Here’s hoping Musk can do it
Work in Progress By Ivan Morgan
I read a quote a while back that I can’t get out of my head. It came from renowned conservative economics professor Thomas Sowell, quoted by billionaire Elon Musk.
Asked about his new job in the US, heading a newly created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), tasked with reining in government bureaucracy, curbing government spending, and reducing regulation, Musk quoted Sowell’s observation that bureaucracies tend to value procedure over outcomes. They tend to focus on survival over purpose. He said his job will entail breaking these trends to refocus government departments on accountability, encouraging and rewarding those who get results, and fostering innovation over mere compliance.
Sounds great! Who doesn’t want that?
Why am I mentioning this? Because we really, really need this here.
We desperately need this in our own little corner of the world. I have been a student of bureaucracies my whole life. I have worked in them, I have hunted in them, I have been the victim of them. How does a large government department or Crown corporation full of intelligent, conscientious and kind people, become a giant money sucking nothingburger?
Every one of us has stories of government bureaucratic nonsense which seems to exist only to make our lives unnecessarily hard. Long delays in applications. Stupid rules that stand in the way of getting things done. Businesses stymied or killed by red tape. Unnecessary forms and paperwork designed to drive you mad. I could fill this paper with examples. I don’t need to – you all have them.
Maybe I am naive, but I am excited by this experiment in governance south of the border.
As an entrepreneur trying to get things done, Musk has faced his share of bureaucracy. He spoke of trying to get permits from NASA, the American government’s space agency, for his private space agency, and of the endless obstacles they threw up to his work. He noted how absurd it is that his company SpaceX can design and build a new type of rocket faster than NASA can shuffle the paperwork to allow him to do it.
NASA once put men on the moon. An organization with good people and focus can do that. The problem is many of today’s government departments lack focus. Many are, for want of a better word, adrift.
With three upcoming elections this year, there will be a lot of talk about issues. To my mind there is only one main issue. In the immortal words of my hero James Carville, who got Bill Clinton elected way back in 1992, “It’s the economy, stupid.”
What has government done for you? Have food prices gone down? Has rent? Fuel? Electricity?
What’s gone up? The cost of government.
Federal and provincial bureaucracies get more and more expensive yet rarely seem to address the issues you and I face. Our provincial budget last year was $10.4 billion – do you feel you are getting your money’s worth?
There’s a terrible disconnect between what we need and what we pay taxes for.
I’m not some right-wing crank who wants to fire all the bureaucrats. Clyde Wells laid off 2,000 government workers back in the early 1990s and further damaged an already faltering economy. I was there.
I want to see results from those already on the payroll. I want to see organizations repurposed to react in a timely manner to the challenges we all face – the challenges we pay them to deal with. I want to see new approaches to governing.
I want to see what Musk is going to do, so maybe, just maybe, if he has some success the idea will catch on and someone will try it here.
Musk’s a polarizing figure. Some folks love him because he’s an entrepreneur who is the richest person on Earth. Some folks hate him for the very same reason.
Do I think he will be completely successful in overcoming government waste? Hell no, but he’s going to tackle it. Do I think we can solve all our problems here? Again, hell no, but I think we should try.
Musk thinks he can make a difference. That’s the first step for anyone trying to get anything done. I think what he is going to try and do is worth a go. Maybe I am wrong, but as Musk himself said: “I’d rather be optimistic and wrong than pessimistic and right.”
Ivan Morgan can be reached at ivan.morgan@gmail.com