cost-cutting ideas from n.b. civil servants

8/7/2019 Cost-cutting ideas from N.B. civil servants

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Cut out all out of province travel across all of government. No exceptions. Encouragevideo conferencing/SKYPECut out aH operational Planning Retreats. -Cut out all meals /refreshments for all meetings. Bring your own.Don't supply the Ministers/MLA's with vehicles any more.Don't try to keep all campaign promises. Given the state of the Province people shouldcut you some slack.Listen to your critics.***Wed 12/1/20103:03 PMFirst, I would like to congratulate this government in recognizing that success comeswith "brainstorming in numbers", and with the population of NB being in the 750,000+ vicinity, you should have a good sense of were the people feel we can do a better ~ ,}",'job in cutting down our 8 - 9 Billion dollars in debt. ~. ,""In my opinion tolling our highways is one way that we can provide revenue to the -Province without taking it "only from the pockets" of New Brunswickers.It seems to work in our neighbouring provinces and throughout the US.Why should we pay to visit PEl / NS / USA and give them access to our highways andbridges for free?Secondly, start up the user fee's in our hospitals and clinics, to eliminate thosehypochondriacs, that are taking to much time of our medical staff who are alreadyunder staffed and overworked.***Wed 12/1/2010 3:03 PM "

(Hell Mr. Alward;I am surprised and very impressed with this approach...this is a fantastic way to shownew brunswickers that we actually have a voice. Thank you.I am like many...1 hear about our provincial debt...and worry about the futur for ourchildren...and for me as well. I believe that job stability for many would definitly be animportant contributor to a healthier economy. When people have job security they willbe ready to invest themselves at a higher level...spend in our province and work here.It's a win -win...! can say that myself as well as many of my colleagues have been

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coming back into the careof the Minister. In the end, this would only create more coststo the Province becausewe would again be paying for and a variety of other--. services or that . My only request .is hat the ramifications of these financial ...decisions e taken into accountso hat we can ensure,not only cost-effectiveness, utalso he well-beingof our .*** 8:Wed 12/1/20103:05 PM .

.:,...Goodafternoon-I havea few ideas not sure if they are useful but here t goes-I Iworked n Health or over11111.. n that department A)I could suggest hat a medical """'",consultant be dropped at a salary range of $250,000 per year as these people are ~~generallynot very busyat all, surgical nstrumentscould be sharpened ather than gthrown away and new ones.purchased-thousands of doll~rs saved, and tests ~rdered Iby doctors and drugs prescribed by doctors should be monitored as he elderly In ~"-"particular and get multiple prescriptions of the same drug and patients ,.'..get he same ests2 and3 timesa yearwhen hey onlyneedone. In otherdepartmentssuchas B)PublicSafetyand Petal staff are sent on multiple training courseswhile other ~:!\:departmentshaveno money n their budget or this. Training or staff is essentialandcan be a very demoralizing ssuewhen not all departmentsget to send heir staff on ~training. This nequality n departments egarding raining money s well known n the ...Icivil service.Money should be taken from all the departments hat they haveset aside ~~for training and 1) either divided airly among all departments o train staff or 2) takenfrom the departments hat have money n their budgets or training and used or otherthings. C) n Departmentof SocialDevelopment here is a lot of overpayments hatwere accidentallymade o people on welfare that should be determinedand recoveredthrough income ax returns. Hope hese help!

~** 1;;,'.;'c"."Wed 12/1/20103:05 PM ..-I believe hat any program reeze or cut hasa tendency o affect mostly, he underprivilegedand hose n need of health care. Increasingaxes ends o reduceconsumerspendingand entrepreneurial nvestment. I think that serious considerationshouldbe

~ given o the possibility mplementing tolls" to the provincial our lane highwaynetwork. Not only would this proposalgenerate new revenue o the province'scoffers,but; a portion would come rom non New Brunswickers nd he extra cashwouldcertainly reduce he pain of the obvious reezes& cuts you will no doubt be forced omake n the comingweeks.Thanksand good uck.

