Thoughts on BC Politics and More

Paula Kielstra loved her job at Library and Archives Canada, but when she received a letter saying positions in her unit would be hit by a wave of federal cuts, she hand-raised to be laid off. The policy advisor and mother of two said it was “a very difficult decision” that has thrown her family into financial distress, but it gave her a chance to support her son with special needs. Kielstra is just one of 10,000 federal employees who lost their jobs under the Trudeau government’s cuts, a quiet round of “workforce adjustment” that began last year and is still playing out across departments. Now, Mark Carney is dramatically expanding those reductions, unveiling in the budget last week a sweeping plan to “right size” the federal bureaucracy. To achieve that, Ottawa intends to eliminate about 10 per cent of federal public service jobs—an estimated further 30,000 positions by the end of 2029. For those caught in the crosshairs, the human impact has been immediate and...

IMAGE CREDIT:   Ottawa Citizen  I'm not going to go over the entire budget because that's just a task too large for a Facebook post. Instead, I'm just going to give some of my thoughts on the budget and what I think it means for Canada and Canadians. A $78 billion deficit A lot of people are fixated on the $78 billion deficit this year. It is huge. However, when adjusted for inflation it isn't eye popping. Stephen Harper had a $56 billion deficit in 2009. Kim Campbell proposed a near $43 billion deficit in 1993. Adjusted for inflation those aren't that far off from $78 billion today. Despite the Opposition screaming that those deficits would destroy Canada, the fact is, the country is still here. Life is still going on. Economic Growth Mark Carney is focused on really just one thing: supporting the economy for the next few years until the trade situation stabilizes. In fairness, that's a good goal and concern to address. If I were the Prime Ministe...

Time for a rant. Canadian voters are so fickle.  A year ago the number one issue was the economy (as it should have been), then it switched to Donald Trump (look a squirrel!!), now it’s back on the economy again.  I’ve noticed many Canadians like to self-congratulate themselves on being so smart, but if that is true, then we might’ve spared ourselves 10 wasted years with the Trudeau experiment. We had the strongest middle class in the G7 in 2015. The economy was booming, taxes were low, we had a balanced budget, we were poised to become the richest country in the world per capita, we had an immigration system that was the envy of the western world, we were respected (not irrelevant) on the world stage, and we could be proud. All of that was squandered ... Needlessly ... Sadly. Now voter's attention is back on the economy, with the media claiming that the government needs to create jobs.  Hey! Shocker! The government does not create jobs! The best they can do is create con...

... Various nations worldwide have some form of compulsory military or civic service that starts with young adults and, according to a recent poll, Canadians support the idea of citizens under 30 devoting a year to serving their country similarly. Young adults who volunteer gain a host of benefits, experts say — but making it mandatory is a thornier proposition. At least seven in 10 people responding to a recent Angus Reid poll supported the idea of one year of mandatory public service for Canadians under 30 — things like tutoring kids or working in national parks. Mandatory military service, however, was more divisive, with 43 per cent in support and 44 per cent opposed ... CLICK HERE for the full story

Fearless advice. Loyal implementation. Once upon a time, that was a mantra that mattered, one which public servants lived by, respected by both themselves and their political “masters.” It was instilled in me early in my public-service career. I was fortunate enough to begin my working life at the “centre of government,” the Privy Council Office, which is responsible for coordinating all activities across the vast federal government. My first boss, Maurie Jorre-de-St. Jorre (an anglophone from BC!) and Mario Laguë, the assistant secretary to the cabinet for communications and consultation (the most senior communications position in government), both stressed the relationship between service satisfaction and satisfaction with government. The statistical model we developed excluded the governing party because that was politics. What we were concerned with was direct services to Canadians, and how that drove satisfaction with government. Of course, the governing party matters, but even co...

Prime Minister Mark Carney isn’t pitching a sweeping public service overhaul — but his government is nudging changes to how Ottawa works. The passage of his signature major projects bill, a wave of senior leadership moves, and a new risk policy all point to a system being quietly rewired to deliver — and faster.  Carney doesn’t appear to have a grand theory of public service reform — but change is happening anyway. The system is being reshaped piece by piece, not by design, but by the demands of what he’s trying to get done ... CLICK HERE for the full story 

Canada’s public administration is in crisis, warns former MP and Member of the Order of Canada, Dorothy Dobbie, in a groundbreaking new report from the Frontier Centre for Public Policy. The report, Restoring Accountability: Fixing Canada’s Public Administration, exposes how political interference, union dominance, and bloated bureaucracy have crippled government efficiency and accountability—putting the country’s governance at risk. Dobbie warns that Canada’s public service, once a global model of professionalism, has been hijacked by political operatives and rigid union rules that prioritize power over public service. Career bureaucrats have been replaced by political insiders and unqualified appointees, while layers of inefficient management slow decision-making and drive up costs ... CLICK HERE for the full story

  A lot of you have written to ask where the Centre Ice Canadians team is at, with all the nuts and bolts of considering preparing a new political party.   This week, we’re sharing our draft policy framework . When you’ve had a chance to read it, please let me know what you think, at dcardy@gmail.com .   Early in the summer, we asked for policy ideas, and we asked for them in a demanding format. We heard from well over a hundred of you, with a lot of excellent ideas. Some of them are thought out to a level of detail that they could be submitted as government policy notes.   There is a lot of experience and sophistication in this group. Thank you for sharing it.   I have tried to synthesize those ideas, and to put them in a framework that begins to describe our potential party’s values and vision. They’re your ideas; with weight given here to ideas that were raised the most often or that justified their urgency most convincingly.   I heard a desi...