Statement made on 03 February 2011 by Senator Maria Chaput
Hon. Maria Chaput:
Honourable senators, my question is for the Leader of the Government in the Senate.
Service Canada offers single-window access across Canada to a wide range of Government of Canada programs and services for citizens. Manitoba's experience with Service Canada, with which I am quite familiar, is a positive one in particular for rural communities and for official language minority communities. Service Canada keeps isolated rural communities and official language minorities connected to their federal government in an effective way and allows a few federal jobs to be located in these regions, outside the larger centres and out of Ottawa.
Service Canada recently informed employees that it will close its Nova Scotia community offices in St. Peter's, Petit-de-Grat, Whycocomagh, Port Hood and Cheticamp as of March 31, 2011. Two of those community offices offer services in French and in English. CBC News has reported that the closing of the five Cape Breton Service Canada offices is part of a move to close every community office across the country and this worries me greatly.
My question is the following: Could we know the reasons why Service Canada is cutting services in Cape Breton? Can we expect other closures? If so, which offices and when?
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