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,{A1..~ ,..*** ,.- ?',Wed 12/1/20103:08 PM iV;'11J~c;'";::!"tMr. Premier,I want to congratulate you on your victory to lead us hopefully out of these hardtimes. It will take a real special leader, something we haven't had for many years.I think that this letter you have sent to the people is a real good idea, letting us knowyou are listening.I have only one thought, and it is general, as how to help us with our problems; Thebickering and comparing and general criticism between all the parties should stop andwe should move more into working together in finding the solutions to our problems.Whether the answer comes from the people, another party or you, if it is a good idea,use it. You are the Premier and it is your decision on what path we take. The creditwill go to you, whether it turns out Good or Bad.I am hoping you prove o be a better man than the others. -***Wed 12/1/20103:08 PMCut down the number of blackberries n public serviceBlackberriesare givenout to everyone, know people who work in their officeseverydayand havea blackberry ust sitting on their desk. Not to mention hat work lifebalancecannot be achieved f everyone s responding o their blackberries day andnight.

berriesshouldonly be given o staff who:. Travelmore han 50%of their time. Are required o be on emergency all. Are at a Director evel or higherAdvertising CampaignsPublic nformation campaigns re often very important. (ie immunizationetc). However,television advertising s extremelyexpensive o purchase.Taskdepartments o come upwith more nnovativeand cost-effectiveways o get the message ut (i.e. social media).The only department hat does purchasea substantial amount of television advertisingthat doeswarrant it is Tourismas hey generate a substantialamount of revenue or theprovince.Things ike the Becampaign,public health, secondaryeducation,worksafeNB;while they are all important here are definitely more cost effective ways o deliverthese messages.

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I would suggest putting a "Health Fee" on junk foods. Maybe ten percent on things likepop, chips, chocolate bars, candy, fast food (ie burgers, fries and pizza). That moneycould be dedicated to Health to offset the increasing cost-of health care. If people go toa fast food joint and order milk and salad they wouldn't pay the fee, but if they got abucket of chicken, pizza or a big mac they would pay. People could make a healthydecision and not pay the fee or make an unhealthy decisionand pay he fee - the choicewould be theirs. We cannot force people to eat healthy, but we can make them payextra if they don't.! This could raise hundreds of thou.sands or the health. system! Itmight even encouragepeople o eat healthy.

OAlso here has been lots of talk about raising the HST and you have said you wouldn't, -however if you raised the HST a couple or three points it would bring in millions. To ease ,C,the "pain" you could remove the HSTfrom electricity, home. heati~g oil and natural gas I-that would make people happy. If they want to buy a 100 Inch HIDeftv, they would .'~!'pay, but they wouldn't pay tax to heat their homes! They have a choice on the TV, but ,~;! .",~-~no choice on heating he house. think this would be well received by people. .""""C~Therehas been alk of a tax increase on gasoline. n NBwe have o drive everywhere, .'.i"""'"especially ural NB'ers...so n increase in the gas ax hurts pretty much everyone. . -:~That's t for now thanks or askingpublic servantsor ideas.***Wed 12/1/20103:15 PM .,We havebeen alking about this for yearsat our office. We have to (by law they tell me) Isend some of our well water test results by registered mail to clients (even though wehave to call hem immediately at home when we get the results). The client is aware ofthe results when he gets it by mail since we have called already, and we pay just for our 'I~mall office here, over 500$ a year n registered mail for these water tests, that

,. ,sometimes people don't pick up at all. I'm thinking, if we cancel that requirement (or I2;;legislation), all the regions together, we could easilysave several thousand dollars a year "'f.,;,.c'(Between 5000-10000$). Probably small change for a department ike the Health 1department but if every unit found small things like this, we could be savingquite a bite, :I believe. ,j

-.,.Also, having to buy our supplies from contracts (mandatory) is certainly not saving he -officesome money. We often see hingson sale in local businesses for far cheaper than Iwhat we are asked o pay with contracts ex: urniture (chairs,desks,etc.) I

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everyone has. think a ot of today'spensionersrebetterof than mostof us (at eastmany hat I know). I noticed he proposal o freezesomeof their taxes (property ax?)was a blanket promise.Why not go by need?On ncome ax I think single amilyincomesshould be able o tax split their incomebecauseeveryoneelsealreadycan!Other income can come rom reinstallationof the highway olls. We pay ollseverywhereelsewe go (PEl,NS,New England).Herewe don't visibly,but we pay oreveryone else)using he road, ncluding ruckersand tourists that just pass hrough.Greatdeal or them, not so much or us.

Small ssues;We couldsaveon electricity and refurnishingour offices. haveseenpeoplestill buyingnew office furniture earlier his year, while stuff goes o the SSdepotfor sale, havea deskand cabinets n my office that were old when I started using hem25 yearsago.We shouldcancelall cateredcoffee breaksand lunches.E.g.a bottle ofwater from the HappyBakerwould probablycost more than $2 delivered,water out ofthe tab, clear, pure from the FrederictonAquifer and already paid or by the taxpayer, sready reely available.We live frugally and I brown bag my lunch 99.9%of the time. Ihavebeen carpoolingwith a friend and colleague or 20 years.We should haveacarpoolpage or civil servants raveling o different places n NB,but evenwithin thecity.And becausewe live frugally, we do not havedebt, can give o others, have ime tovolunteer,etc. And I expecteveryoneelse (includingmyself)working or government odo the same.We have o live within our meansand I feel we have not been doingso asa province or the last couple of decades. do not know where this all started, but I feelthat you can make changeshat are really needed.You may need o show hepresentation o all New Brunswickers s hen they may understandsomeof thedecisions hat need o be made. think peopleoutside he provincealreadyknow andour rating may drop even arther, making t more expensiveand harder o stay n debt.Our debt service s alreadyvery high, I don't want to think what would happen finterest rates actually ise.And while I haveyour attention, I think you should urther BernardLord's nitiative tochange o electoralsystem oward a proportional representationsystem. n my opinionit would foster better cooperationand better government.Thanks or the opportunity.***Wed 11/17/201011:12AMGood Morning Dave:

