And while government cost saving is one thing, on the other side of that are those public officers who were already expecting a transfer this year and arranging their personal and family affairs to accommodate that. Usher offered an apology:
Henry Charles Usher, Minister of Public Service
"So you're right. I mean, and I have to apologize to those persons who have already been making the different requirements. changes or accommodations and so on. But the period January to March is the period when they are notified that they can be potentially transferred. There's then a period where they can respond in either accepting or then requesting that it be reviewed. We're still in April now. Transfers don't take effect until July or August. So we felt that this was the right time to send out the circular and certainly I think the CEO and the Ministry of Public Service made the right decision."
