Canada's real gravy train

The Gravy Train: Canada’s Government Employees — DrSQ - Dr. Saqib Iqbal Qureshi:

"October 10, 2019 - "We’ve been using the term ‘the gravy train’ for a century to describe jobs with good pay with little work. Nowadays we use it especially for the rich and wealthy who we often accuse of earning far too much, for being far too lazy.

"The problem with this expression is that it misses the big picture. In Canada, the largest group of gravy train riders isn’t the elected politicians at the top of the government tree, or the CEO’s on Bay Street, but the 99.5 percent of government which is unelected – I am talking about ordinary civil servants.

"A record 18,300 people applied for the 14 vacancies on NASA’s astronaut program for 2017 – that’s 1 in 1,307 applicants. In contrast, in 2006, the federal government of Canada employed 380,700 people – of whom 127 per year were fired between 1999 and 2009 for misconduct or poor performance.... That’s 1 in 3,000. The chances of being fired for poor performance or misconduct from the federal government is twice as hard as it is to qualify for NASA’s astronaut program....

"Lest you’re wondering, it’s hard getting fired from provincial governments too – one Ontario teacher who made lewd remarks to female students, drank alcohol at parties with students, used profanity in the classroom and slapped female students on their buttocks received a month suspension from the Ontario College of Teachers – they didn’t even deregister him.

"Not only is it impossible to get fired by Canada’s government, but its employees are much more ‘sick’ than in the private sector. In 2018, the public sector, nurses, police, et al. took off on average 12.2 days per year for being ‘sick’.... In contrast, private sector employees took only 6.9 days off. Quebec’s civil servants might be amongst the most ill in the world - they had to take off 13 days per year....

"[W]hat more could there be? Well, you get paid more too!... In 2015, public sector employees got paid between 18 percent and 37 percent more than did their private sector counterparts. 80 percent of public sector employees had a defined pension benefits scheme, in contrast to 10 percent of the private sector.

"The next time we see the expression ‘gravy train’ we might think a bit about where the problem lies."

Read more: https://www.drsq.com/new-blog/the-gravy-train-canadas-government-employees
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Canadian government monitoring social media

Government monitoring social media for posts critical of Trudeau’s immigration record – True North News - Andrew Lawton:

July 23, 2019 - 'Bureaucrats in Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada were 'monitoring' social media posts and Reddit threads for 'misconceptions' about immigration last summer.

"Internal emails obtained exclusively by True North under Access to Information [law] reveal a team of 12 communications and social media staffers reporting and conducting 'detailed analysis' on tweets posted not only by Conservative MP Michelle Rempel and People’s Party of Canada leader Maxime Bernier, but also ordinary Canadians. The documents date to August 2018, when Bernier took aim at 'extreme multiculturalism,' sparking a national discussion....

"One of the key issues from the emails involved a Reddit thread discussing a Toronto Sun article about refugee housing at a Radisson hotel. The 'social care' team lead with IRCC said in an email that the thread 'had become bigoted in nature'.... 'The comments are unfavorable to the Prime Minister and government, and are also very un-sympathetic (sic) to those claiming asylum,' he wrote.

"In another email in the chain, a staffer says her department will 'continue to monitor' the Reddit thread, which is still online though closed for commenting by moderators in the r/Canada subreddit.... She directed one colleague to share the information with the Privy Council Office, which is the bureaucratic wing of the Prime Minister’s Office. She also assigned someone to prepare notes to brief the deputy minister, the highest ranking bureaucrat in Canada’s immigration department.

"The document also contains a two-page chart of tweets from Canadians critical of the government on immigration, labeled by whomever compiled them with descriptions such as 'Condemnation of the Trudeau government' and 'Commends (Maxime Bernier) for standing up for Canada/rails against diversity and irregular migration.' All of the tweets tagged Bernier and the department’s official Twitter handle, the report noted. It’s not known how the government is storing or using the database of tweets it’s amassing through this....

