Alberta Workers Taste Reality – April 2, 2013
Wages once virtually on par with the rest of the country became higher across all public-sector categories, in some cases substantially so, according to the study by Ben Eisen and Ken Boessenkool. (The province's 36,000 teachers are paid 20 per cent higher than their typical counterparts elsewhere in the country, according to a recent Statistics Canada study.) Alberta's public- sector salaries consumed nearly 95 per cent of the increase in provincial revenues over the decade analyzed.

A Taste of Reality for Alberta’s Public Sector – April 1, 2013
There are more than a few politicians in Canada delighting in what’s happening in Alberta these days. For years, provincial leaders have been driven mad by the often obscene deals that Alberta has struck with its public-sector employees, making everyone from doctors to teachers the best paid in the country. Not surprisingly, those same professions in other provinces have used these wage benchmarks as targets of their own during contract negotiations.

Average Federal Worker Costs $114,000: Budget watchdog – December 12, 2012
As the Conservative government lops thousands of jobs off the payroll, the cost of the average federal employee will continue to climb and could hit nearly $130,000 by 2015, says a report by Canada’s budget watchdog.

Media Release - Empower Local Voters to Increase Government Accountability and Efficiency – November 15, 2012
This study proses a way to develop greater spending transparency by way of enhancing fiscal autonomy for the provinces and municipalities

Windsor-Detroit Bridge Deal Not the Best Use of Public Infrastructure Dollars – August 24, 2012
Despite the apparent need for increased bridge capacity at the Windsor-Detroit border, the cost of the publicly funded bridge agreed upon is unnecessary, given that a private company already wants to build a new bridge.

Want to reform government? Start with the Civil Service – August 15, 2012
Civil Service has much to learn from other countries, according to the Cabinet Office Minister. And why would Britain not want to compare itself against best practice from other countries? After all, many gold medallists are coached by the best in the world who are not of their nationality.

Britain Unleashed: David Cameron Needs a Change of Heart – and Some Fire in His Belly – July 30, 2012
This Government’s great tragedy is that it is run by a group of youngish, privileged men who have never known what it is like to be truly excited by economic and political ideas. David Cameron and George Osborne are creatures of the establishment, prisoners of the received wisdom, too interested in power for power’s sake.

Federal Government Office Space Grows even as Public Service Shrinks – June 28, 2012
The Conservatives talk constantly about ensuring taxpayers get value for money. But the reality is the politicians don’t control the spending process as tightly as they like to think they do. The bureaucracy is the real power in the land – and its interests are often best served by growing the size of government.

New Brunswick Needs Financial Reality and Leadership – May 11, 2012
Rather than focus on old, discredited explanations for New Brunswick’s poor economic performance, leaders must acknowledge the role that excessive federal subsidies play in underperformance.

Ottawa Should Do the Math: Productivity Trumps Head Counts – April 23, 2012
The federal government employs 400,000 people, more or less – and will probably still employ 400,000 people, more or less, when it completes its modest downsizing in 2015. With a maximum hit of 12,000 people, it is a modest downsizing, indeed: one worker a year, for three years, for every 100 workers who keep their jobs.

Policy Settings Need Seismic Shift – April 19, 2012
In common with much of the developed world, the tectonic plates of an entrenched sense of entitlement and political unwillingness to test democratic tolerance for change have produced inevitable eruptions. It need not be a parade of the ugly, but solutions of a sustainable kind are going to call for seismic shifts in politics, public policy and the public sector.

B.C. Residents want Pay Equity between Public, Private Sector – April 11, 2012
Four out of five British Columbians say government employees should be paid the same amount as people doing the same jobs in the private sector, according to an Angus Reid survey commissioned by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation.

Just Say 'No' to Spending – March 21, 2012
For those not familiar with the column, Lett argues tax hikes should be considered to address the province's deficit. If one scrutinizes the Manitoba government's spending track record in greater detail, however, Lett's proposition becomes much harder to stomach.

Aging Opportunity – March 14, 2012
Did you know that Saskatchewan has significantly more government employees than all other province in Canada? This glut of government employees means taxpayers are paying a small bundle each year. Fortunately, the solution is fairly pain free for politicians – as bureaucrats retire, don’t rehire.

Where Did All Alberta's Money Go? – January 23, 2012
Partisan political operators are battling to define the debate over one of the most explosive issues in the coming provincial election: Why can't a wealthy province like Alberta make ends meet?

Big-Spending Alberta Irks Both Neighbours – January 23, 2012
Alberta government-approved wage rates, benefit packages and fee schedules are routinely cited by B.C. public sector workers in seeking catch-up increases in their contract bargaining.

Public Sector Wages Sap Alberta's Revenues – January 20, 2012
Alberta's public sector wage bill has increased nearly twice as fast as the national aver-age over the past decade, according to a new University of Calgary study.

High Rates of Public Sector Employment Are Costly For Manitoba Taxpayers – September 1, 2011
Although public sector employment in Manitoba is high by Canadian standards, it can gradually be brought closer into line with the national average without resorting to any drastic and sudden cuts in either government employment or spending.

Public Workers a Waste – August 31, 2011
One in four Manitobans works for the public sector, either through a government department, Crown corporation, school division, health facility, municipality or some other taxpayer-funded entity.

Balancing Act: Gradually Reducing The Size and Cost of Manitoba’s Public Sector – August 30, 2011
Ben Eisen and Jonathan Wensveen examine the cost of Manitoba’s relatively large public sector. By taking into account projected population growth, they argue that Manitoba can significantly reduce the size of its public sector in the medium-term without resorting to drastic cuts, by either freezing or making small, gradual reductions to government employment over the next decade.