Ontario reduces number of agencies by 5 percent
Toronto, Ontario, Canada (AHN) – Ontario Finance Minister Dwight Duncan announced Tuesday the closure of 13 of 259 government agencies in the province. The move is part of the provincial government’s cost reduction effort to eliminate waste and save money.
The number of agencies, boards and commissions to be shuttered would be about 5 percent of the total. Duncan did not name the agencies to be closed or provide a timetable for implementation of the planned closure.
Ontario would also ban funding perks of government officials and employees such as golf membership fees, season tickets to sporting events and lump sum payments for travel without receipts. The province will also stop awarding the Discovery and Catalysts Awards in a bid to save province coffers $2.5 million yearly.
Because of cost-cutting measures implemented by Ontario, the province’s projected deficit this year is 25 percent less compared to a year ago. Among the measures put in place are a three-year freeze on salaries of legislators, a two-year freeze on pay of provincial employees, a 5 percent reduction in the number of public workers and a 50 percent cut on hiring of outside consultants.
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