what they can stop doing.”
Senior managers also said that while the number of caseloads being managed by the department may go down, “the complexity of cases we manage will likely go up.”
The documents highlight the degree to which the government and Veterans Affairs are counting on technology to make up the difference in staff numbers and regional offices.
The Conservative government this week announced $2.1 million in new funding to improve the online system.