P Kevin Page made a name for himself by holding politicians to account, but now he’s calling out fellow public servants, urging them to stand up for transparency, scrutiny and good research. The former Parliamentary Budget Officer slammed the country’s top bureaucrats for weak leadership that has allowed paralyzing fear to spread throughout the public service and may leave Canada with irreversible scars. With nearly three decades of public service under his belt, Page said he has never seen people so afraid – a fear that stops them from doing research that may contradict the current government’s ideology. “We have all these big issues. We have climate change issues, aging issues, income disparity issues,” he said at a panel discussion on Thursday. “Where is the research on medium- and long-term issues? Where is the public service being non-partisan, looking for and putting this stuff out and creating debate?” Instead, Page said public servants have been cowed into silence, which may fuel a loss of faith in government among Canadians. “People stop trusting the institution,” he said. “When trust goes, I think the institutions become disconnected from the people. People stop caring and voting goes down.” Page placed the blame at the highest ranks of the public service, which he says are supposed to protect such work.
Posted on: Fri, 14 Jun 2013 03:40:18 +0000
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