"These emails prove the public service is monitoring private citizens’ social media comments critical of the government – and sharing them with the Privy Council Office. They also show that Rempel’s and Bernier’s tweets about immigration last summer triggered enough backlash that the government needed a dozen people to work to address 'misconceptions,' suggesting they believe anyone criticizing the government’s ham-fisted approach to running immigration by virtue signalling is wrong, and in need of a dose of the state narrative."

Read more: https://tnc.news/2019/07/23/government-monitoring-social-media-for-posts-critical-of-trudeaus-immigration-record/
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Shutdown may mean brain drain to private sector

Federal shutdown's legacy may be brain drain to private sector | US news | The Guardian - Lauren Aratani and Erin Durkin:

January 30, 2019 - "The longest government shutdown in US history has come to an end, but experts fear its long-term consequences will include a brain drain among professionals.... The pain of the shutdown and fear of another one may drive away current and would-be government employees – especially those in highly skilled fields such as science, research and technology who can often command bigger paychecks in the private sector.

“The damage is profound,” said Max Stier, the president and CEO of the Partnership for Public Service. “This is something that will take a very long time to fix....

"The partial government shutdown left 800,000 federal workers without pay, either sent home from their jobs or required to work without pay.... Government workers who once thought they could count on stable, long-term employment have now realized the rug can be pulled out from under them at any time, with decisions made by politicians leaving them to spend weeks, or even months, without pay.

"Shaneece Hill, an information technology analyst who works on contract with the Food and Drug Administration, said she loves her job, but had to spend some of her time while out of work applying for other jobs, a requirement to get unemployment benefits.... She plans to see out her contract, but is now thinking about going into the private sector once it’s up.

"'You thought the government was stable, the one job that was always going to be there,' Hill said. 'Usually the school of thought is, "Oh, you have a good government job, or you have a contract job with the government. They’re always open. They’ll always be there." It just gives you another reason for that not to be true,' she said. 'I’m just exploring options for something that’s more permanent'....

“'It’s not a secret you can make more money as a defense contractor or in cybersecurity working for a private company,' said John Harmon, the vice-president of federal sales at the cybersecurity firm Endgame. 'If the government isn’t a safe place to work any more, they can look other places.'

"While conventional wisdom holds that stability is one of the draws of a government job, Stier said he believes employees are more motivated by their commitment to the mission.... That too is jeopardized by the shutdown, which forced scientists to leave fragile research languishing in the lab. 'You’re not able to do your mission, and for no good reason,' Stier said.

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/jan/30/government-shutdown-brain-drain-private-sector
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Shutdown renews call for air traffic control reform

Airline industry may renew calls for privatizing air traffic control - Business Insider - Rachel Premack:

January 27, 2019 - "The longest-ever government shutdown ended Friday, totaling 35 days. And for airlines, the effects of the shutdown can be quantified in tens of millions. Southwest Airlines said the government shutdown cost it more than $10 million. Delta said it lost $25 million in revenue during the month of January.... Federal airport workers were hit particularly hard by the shutdown, as they were forced to work without pay and missed two paychecks....

"Cowen analysts wrote in a note to investors on Friday that the myriad issues that the government shutdown foisted upon the airline industry would strengthen arguments in favor of privatizing. '[I]n our view, this is another major factor in airlines' support of setting up a private company to manage the country's air space,' Cowen analysts Helane Becker, Conor Cunningham, and Tyler Seidman wrote.

"Trade organization Airlines For America (A4A) is a major champion for the privatization cause. A4A's members include UPS, FedEx, United, Southwest, and ... six major airlines.

"In June 2017, President Donald Trump outlined a plan to 'modernize' America's skies. One of the more controversial components of that plan was to privatize the air traffic control system, which he said would help quickly update outdated technology and cut costs for consumers.

"A4A agreed with Trump's plan. 'Flight delays cost the economy $25 billion last year, and our antiquated ATC system is responsible for almost half of those delays,' the organization wrote.