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111--- . _-Tue 10/26/2010 12:22 PM - -Telephones, lackberrys, ir Cardsetc. epresentmillions f dollarsof expendituresyearlyyet lack he control exerted on petty cashexpenditures.Most managersare notrequired o review,approveor otherwise ustify these expenditureseven hough there -e~istsa system hat ca~easilyprovide report~ on these costs.There s no governme.nt Iwidepolicyon controllingwho getswhatdevices nd how much heycanspendusing 8'"them (withou~ustification). Sinceusually he user does not have heir own device, ".::)personal use ISalso a factor._we were paying or phones ha . . .AllantEbliling ostcontrolsystem.

. we :verepaying or phones hat w:re not hookedup, did not belong o us, rented .?~"'Punits we did not have, had fea"W:.Jrese did not need and many that belonged to ~?~,different departments.The processof "cleaning" these accounts n DSS,DNRand DOT '"""'J.."hassavedmillions n expenditures a one third reduction n some areas)howeverwe ::lacka policyand a body o assistwith establishingand maintainingcontrol of these .costs. . '

~~,c.,;:~,r:"""c'We need o:,~cf;-:::;"o1. Adopt a policy establishing ontrol on these ypes of expenditures; III'~III

2. Esta~lish body ~ assist?ep:'s with applying hese controls; and --I3. Monitor the ongoIngapplication. ,-.;,:I. And, Ebillingsystem nd '1verysuccessfulostsavingmeasures,hesesuccessesaveneverbeenencouraged.What is greatly needed s to foster a corporate culture that encourages "cost savings nd discouragesnefficiency. .J

Thanks or this opportunity, .'- "" '~~?~~"'"*** '.'Y!f'O"'c"':'::&~'"'""' ~~Wed 10/27/20109:52 AM ~c A1~W!'bt -H. ~-!ow about reviewing he elimination of the $5.00 ncidental expenses ubmitted .on almost everygovernmentemployees ravel expenses,his I think would save hegovernmentsome moneyand wouldn't cause o much hardship or employees.Theywon't like it of coursebut they can survivewithout it.

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I realize hat the HealthDepartment'sbudget s not beingcut, but I do feel as hough itcan be better managed.Here are a few suggestions:1) Eliminate nnecessaryedundancy.ssues uchas iquor licensingequirepaperwork -and ime on the part of PHI PublicHealth nspectors) or suchsimple hings as changein name.Thereare alr,eadyiquor inspectors hat do the same ob we do, the duplicationis unnecessary.2) Daycareand Adult ResidentialHome icensing.With the change o the PublicHealthAct and new FoodPremiseRegulationsn November2009,both daycare entresandadult residentialcarehomes hat prepare ood are required o havea license denticalto a class4 full licensedRestaurant. n this case, he food preparationmay be limited toslicing ruit, heatingsoup etc. Similar icenseswill be required or a school hat providesChefBoyardee asta n a can or kids who forget their lunch.While I am all for foodsafety,commonsensemust prevail. We already nspectDaycares nd Adult CareHomesyearly,often duplicatinghe inspections ySocialDevelopment,s a ull restaurant tyleinspectionalsonecessary?3) In recentyears, he office of the ChiefMedical Officer of Health hasballooned.WhenI started work with the department, here were two handling he work, they addedanEngineer a very wise choice).Now, he office has wo Engineers, rogramManager,and ~many PHI'ssecondedo CentralOffice o do the work that was once done by two. ThesePHI'sare aken rom field inspectionofficeswhere the offices must makeup theshortfall. Thisat the same ime that the work load hasseen he most significant ncreasein workload n the 17 years have been here. It seems nappropriate o swell he ranksof middle managementwhile the rank and ile front line inspectionstrength s reduced.Thanks or listening. understand t's not going o be an easy ob to pleaseeveryone.Good uck!***Tue 11/2/20108:30 AMGood morning,Premier. In light of the current fiscal situation, I am writing this messageknowing hat PayEquity egislationpassedby the LegislativeAssembly uring he 2009session eceivedunanimoussupport. This egislationaffects all of the portions of thePublicServiceand could result in expendituresworth a few millions, millions hat arenot in the budget igures. The principle of pay equity (and he resulting payments)would be welcomedby those female employeeswho may otherwisesee ittle or nowage ncreases:n fact, this may be seenby some, particularly hose who would notbenefit, as a way o circumvent he yet to be establishnegotiation mandate o beestablishedby the BoardOf Management or current and uture negotiations.It is after carefulconsiderationof the potential implications hat I am advancinghesuggestion o have he Legislature onsidera bill this fall that would removesection 32of the PayEquityAct 2009 and replace t with a provision hat would allow for 399


