Can we talk about waste without having a fit?

Work in Progress By Ivan Morgan

In 1963 Pope John XXIII was chosen as Time’s “Man of the Year.” A reporter was sent to interview him, and at one point asked him how many people worked at the Vatican.

He thought for a moment, and then said thoughtfully, “About half.”

I’m not Catholic, but that’s got to be one of my favourite quotes. After a lifetime of working his way up through that system, he knew.

Is this applicable to the provincial and federal bureaucracies? I cannot speak for the feds, but I spent 12 years amongst provincial bureaucrats, and I knew hard-working, dedicated folks we are lucky to have working for us. I have also known my share of deadwood.

What is it about government bureaucracies, their productivity or lack thereof? I think the recent pandemic is a ripe subject for a productivity study of government. I have heard many, many anecdotal stories about government employees sitting at home, on full pay, doing absolutely nothing for months and sometimes years. Too many to ignore and sweep under the table.

Clearly, I don’t think those folks should have been laid off. It was a pandemic, we didn’t know what was going on, and we all just sat it out. I worked hard from home, but I have heard many tell me they were ready, willing and able to work but were not asked to do anything.  For months and months.

The problem with asking questions like this and wondering what we can learn from this giant work stoppage, is the inevitable reflex responses. The unions will howl. The right wingers will salivate, looking for tax breaks. The questioners will be attacked. Same old same old. No thinking will occur. No study will happen.

I am interested on what the impact of a large number of bureaucrats doing nothing had on the economy, on the populace. This is the time to study that, a unique opportunity. Maybe someone at the university could conduct it, and everyone could hate them. What was the impact? From what I can gather, in many cases, little or nothing. So why do we have them on our payroll? Or, more importantly, how can we make them more effective? More productive.

A government job is many people’s dream:  good pay, good benefits, plenty of holidays, a measure of job protection, and a nice pension at the end. The Chinese call such a job an iron rice bowl.

I am here to tell you, however, it’s far from a bed of roses.

I often thank God I didn’t enter the public service until I was 50 years old. I loved the work I did before then. No savings, no benefits, no pensions, but my career was mostly meaningful work I really enjoyed. There were times we made a difference.

When I arrived in government I was shocked at the negativity, the cynicism, the fear, the apathy, the nastiness.

During my time (which was not that long ago) the problem with the provincial bureaucracy was poor morale, especially among the “executive” sector. If you are unionized you are protected (to an extent), not so the upper echelons. You can be fired at any time. I remember in 2013 members of the Dunderdale administration going from office to office in the Confederation Building firing managers. I know a guy, with many years service, who was eating his lunch at his desk when they burst in and told him he had two hours to get out.

Not pretty. Not professional. Not humane.

I also knew seasoned government workers who were offered big promotions but were told they would have to leave the protection of their union behind. “Not on your life” was the answer.

How do you measure the impact of government departments? Ask them? Obviously, they will say they are indispensable. So how? I am asking.

Here’s what I know. The current government bureaucracy is in many ways not working. We spend more on health care than we ever have, and the system is broken. We spend a fortune on education and other areas, and we are not getting the results we are paying for. We have government departments I am not even clear on what they do.

I think the pandemic and its impacts have provided an excellent opportunity for everyone to drop their agendas, think clearly, and see where we can improve what we do for each other, what we pay taxes for.

I am not going to hold my breath.

Ivan Morgan can be reached at ivan.morgan@gmail.com