"'If you look at service between the Eastern US and the West Coast, flight times today are much longer than they were 20 or 30 years ago ...' Hawaiian Airlines Chief Commercial Officer Peter Ingram told Business Insider's Benjamin Zhang in 2017 ... 'because we confine ourselves to a fraction of the available airspace because we simply don't have the ATC infrastructure to be able to support taking full advantage of that'....

"No part of Trump's modernization bill has gone through yet, but Cowen analysts said that the shutdown could certainly bolster the need for the privatization component. 'To date, bills in Congress to set up a separate corporation to manage air traffic control have gone nowhere,' they added. 'This issue could be a turning point for change.'"

Read more: https://www.businessinsider.com/airline-industry-may-renew-calls-for-privatizing-air-traffic-control-2019-1

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Lessons from the government shutdown

John Stossel: Government shutdown lessons -- We could take a chainsaw to so much of government | Fox News:

January 17, 2019 - "This government shutdown is now longer than any in history. The media keep using the word 'crisis.' But ... I see people going about their business -- families eating in restaurants, employees going to work, children playing in playgrounds, etc. I have to ask: Where’s the crisis?...

"We need some government, limited government. But most of life, the best of life, goes on without government, many of the best parts in spite of government....

"Columnist Paul Krugman calls this shutdown, 'Trump’s big libertarian experiment.' But it’s not libertarian. Government’s excessive rules are still in effect, and eventually government workers will be paid for not working. That makes this a most un-libertarian experiment. But there are lessons to be learned.

"During a shutdown when Barack Obama was president, government officials were so eager to make a point by inconveniencing people that they even stopped visitors from entering public parks. Trump’s administration isn’t doing that, so PBS found a new crisis: 'Trash cans spilling … (P)ark services can’t clean up the mess until Congress and the president reach a spending deal,' reported NewsHour. But volunteers appeared to pick up some of the trash. Given a chance, private citizens often step in to do things government says only government can do.

"The Washington Post ran a front-page headline about farmers 'reeling … because they aren’t receiving government support checks.' But why do farmers even get 'support checks'?... Most fruit and vegetable farmers get no subsidies, yet there are no shortages of peaches, plums, green beans, etc. Subsidies are a scam created by politicians who get money from wheat, cotton, corn and soybean agribusinesses. Those farmers should suck it up and live without subsidies, too.

"During shutdowns, government tells 'nonessential workers' not to come to work. But if they’re nonessential, then why do we pay 400,000 of them?...  We could take a chainsaw to so much of government.

The New York Times shrieks, 'Shutdown Curtails FDA Food Inspections!' Only if you read on do you learn that meat and poultry inspection is done by the Department of Agriculture. They’re still working.... More important, meat is usually safe not because of government -- but because of competition. Food sellers worry about their reputations ... so they take many more safety measures than government requires. One meat producer told me that they employ 2,000 more safety inspectors than the law demands....

"Even security work is done better by the private sector. At San Francisco’s airport, security lines move faster. Passengers told me, 'The screeners are nicer!' The TSA even acknowledged that those screeners are better at finding contraband. That’s because San Francisco (Kansas City, Seattle and a dozen smaller airports) privatized the screening process....

"Private contractors are better because they must compete. Perform badly, and they get fired. But government never fires itself."

Read more: https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/john-stossel-government-shutdown-lessons-we-could-take-a-chainsaw-to-so-much-of-government

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BBC TV's Yes Minister a primer on civil service

The BBC's "Yes Minister" Is Everything You Need to Know about Government - Foundation for Economic Education - Bill Wirtz:

November 18, 2018 - "The British satire show Yes Minister was unique in its display of the inner workings of government. It's as up to date as ever.

"The series ... on BBC Two between 1980 and 1988 ... has in its core the characters of Jim Hacker (the minister), Sir Humphrey Appleby (permanent secretary), and Bernard Woolley (Hacker's principal private secretary). Hacker plays the role of minister of administrative affairs, making him responsible for the British civil service and any type of reforms deemed necessary for the inner workings of the government. He is what Americans would probably describe as a 'dork': he's unable to understand the intrigue of the civil service, optimistic about his actual power, and easily swayed........

