Ottawa is the centre of Bureaucrat World, but it doesn't have to be. The same work can be done in Truro, Lethbridge, Moose Jaw or Chilliwack

You can save this article by registering for free here. Or sign-in if you have an account.

Things are getting rough for Canada’s federal civil servants. Not all their problems are of their own making. It’s almost tempting to feel sorry for them.

They’re an easy group to lampoon, if not always fairly. They’re better paid than people in similar jobs outside the government. They get better benefits, better pensions and they’re almost impossible to fire.

Enjoy the latest local, national and international news.

Enjoy the latest local, national and international news.

Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.

Don't have an account? Create Account

Thanks to the Trudeau government’s hiring binge, there’s more of them than ever before in Canada’s history. There were 257,034 in 2015, and 357,247 as of last year. The surge is an offshoot of the Liberals’ spending binge, which continues apace. Yet they have less and less to do, because the same government that hired them doesn’t trust them enough to handle the programs it dreams up for them. Instead, tens of billions of dollars have gone to consultancy firms and outside contractors to do the work the public service used to handle. And when those programs go awry — as they’ve done with disturbing frequency under the Liberals — the politicians hide in their offices while bureaucrats are dragged before public inquiries to be humiliated by opposition members of Parliament who would much rather be questioning the political masters who should be the ones accepting responsibility but are too craven to do so.

It’s an ugly situation, and it’s not getting better. The Trudeau government has done more to concentrate power in the Prime Minister’s........

© National Post