TORONTO — Ontario will have a smaller government and fewer civil servants after the Liberals finish looking for savings in every ministry to help fund their campaign promises, Finance Minister Greg Sorbara said Friday.

"Inevitably, in this program review, we will stop doing some of the things that we do now in order to be able to achieve our objective and our priorities,'' Sorbara told a Bay Street business breakfast.

However, he refused to offer any details about which government programs could be scaled back or eliminated, other than to say the bottom line was a balanced budget in four years.

"It would be foolish and inappropriate of me to set out today as we initiate this exercise, in cash figures and in numerical analysis, where we'll be at the end point,'' said Sorbara.

"There is one immutable fact: by the budget that we present for '07-'08, this province has got to be in positive territory.''

Sorbara said he will conduct a line-by-line review of every program with each of his cabinet colleagues to find savings to pay for strategic investments in health care and education.

The New Democrats say Sorbara also sent "a shot across the bow'' of Ontario's Public Service Employees Union by telling his audience every one per cent increase for public sector workers will cost taxpayers $350 million dollars.

The government is saying "if we give these guys a raise, then you're going to get your services cut, so it's setting up a war between the public and our public servants,'' said deputy NDP leader Marilyn Churley.

"I believe (the Liberals) are getting that message out there that they're certainly not going to be giving a raise to the public service.''

OPSEU spokesman Randy Robinson said the union has been hit with "cuts, cuts and more cuts'' during 11 years of program reviews starting with Bob Rae's NDP government in the early 1990's, followed by eight years of Conservative cutbacks.

"He's really barking up the wrong tree,'' said Robinson.

"If the Tories didn't cut it, they couldn't cut it.''

Robinson is disappointed the Liberals are following the same path as the Conservatives by looking to cut the size of the civil service after promising to rebuild public services.

"They are basically following the line of attack that gave us Walkerton and gave us the Aylmer meat scandal,'' he said.

"It's completely stupid.''

Churley said Sorbara's refusal to say which services or programs could be cut will lead to more fear that the Liberals could delist even more health programs after they eliminated eye exams, chiropractic services and physiotherapy from Ontario's Health Insurance Plan.

"It's just going to get people more upset and more worried, she said, calling it a "dumb strategy.''

Sorbara insisted he wasn't concerned that only one person in the Bay Street audience applauded when he noted that Saturday would be the first anniversary of the Liberal government.

"There are people applauding not only the anniversary, but some of our accomplishments over the first year,'' he insisted.

"I think we've got our act together, I really do.''