Harper announces tender for payroll complex (full audio)

Prime Minister Harper announces tender. Tilly says Miramichi is best place for payroll centre.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper was in Miramichi today, and announced that a tender had been awarded for the construction of the payroll centre in Chatham, and that work would commence this year and be completed in 2017. No other details of the tender were offered.

Harper was introduced by Miramichi MP Tilly O'Neill Gordon. Tilly was announced by Minister of State for ACOA, Rob Moore.

Moore touched on Tilly dedication to her riding, telling a story about after her hip replacement surgery she opened an office at home, and never missed a day of question period on TV. He said she is a persistent person, who represents all that is good about Miramichi. He listed several projects that Tilly worked to get funding for, and said she an important contributor to debates in issues that matter to Atlantic Canadians.

Tilly praised the Prime Minister in her address to the capacity crowd, and said the announcements represents another step forward to improve the regional economy. "We all share a love for the river and the strong communities throughout the region," Tilly said. She said she holds the Prime Minister in the highest esteem, and has come to appreciate his intelligence, energy and determination to better communities across the country. "There is no sense in working unless we have someone at the end of the line who will listen to our needs." She said harper not only listens, but takes action. "We need a leader who will listen and take action," she said.

Harper started his address to the crowd by extoling the virtues of Miramichi's MP, saying that she works tirelessly for the community. "She has personally brought more jobs to this area than any public figure before her," Harper said.

Harper's speech focused little on the contract the government awarded for the construction of the payroll centre, but was more about his government's accomplishments and promises for the future.

"This project will save taxpayers about $70 million a year, and has created over 500 jobs in this community. This is a major step forward for Miramichi, and will benefit the region for generations to come," Harper said. "This project is a result of our governments firm commitment to jobs and long-term prosperity."

The new payroll centre was announced in 2010, not long after the long gun registry was scrapped, the move risked 40-100 jobs in Miramichi.

As of November 2014, the Conservatives have eliminated 37,000 federal jobs, including 989 compensation advisers that lost their jobs when the service was amalgamated in Miramichi. 362 of those jobs were eliminated inthe Ottawa region.

Harper's comments about the project in Miramichi were brief, and he went directly into a stump speach about the economic successes of his government, and their promises and visions for the future. There is a federal election in 2015, and he managed to inject into his speech two shots at the Liberals, and one at the NDP. He said a major part of the government's strategy is to invest in infrastructure. "Our government is now embarked on the largest and longest infrastructure investment program in the history of our country." He talked about the gas tax, the 7 year $33 billion Building Canada Plan that ended in 2013, and the new 10 year, $53 billion Building Canada Plan. "In New Brunswick, the plan represents almost $900 million in dedicated federal funding."

"Our infrastructure investments dwarf the investments of former Liberal governments. We have innvested at a level of 3 times higher than the previous Liberal government. They say they will spend more on infrastructure than us, but how will they do it without raising taxes or running a deficit." harper went on to say that the budget would be balanced in 2016-17.

When asked by a reporter what his strategy for Northern New Brunswick was, Harper said areas like this needed to capitalize on their natural resources. He said Northern NB had a NDP MP, and that the NDP regularly works to access to natural resources.

He was also asked if he plans to appoint any more senators, considering many, both liberal and conservative, have had negative press lately. Harper said his government has a comfortable majority in the senate to pass any legislation at the moment.

Listen to Harper's answers to the media below.

Miramichi Best City for Payroll

In an interview after the announcement, Tilly said there were no details about the tender available just yet. She did say that the need for jobs in Miramichi make it a perfect place for the new centre.

Sources from the payroll centre tell MO))) that "Compensation Advisors" (the title of most of the people who work at the centre now), are the position that has the highest turnover rate in Canada among federal employees. The source also says of the first 100 people hired at the centre in Miramichi, only half of them still remain at the job. "That the job is demanding, and can be stressful."

The turnover rate might drop now that jobs are located in a region that has the highest unemployment rate in Canada.