Our Yes Minister Civil Service “Cuts”

Posted on May 1, 2012 by Peter Holle

Every day the media is reporting about cuts to the federal civil service. Witness the constant daily drip drop of bad news about vital services being ravaged etc. But the real story is missing from the popular narrative. Since the federal Tories came to power in 2006 the body count in the federal civil service til recently had expanded by 32,000. So let’s see . . . the recent body count reductions will amount to 19, 200 spread out over at least 3 years. That leaves us with a federal public sector that is still about 13,000 persons larger than 2006. Hmmm, time to read “Yes Minister” again, the classic English series detailing how the bureaucracy bamboozles the politicians. In Canada’s case, the media has been bamboozled as well.

About Peter Holle

Peter Holle is the founding President of the Frontier Centre for Public Policy.
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One Response to Our Yes Minister Civil Service “Cuts”

  1. Les Routledge says:
    May 1, 2012 at 11:14 pm

    …and you can be assured that the most painful and visible cuts are the ones that have been proposed to the politicians.

    While I do not like some of the cuts, say for example to the PFRA shelterbelt program, perhaps it is time that I paid market rates for trees to plant on my land. Where I do get nervous is where the tough on crime agenda is combined with fiscal restraint in the corrections service.

    In Canada, virtually every offender will be eventually released. The priority job of corrections is to correct the behavior that put them in custody in the first place. When it comes to crime and punishment, I want to see a government focused on outcomes such as reduced crime in our neighborhoods and reduced rate of re-offending. Maybe increased time in custody can be part of that equation, but that time in custody should be focused on equipping the offender with better life and work skills so that when they re-enter society, they have a positive path to follow.