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“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.

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  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

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