It’s not an easy time for civil servants. The public views them as slow moving and entitled, a breed apart. The private sector views them as second-raters who wouldn’t or couldn’t cut it in a hard-charging world. Elected politicians often view them, in an age of populism and 24/7 media scrutiny, as roadblocks to getting things done.
The public service mantra — fearless advice, loyal implementation — gets short shrift. Politicians and their swelling ranks of aides want less advice and more implementation, and they want it on their terms.
Even the terminology has changed within the last generation: civil servants are now bureaucrats, which is shortened to the four-letter “ ’crat” in some political circles. Cue the curled lip.
Amid this challenging environment, an avalanche of publications aims to set the record straight and underline the importance of a non-partisan public service as a bumper against overweening political power and unchecked...
Drew Fagan is a former Ontario deputy minister and policy-maker with the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (Global Affairs Canada). He is now a professor at the University of Toronto’s Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy, and a Public Policy Forum fellow.
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