Canada

This signals a departure from the Trudeau government’s approach, which saw a 40-per-cent increase in the number of public service employees between 2015-24

This is a little more nuances when you also note that the population increased by 15% from 2015 to 2024. Whether or not you think this population increase is a good idea (I personally do support it for full disclosure), fact show it was driven by immigration, and I think we can all agree new residents require more services that existing ones. Given these facts, did Canada require 40% more staff to keep the same level of service?

Interestingly, neither Carney’s nor Poilievre’s perspectives acknowledge that higher program spending and larger headcounts has not led to significant improvement in public service delivery, as shown by a recent analysis by Jennifer Robson, one of our co-authors.

I disagree with this take. My interpretation of Carney’s plan is that it’s squarely aimed at improving productivity of the public sector. This speaks directly to this point — we need our public sector to be focused on delivering results. The main cost is headcount so the cost-efficiency without layoffs that is Carney’s plan will require improvements to delivery.

So it’s far from a done deal and I largely agree with the author about this being the important thing to work on. I just also think that what is being described is already the plan.