PARLIAMENT HILL, Ottawa—The Tories gave federal finances a haircut in Thursday’s budget, shaving just over half a percent off total program spending for the coming fiscal year.
While the specifics of those reductions won’t be known until departments release their budgets, the budget pledges that almost 70 percent of that $1.47 billion, or 0.6 percent reduction, will come from operating efficiencies in the back office, improving processes in human resources, accounting, and so on.
Travel expenses will also be reduced by making wider use of videoconferencing.
