Public sector cuts? There are other problems, says N.L. labour president

Sunday was a far more relaxed day on the campaign trail, as Liberal Leader Andrew Furey took a break at home before packing up to leave for Labrador.

NDP Leader Alison Coffin continued campaign efforts through St. John's, including in her own district of St. John's East-Quidi Vidi. Coffin is expected to make policy announcements on Monday.

PC Leader Ches Crosbiemade the rounds through grocery stores in the St. John's area and then hit his district of Windsor Lake. Crosbie will have two announcements on Monday on the west coast of the island.

Here's the weekend's election notebook.

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N.L.'s public sector

Newfoundland and Labrador has the highest number of public sector workers per 1,000 people among the Atlantic provinces, according to an Atlantic Institute for Market Studies report from 2019.

But those numbers don't necessarily mean the province is shoveling out more money forthat sector.

Mary Shortall, president of the Newfoundland and Labrador Federation of Labour, said, in fact, wages for public sector employees in this province are among the lowest in Atlantic Canada.

As the campaign rolls on, manyare still concerned about how government will claw its way back into the black as it stares down a massive financial crisis.

On Friday, PC Leader Ches Crosbie said he's the man for the job inpressing Ottawa for financial help,and while that may get Newfoundland and Labrador back on its feet, he said it's only one piece to the puzzle. This is the latest edition of the Election Notebook.

More problems than public sector: Shortall

Nobody other than the province's economic recovery team knows for sure what kind of recommendations are coming in the report fromMoya Greene and her team, butsome, including Crosbieand NDP Leader Alison Coffin, believe there may be cuts coming to the province's public sector in order to stop the financial bleeding.

For every 1,000 people, Newfoundland and Labrador has 109 public sector workers. Nova Scotia has 99, Prince Edward Island has 95 and New Brunswick has 85.

But Shortall said cutting back on the public sector is not the right move.

"The money that we spend on public services, to provide those services to all the people who need them right across our province, we don't spend any more or any less than the average in Canada as a percentage of our overall spending," Shortall told CBC News.

"Those public sector workers provide those services that people need. Perhaps if we diversified our economy, we dealt with the issue of high unemployment and under employment, if we dealt with the low wages 50,000 people in this province make less than $15 an hour, which is a poverty wage, the majority of them are women if you look at all those issues there's a big proportion."

Watch Mary Shortall's full interview with Here &Now:

N.L. labour president says public sector wages among lowest in Atlantic Canada

4 years ago

Duration 12:25

Newfoundland and Labrador Federation of Labour President Mary Shortall says there are other issues that need to be addressed besides the public sector to help the province through its financial crisis.

Members of the economic recovery team are sworn to secrecy, having signed a non-disclosure agreement with the province ahead of getting to work. Opposition parties have been vocal about the release of the GreeneReport ahead of the election call, wanting the people of the province to base their voting decisions on the kind of future Premier Andrew Furey has in store if he chooses to go with the recovery team's recommendations.

Shortallwas a part of that team, but stepped down earlier this month,citing concerns over lack of collaboration or transparency.

Fureysays the report has yet to be written, with the first installation due by the end of February and the final report to be completedbyApril 30.

Still, Shortall said there are more problems outside of the public sector that should be addressed to put the province back on track.

"It's not just about the public sector and their wages. When you look at their wages in the public sector, we've done a comparison with the Atlantic region and the rest of Canada. We're among the lowest, not among the highest," she said.

"How about then, we talk about a more holistic approach to resolving the economiccrisis that involves getting people back to work, improving the public services here, investing in that infrastructure?... Why don't we put some increases to the minimum wage, for example, to put more money in people's pockets so that our young workers are not leaving the province, and look at a real job strategydown the road that will help us in all these new tech jobs and new jobs in theprivate sector jobs that we are talking about that are really important?"

In other news...

The PCs are looking to secure votes from rotational workers, who over the last yearhave liveddisrupted lives in comparison with those who can and have been working from home.

In a media release on Saturday, Chris Tibbs, PC candidate for Grand Falls-Windsor-Buchans,saida short election call in the middle of winter "disenfranchises rotational workers," and accusedFurey of making things difficult given the short campaign period for workers to send in special ballots.

"I encourage everyone to use their voice in the democratic process. This election is the most consequential in Newfoundland and Labrador's history and I encourage everyone to vote early, if they can, to ensure their vote is counted,"said Tibbsin the media release.

Elsewhere, the PC leader himselfwas back on the campaign trail in the province's capital, visiting the St. John's Farmers' Market,which wasn't too happy with visits from the Liberals and NDPlast week, with organizers saying it's a venue that remains unpartisan.

Crosbie told reporters he wasn't there on official business on Saturday, but was "circulating around and talking to some of the vendors," which, he added, he does on most Saturdays. Crosbie also said he checked with the venue ahead of his arrival.

NDP Leader Alison Coffin was also back campaigning inSt. John's, canvassing with candidates in the area. The NDP also confirmed its final list of candidates for the Feb. 13 election day which remains at 33, a big jump from its slate in the 2019 general election, which hadonly 14.

Coffin told CBC News she's a little disappointed by not reaching the full list of 40.

"But we are in the middle of a pandemic, we've had a snap election and we've had a major snowstorm," she said.

"So it's certainly been an impediment to recruiting candidates.".

Young and old

Furey was campaigning in the Burin area Saturday, and wasn't made available to CBCfor questions.

The party did, however, send a media release with its intentions to "address the gap" between young people and older adults, which the party says is attributed to family mobility, single-family homes and an increase in seniors living in assisted living and long-term care homes.

The media release said the Liberals areplanning "intergenerational programs to increase interaction between young and older Newfoundlanders and Labradorians for their mutual benefit."

Liberal candidate Tom Osborne, campaigning in Waterford Valley, was available for comment.

"Any time you put youth with our seniors you see a skip in the step of our seniors, and youth always can learn from our seniors," he said. "So it's a win-win."

According to the media release, programs will be funded through the Seniors Social Inclusion Initiative and by partnering with care providers, community groups and educational institutions.

A new week

On Monday, Furey will be touring Labrador, where the party'scandidate in the largely Indigenous Torngat Mountainsdistrict hasdrawn criticismfor not actually living in the district.

Coffin will have policy announcements in St. John's.

Crosbie will be on the island's west coast of the island for policy announcements in Stephenville and another at at the site of the new Corner Brook regional hospital.He will then meet workersat Corner Brook Pulp and Paper, followed by knocking on doors in the district with candidate Tom Stewart.

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