Toronto/CMEDIA: Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s chief of staff reportedly Travis Kann has initiated a hiring freeze and eliminated 10 positions which will save Ontarians $1,074,500 annually.
Since his appointment to the role in March, Travis Kann followed the government in managing the size of the Ontario Public Service since 2018 and adopted the “rigour and discipline” to managing Premier’s Office team.
“This has included re-locating personnel within our office or across government to more productive areas, as well as saying goodbye to colleagues. I want to thank them for their contributions to our government and province,” he said in the memo.
He added that besides introducing hiring freeze for the office, all new hires will require approval by him or the deputy chief of staff for human resources following a review.
Kann said his next step will be working with ministers’ offices to “encourage” comparable savings across government, but did not specify which ministries he’s looking at specifically.
“Chiefs are encouraged to put their hand up if they believe they can achieve savings. Together, we can continue to demonstrate our shared commitment to respecting taxpayer dollars.”
When asked about the cut at an unrelated news conference on Thursday, Ford said he directed Kann to make the changes.
“We have to lead. We are driving efficiencies throughout the province and I directed my chief of staff, ‘I want to see a million dollars savings.’ That is a big chunk out of an office. So that is it. We just cut a million dollars and that is critical. You have to lead by example.”
