Job attrition means fewer opportunities for young people: Earle McCurdy

New Democratic Leader EarleMcCurdysays cutting the size of the public sector means a loss of employment opportunities for new graduates and the province's young people.

Finance MinisterRoss Wiseman announcedcuts to the number of positions in the public sector Monday, saying government would be getting rid of jobs through attrition in a five-year plan.

• Ross Wiseman: 1,420 jobs to be removed from public service by 2020

McCurdy said the concept of getting ridof positions through attrition will mean a loss of opportunity for people entering the workforce.

"I'd just ask the question of how that fits in with what's supposed to be a youth retention strategy in this province," said McCurdy.

"We look ahead and we're going to have a shortage of young people in the workforce and opportunities for people as they graduate from school or post-secondary institutions is disappearing rapidly, so on all those fronts I think this is problematic."

According to McCurdy, the fiscal reality of the province stems from government using oil revenues to finance programsbut that revenue is not steady.

"I think it shows the folly of using extraordinary revenue from non-renewable natural resources to fund the ordinary activities of government, and that's really what happened over the past number of years, and those chickens are now coming home to roost."

He added government should look at all options, including a possible tax increase, to help with revenues.

"I think it would be irresponsible for anyone to say, 'I'm running for office this fall and I'm not interested in looking at the revenue side of the ledger whatsoever, not willing to consider any increases in fees or taxes whatsoever.'"

Liberal critic Cathy Bennett said government can't guarantee through the attrition process that employees will, in fact, retire when they're eligible, meaning there is still a possibility of layoffs.

"The issue with attrition is, you know, we wait and hope and the government is taking the approach that, 'We believe this is going to happen' Well, there's a huge number of reasons why people may decide not to retire," said Bennett.

"I'm not sure the government can be sure that that's what's going to happen."

Bennett added that while she hasn't seen government's detailed financial books she doesn't think it's responsible to comment on what she would cut, but said the province needs a comprehensive multi-faceted plan for manage the deficit.

Premier Paul Davis and Health Minister Steve Kent will make anotherpre-budget announcement Tuesday morning, leading up to thebudget announcementThursday.