Peter Bethlenfalvy, President of the Treasury Board, speaks to media at Queen's Park in Toronto on Tuesday, Sept. 25, 2018. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Christopher Katsarov

TORONTO — Premier Doug Ford’s promise not to cut any jobs in the province doesn’t mean they won’t be privatized, says one of his top cabinet ministers.

Since exploding onto the provincial scene, Ford has promised to balance the budget and find four per cent in efficiencies without job cuts or layoffs. Now the government says those jobs could be shifted to the private sector without counting as a cut.

“I don’t see that as a job cut, no,” Treasury Board President Peter Bethlenfalvy said Tuesday.

“I think that person still has their job, and I think that’s the primary objective here: that we find a way to transform government without having to look at cuts, and try to make government more efficient so we can balance the budget.”

The government’s position on privatizing jobs is significant in light of last week’s Ernst & Young review of provincial spending, which calls on Progressive Conservatives to review government operations and Crown corporations to see if any could be privatized.

READ MORE: Ontario deficit $8 billion higher than Liberal figure: Finance Minister]

Bethlenfalvy has stressed that the government will only consider privatization if it has a “good business case.” He said that means it won’t be giving up long-term revenues for a one-time windfall. But it’s clear now the Tories don’t think privatization contradicts their election promise not to cut jobs.

The opposition parties, though, say it sets the stage for backdoor cuts.

“They’re just going to use tricky math to try to make it look like they’re not cutting jobs, when they are,” Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner said.

Schreiner said he’s particularly concerned because jobs that are shifted from the public to the private sector often end up paying less and offering worse benefits.

The Liberals said they have similar concerns, and the NDP said they question what impact privatizing jobs could have on services.

Bethlenfalvy said his government hasn’t yet decided how it will find the savings needed to dig out of the $15-billion deficit left by the former Liberal government.

The government’s fall economic statement will likely contain the first hint at how it plans to balance the budget.

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