"Sir Humphrey represents the civil service: he is stubborn and opinionated, and manages to protect his interests and those of the bureaucrats with ingenious wit and plot. Humphrey characteristically says 'Yes Minister' repeatedly, though he's clearly understood to mean 'No.' Bernard ... is easily broken by Sir Humphrey and ... is also used to parody the civil service: he constantly chips in with unnecessary knowledge....

"The questions Yes Minister asks are not impertinent: Are long-term appointments of top-class civil servants really a good idea?...

"In 2015, the United States employed a total of almost 22 million government employees in federal, state, and local government.... Civil servants aren't only employees; they are, in fact, employees who vote for their bosses in significant numbers. All of the 22 million government employees vote, and they are closely associated with people (in this case their own families) who share their financial interests. When politicians do not exchange civil servants as they take office, they can get stuck with hostile and powerful bureaucrats who lobby for their own interests....

"Yes Minister shows how fear-mongering and delay are among the civil service’s tactics to stay in power. In fact, Jim Hacker continuously gets confronted with the wrath of the Deep State as soon as he tries to reform any of it.....

"[I]n today's Britain, a show like Yes Minister would be unlikely to be produced. The BBC would be worried about offending people or even ... undermining public faith in the institutions of the country."

Read more: https://fee.org/articles/the-bbcs-yes-minister-is-everything-you-need-to-know-about-government/
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Government shutdown as "libertarian experiment"

The Libertarian Experiment That Isn’t | Cato @ Liberty - Ryan Bourne:

January 11, 2018 - "According to Paul Krugman, the government shutdown amounts to a potentially big libertarian experiment. With nine departments and multiple agencies closed, maybe for months, the New York Times columnist and Nobel laureate envisages a coming test of whether the country can live without the Food and Drug Administration, the Small Business Administration and farm subsidies....

"As the vast majority of the U.S. population go about their daily lives, barely noticing that 25 percent of federal discretionary spending has been paused, it’s certainly possible many will wonder why debt is being racked up for programs that have no noticeable effect on their well-being. Who knows, many employees, businesses and farms may also reconsider the wisdom of placing their livelihoods at the whims of the political process.

"Better still, the shutdown may bring attention to these otherwise rarely-scrutinized programs. If major columnists continue identifying Cato as proponents of scrapping things such as farm subsidies and small business cronyism, linking to our research on the damaging economic, political, and social consequences of existing provisions, the shutdown could serve a useful public education role too!

"But ... shutdowns appear not to change much in regards the size and scope of government in the long term, yet bring chaos, ill-feeling and uncertainty in the short....

"Libertarians are indeed confident that, as in countries such as New Zealand, scrapping agricultural subsidies would deliver a more efficient industry, taxpayer savings, and a bigger economy. But ... temporary suspension of promised support is not an environment conducive to farmers making long-term crop or farm ownership decisions, private companies banding to form market-based food safety certification agencies, or small businesses sourcing new finance.

"Yes, economic actors will take steps to mitigate the effects of disruption. But knowing government will eventually reopen, there is little to no incentive for the new institutions to develop or businesses and farms to undertake the structural change we would see if government absented from these roles. Instead, ... [t]he natural priority for those farms, businesses and federal employees right now is to lobby successfully for the government to reopen and their payments to start flowing again....

"In fact, ... a host of other areas likely to be noticeably affected by a sustained shutdown – security screening at airports, air traffic control, and the management of national parks – are better managed in other countries with more private sector involvement. If the shutdown brings attention to this, then great.

"Overall though, libertarians are fully aware that for the real policy experiments we desire, the public and/or politicians must be convinced of the necessity or desirability for permanent policy change in a market-based direction. The best chance for success with that is in an environment where those affected can adjust in an orderly manner, and replacement private-sector institutions have time to develop."

Read more: https://www.cato.org/blog/libertarian-experiment-isnt
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