Trump administration 2024-2028

[daftandbarmy]

It may come as a shock to some here, but most of those in the civil service and military go to work to do their job, not play partisan politics. Even those with strong political opinions.

Another shock is that new governments usually keep a good number of DM’s and ADM’s from the last government.

This sure came as a shock: the public service isn't that objective anymore, it seems...

Scott Taymun: For Canada’s public servants, blind loyalty is not good enough​

There was one theme, however, that truly unsettled me. That theme was that the values the federal public service supposedly aspires to are not truly respected anymore, nor—and more importantly—are they rewarded inside the federal public service. This view was summed up with the following comment:

Scott, we need to start telling ourselves the truth. What matters inside the public service today is not respect for core values such as integrity, stewardship, excellence, and respect for democracy. What matters is blind loyalty to the political agenda, regardless of whether taxpayers are getting good policy, programs, or results.

I was gob-smacked by the comment, and not because it didn’t resonate. In fact, it did. And then I wondered: Is it true? Is it more true today than in the past? Has the public service indeed drifted this far from its core values? And, if so, why?

In pondering these questions (as a former public servant with more than 30 years experience), it is certainly debatable whether “blind loyalty to the political agenda of the day” outweighs core values, and whether it is more or less true today than in the past. Regardless of where one lands on these questions, there is significant evidence to suggest that focusing solely on the political agenda of the day at the expense of the fundamentals of good management is not good enough for taxpayers.

Following our spring of scandals, we now have numerous auditor general reports showing a glaring lack of due diligence by public servants, or more specifically, public service managers and executives:

• The ArriveCan audit showed a blatant disregard for standard management practices;
• the McKinsey audit showed frequent disregard for procurement policies and contracting practices that often did not demonstrate value for money;
• various reports have shown a lack of oversight of the federal procurement strategy for Indigenous business, with few firms being audited (before the ArriveCan report) to verify that they met the terms and conditions of the strategy.

The list goes on. While many would like to believe that these management failures are limited to procurement, I have my doubts. Personal experience and feedback from multiple sources suggest that the focus on “loyalty to the agenda of the day” is not constrained to procurement.

Scott Taymun: For Canada’s public servants, blind loyalty is not good enough

thehub.ca

 

[Brad Sallows]

It may come as a shock to some here, but most of those in the civil service and military go to work to do their job, not play partisan politics. Even those with strong political opinions.

That might be true. It also might be true that the few who are partisan can have effect all out of proportion to their numbers, simply because the rest are "just doing their jobs". Why should I assume people working for government are less likely to act on their politics than people who work for universities?

 

[Lumber]

This sure came as a shock: the public service isn't that objective anymore, it seems...

Scott Taymun: For Canada’s public servants, blind loyalty is not good enough​

There was one theme, however, that truly unsettled me. That theme was that the values the federal public service supposedly aspires to are not truly respected anymore, nor—and more importantly—are they rewarded inside the federal public service. This view was summed up with the following comment:


I was gob-smacked by the comment, and not because it didn’t resonate. In fact, it did. And then I wondered: Is it true? Is it more true today than in the past? Has the public service indeed drifted this far from its core values? And, if so, why?

In pondering these questions (as a former public servant with more than 30 years experience), it is certainly debatable whether “blind loyalty to the political agenda of the day” outweighs core values, and whether it is more or less true today than in the past. Regardless of where one lands on these questions, there is significant evidence to suggest that focusing solely on the political agenda of the day at the expense of the fundamentals of good management is not good enough for taxpayers.

Following our spring of scandals, we now have numerous auditor general reports showing a glaring lack of due diligence by public servants, or more specifically, public service managers and executives:

• The ArriveCan audit showed a blatant disregard for standard management practices;
• the McKinsey audit showed frequent disregard for procurement policies and contracting practices that often did not demonstrate value for money;
• various reports have shown a lack of oversight of the federal procurement strategy for Indigenous business, with few firms being audited (before the ArriveCan report) to verify that they met the terms and conditions of the strategy.

The list goes on. While many would like to believe that these management failures are limited to procurement, I have my doubts. Personal experience and feedback from multiple sources suggest that the focus on “loyalty to the agenda of the day” is not constrained to procurement.

Scott Taymun: For Canada’s public servants, blind loyalty is not good enough

thehub.ca

The argument was between public servants being partisan/political vs non-partisan/a-political. There's never been any doubt (nor argument here) that public servants will be some measure ignorantly lazy and/or axtively corrupt.

 

[daftandbarmy]

The argument was between public servants being partisan/political vs non-partisan/a-political. There's never been any doubt (nor argument here) that public servants will be some measure ignorantly lazy and/or axtively corrupt.

Well, I know some good public servants in government (provincial level) who have quit/ retired early because they felt they were being pressured to 'skew' reports and other materials to make the politicians look better.

I assume the pressure to do what you need to do to keep your job is immense.

 

[OldSolduer]

Well, I know some good public servants in government (provincial level) who have quit/ retired early because they felt they were being pressured to 'skew' reports and other materials to make the politicians look better.

I assume the pressure to do what you need to do to keep your job is immense.

Changing reports here is not unheard of. Especially if it puts certain people in a bad light.