Charlie Angus is calling on the Liberal government to explain their lack of action on rebuilding FedNor after years of Conservative cuts. Internal documents show that FedNor employees are demoralized and frustrated by a lack of institutional leadership. The results were contained in an internal 2014 Public Service Employee Survey that reveal wide-ranging problems across the department. The results of this internal review are troubling.
"FedNor plays a crucial role in building economic development opportunities for Northern Ontario. The report shows that the work of staff is constrained by budget limitations, recent cuts and a lack of effective decision-making in senior management.”
The number of FedNor employees that would rate FedNor as a great place to work plummeted from 84% in 2008 to 30% in 2014. This number is 40% lower than the average result of 71% across Industry Canada. Angus has called out Minister Bains over the Liberal government's seeming indifference to the important role that Fed Nor plays for northern communities.
"This government has taken no steps to restore the FedNor budget from recent cuts or to make FedNor a stand-alone independent agency. The question is how will the Minister respond to this scathing report?”
The Liberal government has taken no steps to restore the 26 million dollars cut from FedNor's budget over the last number of years. New Democrats are also pushing to have Fed Nor established as a stand-alone economic development agency to ensure greater independence, transparency, and accountability.