One would think that, by now, the Conservatives must be running low on qualified civil servants to run the countries countless federal agencies. In the last year alone, the government has lost more civil servants to resignation, dismissal, and demotion than most fast food restaurants. And that’s saying something.
It surfaces in the news every few weeks, and lately, every week. Another dedicated civil servant, who has spent most of their life working in the public sector, is out of a job. In most cases because they don’t agree with the current governments agenda.
Lets not forget that these senior public servants are supposed to act non-partisan, much like the agencies they manage, so agreeing with everything the Conservatives do is not only unlikely to happen, its expected that it wont happen.
Of course, a typical government would use these agencies to provide advice, so much of the governments decisions would be acceptable to the said agencies.
What we are seeing lately, however, is a government making decisions without the advice of the agencies. As such, we are starting to see these agencies voice their opinions and advice publicly, in the hopes of being heard by a government that doesn’t want to listen.
What happens when a federal agency takes on the federal government? The head of the said agency gets fired, demoted, or forced to resign. What’s wrong with this? Canadians lose intelligent, qualified, and dedicated civil servants, and as such, we can expect our services to suffer.
Let us take a look at some of these civil servants. We have the head of StatsCan, the Veterans Ombudsman, the head of the Gun Registry, the Victims of Crime Ombudsman, and of course, the Governor General to name a few. The list is long and growing.
You can’t govern a country this way. These civil servants are experts in their fields. They are appointed to the position to provide the government with advice on how to better our country. A government that turns its back on the experts and facts, and removes anyone that has a difference of opinion; that is a scary thought.
