Skip to main content

“I am a Canadian, free to speak without fear, free to worship in my own way, free to stand for what I think right, free to oppose what I believe wrong, or free to choose those who shall govern my country. This heritage of freedom I pledge to uphold for myself and all mankind.” ~~ John G. Diefenbaker

FELDSTED -- The civil service keeps growing, not to serve us better but to enforce ever-growing regulations on how the civil service operates

Slow Death by Regulation, the Great Public-Sector Disease

Joe Woodard ~~ C2C Journal ~~ July 31, 2020

It’s not just that Canadian governments of all levels claim half our economy, then waste probably one-third of that in shuffling accounts.

It’s not just that our health-care and education systems have huge new cohorts of public employees with enormous appetites for public revenue.

It’s not just that senior public servants now think that they’re the real builders of Canadian society – that we depend on them to “do good for us.”

It’s not just that bureaucrats can now ignore our democratic institutions – Parliament, legislatures and councils.

Our deeper problem is this: we’ve slid into a culture of control. Our world has changed. We now face a new kind of corruption.

The ‘disease’ quickly spreads to how our governments treat the public.

We are regulated to objectionable and unreasonable lengths. The simplest request to a federal department or agency involves the need to prove your identity and often an exchange of e-mails to prove my identity.

In some cases, the exchange requires snail-mail and a wait of a few days to obtain a password or other code to enable me to move my request forward.

Requests for information usually result in a reply that the government has 30 days to respond -- often followed up by a notice that the government needs a further 30 days to be able to respond -- and a note that if I am not satisfied, I can appeal to the Access to Information Commissioner.

The civil service keeps growing, not to serve us better but to enforce ever-growing regulations on how the civil service operates. It is an ultimate in perpetual job creation and producing less with more people.

I encourage you to read the whole article above.

 

John Feldsted ... is a political commentator, consultant, and strategist. He makes his home in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

Labels:

Comments

  1. garret seinenAugust 6, 2020 at 7:19 AM

    Thanks for the post ... I will read the C2C article.

    The forgotten and ignored truism, "Government is the instrument of force." is at the root of the dilemma.  As efficiency is the missing ingredient from government, -- see Milton Friedman's argument "spending other people's money on other people"-- inevitably government will create a monopoly in any institution they take control of.

    Too few citizens care.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

NDP Government Blames Everyone but Themselves

The federal government has announced new measures to support British Columbia's forestry sector, including $65 million in funding for projects across the province. While any support is welcome, it falls far short of the level of assistance other provinces have secured for key industries. Conservative Forests Critic Ward Stamer says the NDP government needs to take responsibility for its mismanagement of B.C.’s forest industry instead of trying to pass on the blame. Despite promising to create more jobs in the forest sector, the NDP government has overseen the loss of thousands of forestry jobs and 21 mill closures which have devastated communities. “If Premier Eby spent more time addressing the regulatory issues impacting the forestry sector than he did complaining about the federal government, we would not be in the position we are now,” said Stamer. “And instead of trying to place the blame for mill closures on Donald Trump, Minister of Forests Ravi Parmar should t...
Post a Comment
Read more

Tourists Rack Up $200M in Unpaid Health Bills While BC Patients Wait Years for Care

While British Columbians wait years for basic medical care, the NDP government has allowed non-residents to rack up $200.6 million in unpaid health bills since 2020-2021. New research from SecondStreet.org, obtained through a freedom of information request, revealed that people from outside Canada are coming to BC, receiving health services, and leaving without paying their bills.  The losses span every health region in the province. "British Columbians are not guaranteed timely access to healthcare, be it treatment or diagnostics, and this situation continues to deteriorate under the NDP," said Anna Kindy, MLA for North Island and Critic for Health. "Taxpayers are footing the bill for tourists' health treatments to the tune of over $200 million, enough to cover over 21,000 hip replacements in this province while British Columbians wait months to years for that surgery.” The research found BC has the worst record of any province in Canada examined so far. Under a dec...
Post a Comment
Read more

NDP Finance Minister Given "F" on Report Card by Canadian Taxpayers Federation

Peter Milobar, MLA for Kamloops Centres and Official Opposition Finance Critic, released the following statement in response to the Canadian Taxpayers Federation's 2026 Finance Minister Report Card, which ranked BC Finance Minister Brenda Bailey dead last among provincial finance ministers in Canada with an overall grade of "F":  "British Columbians didn't need a report card to know things are headed in the wrong direction. They see it every time they pay their bills, try to buy a home, or watch another government deficit pile up. But now an independent national organization has confirmed that NDP Brenda Bailey is the worst-rated finance minister in Canada. "After nearly a decade of decline under this NDP government, British Columbia has become a province where people pay more, government borrows more, and families get less in return. We have some of the highest debt in the country, repeated credit downgrades, and no credible plan to get our finances back on...
Post a Comment
Read more

Labels

Show more