Ottawa Sun
Published: Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Push to save more

If you didn’t already know, it’s National Public Service week across Canada. As for mothers and us dads, well, we just get a dinky day out of 365 while our federal bureaucrats get an entire week in the 52-week calendar. This seems to be a clear-cut case of discrimination against moms and dads but alas, I have no holiday human rights commission or tribunal to whom I can launch a complaint ... yet.

But in all seriousness, we are, for the most part, well served by the estimated 400,000 people who work across the federal domain in the various arms of government and para-public institutions. Ditto for those folks who work at the provincial and municipal levels as well, both on the front lines and in back offices.

To kick off and commemorate National Public Service week, two key announcements came out of the office of Treasury Board President Stockwell Day on Monday. First up was the annual listing of recipients for Public Service Awards of Excellence across 10 categories including career achievement, excellence in citizen-focused service delivery, innovation, employment equity and diversity, official languages and youth.

Indeed, a quick scan of the Treasury Board website and associated release links reveal some inspiring stories of good government and proper and respectful spending of our tax dollars.

The other release which has caused a stir among some in the union leadership in the federal public service was entitled: “Public Service Employees to be Rewarded for Finding Savings.” In a nutshell, public servants could receive up to 10% of measured savings to a maximum of $10,000 if their savings suggestion, subject to a proper audit, can show real savings and improved service after a year or more. Wonder if it will be taxed, but I digress.

This initiative, dubbed the Employee Innovation Program, will run as a two-year pilot starting this fall across eight federal departments. Similar programs are running in the United States and other Canadian jurisdictions. In fact I remember working as a summer student almost 25 years ago at public works when a similar type of initiative, the Suggestion Awards Program, was in effect.

Opponents of this new program complain that it’s a “cash for cuts” program that will sap employee morale and pit colleagues against each other in a race for scarcer budget dollars. But this argument doesn’t hold water.

Employees in the federal bureaucracy proudly compete for the annual awards of excellence and this doesn’t sap morale: their pursuit of innovation and excellence is to be celebrated. As for scarce resources, this is a reality of every single budget cycle and will only become more pronounced as strategic review exercises continue to expand across the federal bureaucracy in coming years. And here’s a newsflash for all concerned, everyone has a responsibility in taming our historic budget deficit.

Moreover, we must also remember that federal public servants are taxpayers too and it only makes sense to challenge those closest to and most intimate with the operations of government to help make it more cost-efficient and effective while still meeting the everyday needs of Canadians.

The only question left for me is whether this program applies to opposition MPs as well. Apparently they have a few G8 and G20 conference savings suggestions for the government to consider.