The Assault on Government

Government is not the enemy. So why is everybody attacking?

Last month, President Obama gave an eloquent and balanced defence of government, something few politicians have done over the past few years, including here in Canada. In this speech, he tells an audience of students that there are some important things that we can only do together and that’s what government is. “Government is us,” he says, not some foreign threat. The police and fire fighters and correctional workers and diplomats are our government, as are the doctors, nurses, and technicians who deliver medicare on our collective behalf, as are the teachers and curators, the soldiers and aid workers and the scientists who watch over the safety of our food and drugs and preserve our natural resources, as are the administrators and policy makers and regulators.

An unrelenting and escalating assault on government is changing public attitudes. We rarely hear people talk anymore about politics and public service as a noble calling. We are more likely to hear derision. Even many of those in the private sector who now take such comfort and pride in the performance of our financial sector were not so long ago deriding politicians and bureaucrats for “not getting it” when they opposed bank mergers or the conglomerations of banks and insurance companies. We quickly lose sight of the fact that our regulatory system and the “bureaucrats” who uphold it were key to our performance. In this climate, politicians and private sector leaders instead too often compete in government bashing. When is the last time we heard a speech here in Canada on the importance of government and the value of our public service?

Even more troubling, the assault on government is changing government. I mean the layers of rules and oversight that make every action slower and more expensive. I mean the reporting requirements that make it expensive for third parties to deliver and impossible for small non-governmental organizations to work with government. I mean the focus on control over results and rules over values. I mean the instinct to impose more restrictions and controls in response to any misstep that makes the headlines. I mean the growing climate of fear that leads to risk avoidance and even paralysis just when we need ingenuity and creativity. An organization built on mistrust won’t be able to deliver the goods.

I also mean the endless cycle of nickel and dime cuts to the operations of government. I can hear the outcry now about a public servant (former) defending his own or promoting big government or putting the interests of government ahead of those we serve. All nonsense. These cuts have little to do with the size of government, and they serve nobody’s interests.