In a bid to tighten its bottom line, Ottawa will slash the number of people it appoints to federal agencies, boards, commissions and tribunals, Treasury Board President Stockwell Day announced Monday.

The cuts came after the government reviewed "all of the boards and agencies, tribunals that operate hand-in-hand with government," Day said, which included a closer look at governor-in-council positions -- patronage jobs that the government controls.

The conclusion was that Ottawa could afford to cut some of these positions while maintaining current service levels.

"Following this review that has taken place of some 2,700 position, there will be a reduction of 245 positions to the boards, agencies and commissions that operate with government and that receive appointments by government," Day told reporters gathered at a news conference.

The greatest single number of cuts was imposed on the Canada Pension Plan / Old Age Security Review Tribunals, with 40 of 400 governor-in-council positions being eliminated.

All governor-in-council positions were eliminated at several organizations, including the Canadian Council on the Status of the Artist (12 positions), the Freshwater Fish Marketing Corporation Advisory Committee (15 positions), and the Cape Breton Development Corporation (7 positions).

Day said the government was confident that the level of service provided to the public would not degrade as a result of the cuts.

"We have looked at these in each and every case to make sure that efficiency and service to the public is not affected negatively in any way," he said. "We have determined that that is the case."

Day said the cuts will save Ottawa at least $1 million on an annual basis, which he characterized as being part of an "overall approach" to making government operations more efficient.

Based on the numbers Day quoted at the press conference, the 245 positions compute to just over nine per cent of the 2,700 total governor-in-council positions.

Day said many of the positions being eliminated are currently vacant, which means Ottawa will save money by not appointing people to those positions in the future.

"Many of these positions were vacant as the review was undergoing, while it was going to be determined if, in fact, people should be reappointed to these particular positions," he said.

New Democrat MP Pat Martin, the party's Treasury Board critic, said he expects the cuts to be the first of many in what he predicted would be a "clumsy, mean-spirited" campaign against the public service as the government tries to put Canada on the path back to a balanced budget.

"The public service is an easy target. You have to be seen doing something, so you go after the public service," said Martin, speaking to reporters following the end of Day's news conference.

CTV's Ottawa Bureau Chief, Robert Fife, said the cuts will likely upset some Conservative Party members who are often in line to accept such appointments.

"It's not very much money…although it'll probably make some Tories unhappy because governments tend to use these boards and commissions as patronage appointments for party faithful," he told CTV News Channel from Ottawa on Monday morning.

Liberal MPs said Monday that since November 2008, the government filled 79 positions at boards singled out in Day's announcement with Conservatives who donated nearly $80,000 to the Conservative Party, the Progressive Conservative party and the Canadian Alliance.

"It wasn't bad enough that Minister Day has to celebrate saving money that he wasn't spending in the first place," Liberal Treasury Board Critic Siobhan Coady said in a statement. "Now we learn that the very same boards being targeted for cuts were filled with 79 Conservative donors, volunteers and candidates since the last election."

With files from The Canadian Press