PUBLIC SERVICE (?)
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Public service as I favourably remember it, vaguely, it was some time ago; used to be something of a complimentary service, something that was paid for indirectly through your income and property taxes. The public servant was low on salary and benefits but high on job security. By all appearances he/she worked for you for nothing. Not really---by paying his/her salary and, at that time limited benefits and pension, plus providing a work place and, sometimes, a mode of transportation---you were actually paying the person quite well for the services and products that were provided to you. He/she was tantamount to being your employee!
But now public services are riddled with fees---you are paying for salaries, benefits, pensions, working facilities and vehicles through your taxes; and you continue to pay as you go for almost every service and product that the public service may bestow upon you. Now I do not have a major problem paying for some products, tangible items like licence plates and passports. But service fees are all the rage in government circles these days. I guess they take their lead from the banks. You can even be charged just to enter their premises, premises that you actually own, in order to consult with them on whatever service they might be able to provide to you---all in their good time of course. I guess they take their lead from lawyers. Hey! Lawyers and politicians, frequently one and the same, and at the top of the public service heap! Every once in a while the light comes on!
The services provided by the public service are no longer as prompt, courteous and clear-cut as they once where. Did I say riddled with fees in the preceding paragraph? How about riddled with riddles! An example! My son lost his good job late last summer---a large American firm buying out a smaller but highly successful Canadian firm. After a few months of trashing by the new owner, the domestic entity was barely recognizable and most of the jobs were gone. My son went to the Employment Office (at one time the Unemployment Office) to file for benefits. He was told to file electronically through his personal computer via the government web site and he would receive his first benefit in about six weeks. He filed electronically. After hearing nothing some six weeks later he went into the office and was informed that he had missed something on the application. He filled in the missing part and re-submitted the application; again electronically. He checked back a month later and was informed that he had made a mistake on the application but upon correction he should receive his first cheque in about a month. My son has been out of work since late September and as of the middle of February had not seen any benefit to which he is entitled. The latest excuse is that he did not return any of the little job search reports that were mailed to him. He has never received one of these reports. It is a good thing he doesnt have a family depending on him. It is good that his old Dad and Mom can pay his rent and car insurance and flip him $100 in cash every once in a while---though those options are running out fast as Mom and Dad are going broke paying taxes and fees to support inept and excessive government, even while trying to help our son maintain his independence, self-esteem and dignity.
There are two problems with the above scenario. The first is that my son should have been going into that public service office every week; he might have short-circuited the incompetence or lack of consideration and caring that have been at the forefront of this experience. The bigger problem, as I see it, is a system that likes to collect from the worker but is reticent to pay back when that worker is disadvantaged. Does this electronic application wizardry not have the means of immediate document review and two-way communication? Why was my son not informed, electronically, within a few days of submitting his application that something was missing or a mistake had been made? Why was he left in limbo each time until he re-visited the office in person? Why was his application not corrected and processed accordingly, in person by a public servant, the first time he inquired? What really irks me is that I paid into pogey, unemployment insurance, employment insurance, (who knows what the next moniker might be) for thirty years and have never collected a penny. I was lucky!
As I see it, we have a new generation of public servants who do not know who they are working for; or just do not care. They get paid regularly whether they do much of anything or not. They are now mandated by their political masters, concerned about monumental debt and deficit to focus on revenue generation; rather than service to the people. Hence, we now pay service fees for nearly anything and everything. Public servants are now tax collectors as much as they are public servants.
Public servants of this day and age take in above average pay; enjoy a complete portfolio of benefits; receive a very generous pension---usually indexed to the cost of living; and work in the best of, if not palatial, work facilities. Why are our public buildings virtual palaces, or as I like to call them, architects dreams? They all come with plenty of fancy dcor, both inside and out, with an abundance of wasted space! Compare the fire and police stations of today with those of yesteryear! Compare the variety and abundance of equipment. Compare municipal offices, health facilities and education buildings, especially school board headquarters, to those of days gone by. Then again, financial institutions and some corporate head offices are as bad, or should I say, as magnificent. All provided by the taxpayer; the worker!
Contrast this to the United States. I spent a little time in a public services building in Wisconsin back in 2001. Service was the key word; several public agencies worked out of that one story box. It was a new, rectangular building with few windows, an unadorned main entrance and several plain but clearly marked emergency exit doors. The only permanently partitioned rooms inside the entire building were the washrooms and one small meeting room. The various public agency and individual public servant work areas were partitioned off with moveable panels, more commonly known as dividers. Though their working facility was rather Spartan by Canadian standards, it was well lit, well heated, well air-conditioned, and well equipped with the latest in computers, telephones, copiers, faxes and the like. And from my take on things at the time, the American public servant was completely tuned in to his/her service function and responsibilities and who he/she was accountable to---the tax paying public! They had no fancy kitchen facilities; no fancy offices---elaborately furnished; no special parking areas. Everything was Plain Jane, adequate but effective.
Here in Canada, at least Ontario, it seems to be a little different. The public service no longer provides as much for the public; the public provides a lot for the public service.
I was born on the Bruce Peninsula on July 20, 1951 and raised on a farm just south of the village of Lionís Head, which is located about halfway up the peninsula on the Georgian Bay shoreline. I graduated from Georgian College of Applied Arts and Technology in Barrie in 1973 as a Resources Engineering Technologist. I was hired by Ducks Unlimited Canada (DUC) in April of 1975 as the first DUC employee in Ontario. Throughout almost 29 years I was involved with the implementation of more than 500 wetland projects and project complexes in southwestern and south central Ontario. Some of these habitat projects included important waterfowl and migratory bird habitat along the eastern shoreline of Lake St. Clair. Just three weeks short of completing 29 years with DUC, I accepted an early retirement opportunity effective March 31, 2004.