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- Thu 11/4/201011:29 AM J~i-~;:"::

Hi,Firstoff, good luck with your efforts.I'm hoping that power saving measures will be implemented, at some point, across all ofthe health authorities.When I last contacted them, NB Power did not provide any initiatives like those used inBritish Columbia and it's Product Incentive Program (PIP) for business. IPlease see the articles below: ~htt onservation .h!m! -http://www.bchvdro.com/news/unplug his blog/where do vou find.html ;1

-office eqUlpment.html ~Provincial government could lead the way in implementing such measures.By _C"-implementing policies across all Government departments to identify computers, -, """"""""monitors and their peripheral equipment hat do not have to be on 24/7 and usingsoftware to enforcesuchpolicies, he power savingswould be significant. Also,byintroducing these current-sensing power bars and providing a program such as BC ,-Hydro's PIP, businesses in New Brunswick can operate moreefficiently, lowering their 84operati?nal costs. It would stand to reason that this would also attract indust~y to New iBrunswick.. : :;-Thanks, ~I***Thu 11/4/201011:39 AM ~Good Morning ,:':':-'. '-k """", -,,- -I wor and wanted to suggest the only >;;/""!;;~;;:Pr vincial f nding t at y u co uld r vew t h elp r du ce t e d ef cit would be t e '-~.

Provincial Energy Retrofit Program. I:,,"c417 I~


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,~~educeCosts Fundamental changes in governance.

- -1. The government houldcompletea very brief and simplestudy o determine heratio of managerso staff in every Department. There s an overabundance fmanagerswithin many Departments. In any normal business peration f a

personwants o advancehroughmanagementnd he positions o not exist nthat organisationhen they leave o a different businesso seekopportunities.This appears o not be the casewith the NBcivil service. We havehad manymanagers, irectors,executivedirectors with very few staff and pretty muchempty portfolios. STOP reating hese positions. I think this hasalreadybeenestablished. certainly hope so. Perhapshis is common n my Departmentbecause f the continuedcuts o budgets eavingmanyempty programsand~2. Hundredsof thousands, f not millions of do.'lars,s wastedeveryyear n many ~

Depa~mentsbecausehe managers otentially don'~ havea clue abo~t the .ccc..technicalaspectsof the programs hey manage,and Insteadof managinghired ~ ,c", "c--expertisechoose o act the role of expertiseand managerand make sol~teddecisionswithout all or often any of the appropriate nformation required for a '"consistent informed decision. (STOP egulating using a knee jerk reactionaryevery ime the phone rings...and t will always ring). Managersareacting as f they are the technicalexpertisewhile the expertsare left to wonder "why decisions re being madewithout any echnicalbasiswithin the regulatory Iprocess.This eads o considerableime delays, nconsistentdelivery ofprograms,and ncreasedexpenditureswhen the operationalstaff presentdecisionswhich are continuallyoverturned by management taff and otherff h ~enior sta t at have no comprehension on the impacts they are having at -"delivery of services or the consistency of that delivery. i.e. enforce decision c "making at the appropriate level to reduce he bureaucracyand undue resourceexpenditureswithin Departments. 1

:3. ~and limit BIG P' political and small p' political interference with the Civil 'Service. Political nterferencewith the operationsof the civil service s costingthe governmentmillions of dollars n efficiencyand productivity every year. Notonly does t affect cost, t underminesconsistentdeliveryof programs,undermines he integrity of the Department, he Integrity of the Governmentand the moral of staff at every evel rom the base o the DMs. There s currentlynegligiblesupport or operationalstaff nor support or deliveryof the program Iam involvedwith due to the consistentpolitical nterferenceat every evel. Thisresults n everydecisiongoing o the Minister or Deputyand wasted resources($$$) because eople call he minister rather than go through an establishedprocess. t's great hat MLAsand Ministerswish o help constituentswho feelthat they havean issuewith a decision. It's their responsibility o do so. Educate

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cost-cutting ideas from n.b. civil servants

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