Liberals promise to use AI, merge programs to make PS more ‘efficient’

The Liberal Party is promising to leverage artificial intelligence (AI) and merge similar programs and services to make the public service more efficient. THE MONTREAL GAZETTE/POSTMEDIA NETWORKArticle content

The Liberal Party is promising to leverage artificial intelligence (AI) and merge similar programs and services to make the public service more efficient.

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The party’s new $130-billion election platform, which was unveiled on Saturday at a campaign event in Peterborough, promised to launch a comprehensive review of government spending to increase the federal government’s productivity.

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The review will identify clear focuses and targets across the public sector and Crown corporations and any savings identified in the review will be invested in technology and labour to improve the quality of public services., the party said.

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This includes a promise to create a new Office of Digital Transformation to “proactively identify, implement, and scale technology solutions” to eliminate “duplicative and redundant red tape.”

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It also includes a promise to use AI to address government backlogs and “improve service delivery times.”

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The party said these measures will allow Canadians to access better and faster services.

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“The federal government has been spending too much. There are federal programs and processes that aren’t working as well as they should, and projects that need to be reviewed as we adjust to the priorities of this challenging moment.

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“We need to be efficient and effective in all that we spend, while empowering a world-class, tech-enabled public service,” the platform reads.

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Carney also promised to consolidate grants and programs that serve similar purposes across multiple departments, as well as significantly reducing reliance on external consultants and instead hiring more in-house experts.

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The platform also outlined a promise to better manage litigation and contingent liabilities, as well as improving asset management practices.

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Carney did not provide specifics on how that will work.

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Both Carney and Conservative Party Leader Pierre Poilievre have previously they would limit the size of the public sector if they form the next government. There were 357,247 active public service employees in 2023 according to Statistics Canada, a 26-per-cent jump from 2010.