And going back now to yesterday's story about the pause on all government transfers, why wasn't the major cost saving initiative announced when the Prime Minister presented his budget was presented on March 10th?
When we asked the Public Service Minister, he said that the decisions making process is proceeding in uncertain times with changing variables like the price of fuel:
Henry Charles Usher, Minister of Public Service
"We don't know how long the issues in the Middle East will continue. We don't know how prices will be affected when it comes to energy, when it comes to oil, when it comes to cost of living. We have to make sure, and it's a day-by-day decision that sometimes you have to make. When the budget was prepared, certain expenses were anticipated, including transfers of public officers. Since then, we know that we have to save some money, so we're holding back on the mass transfers, doing it on a case-by-case basis. And that way, every cent that the government saves is important, so that the services are not interrupted."
