Heads Won't Roll?
BC's premier pledged to cut 'senior executive ranks' by 20 per cent, but can offer no proof it happened. Tyee calculations raise doubts.
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When Premier Gordon Campbell announced during a televised speech in February that British Columbia would run two years of deficits, he stressed that the government was already finding places to save money.
One of those places was from among the top ranks of the civil service. He promised to cut the positions for one in five of the province's senior bureaucrats. As he put it in that Feb. 2 speech, "The senior executive ranks will be reduced by 20 per cent to contribute to this overall belt-tightening."
The gesture, made at a time when British Columbians were being asked to accept deficit spending and reduced services, suggested the pain would be widespread. Within the civil service, workers in lower ranked jobs were assured the bosses' jobs would be affected as their jobs were.
But nine months later it is not at all clear that the government followed through and met its target, despite having claimed that it did. In fact, it may only be halfway there.
Government has number, no details
In an Aug. 24 email, the then head of the civil service, Jessica McDonald, wrote, "The senior executive ranks of government were reduced by 20 per cent, with a resulting savings of about $5 million."
In earlier messages she had clarified that "senior executives" included just deputy ministers and assistant deputy ministers, not managers or front line supervisors. And another message to staff said the reduction would be achieved by leaving vacancies unfilled and that it included "recent executive changes" announced in January.
The Citizens' Services ministry is responsible for managing the public service. A spokesperson for the ministry said that 165 deputy minister and assistant deputy minister positions had been cut by 33, which works out to exactly 20 percent.
But when asked for a list of which 33 positions had been cut, the spokesperson said it would not neccessarily be easy to draw together such a list.
He said he would have to set up a "technical briefing" on the subject with a ministry official, either the new deputy to the premier, Allan Seckel, or citizens' services deputy minister Kim Henderson. That was last week and neither was available by publishing time.
Using public records
A citizen or journalist who wanted to test the government's claim could, however, draw together his or her own list by combing through the most recent public accounts, the government directory and the cabinet's orders in council to compile the relevant lists.
Below are three such lists. The first is of the 21 senior executives who left the government in the time period in question, between the start of the year and September. The second list, necessary to determine the total number of senior executives, includes the 131 people who were in senior positions at the start of the year and remained in them through September. The third list is of the six people added to senior positions over that same period.
Using the figures from those lists, at best the government is halfway to its goal.
At the start of the year there were people in 152 deputy minister, associate deputy minister and assistant deputy minister positions. So for the government to cut 20 percent of them, they would need to eliminate 30 positions.
But by the end of September, the government had eliminated just 21 positions, or about 70 percent of Campbell's stated goal.
And when you add in the six appointments listed below that were made in the period, the net reduction was only 15, or about half what the government has claimed.
'Pre-election fabrication'
Even those departure figures require some generous counting. The listed of the departed includes several people who are known to have left the government, but who never had their appointments rescinded through orders in council. They are still officially in their positions, though not working in them.
It also includes at least one person who did officially leave, but who is actually still working for the government. Mike Lambert was the associate deputy minister for the Integrated Land Management Bureau until Feb. 16. He has since taken a job as an executive director in the oil and gas division of the Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources.*
The list also includes Marilyn Hedlund and Karen Dellert as having left their assistant deputy minister positions in the Ministry of Children and Family Development. Both departures were announced in a Sept. 15 email -- three weeks after McDonald said the 20 percent cut had been achieved -- though neither's order in council had been rescinded by publication time.
The only way to reach the government's figures, it would appear, would be to count people who left the government before January and well before the premier's Feb. 2, 2009 assertion. The names of another 15 people who departed can be found to reach the government's totals only by going back as far as 2007.
The onus is on the government to prove its numbers are accurate, said New Democratic Party finance critic Bruce Ralston.
"It's a pretty straightforward question," he said. If the government has really cut 33 senior executive positions, he said, it should be easy to provide a list.
"I suspect this may be another pre-election fabrication," he said. "It was all part of the pre-election package . . . They said a lot of things that were false before the election."
Deputy ministers, associate deputy ministers and assistant deputy ministers who left the government after Jan. 1, 2009:
- Antoniak, Annette; CEO Olympic Secretariat
- Freeman, Mary; associate deputy minister, Housing and Social Development
- Hesketh, Joan; deputy minister, Environment
- Lambert, Mike; associate deputy minister, Integrated Land Management Bureau (now with Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources)
- Macatee, Gordon; deputy minister, Health Services
- Mentzelopoulos, Athana; executive director, B.C. Progress Board
- Trumpy, Chris; deputy minister, Finance
- Bond, Paula; assistant deputy minister
- Bones, John G.; assistant deputy minister
- Callbeck, Douglas G.; assistant deputy minister, Management Services
- Matherson, Neil C.; assistant deputy minister, EFO
- Miller, Kathleen N.; assistant deputy minister, Transportation
- Milner, Jane Andrea; assistant deputy minister
- Phelan, William E.; assistant deputy minister
- Powell, John S.; assistant deputy minister, Corporate Services
- Reed, Janine; assistant deputy minister, Public Sector Employers' Council
- Reuther, Barbara; assistant deputy minister, Corporate Services
- Stancil, Daphne E.; assistant deputy minister, Agriculture and Lands
- Wilton, Barry T.; assistant deputy minister, Client Services
- Hedlund, Marilyn; assistant deputy minister, Ministry of Children and Family Development (announced Sept. 15)
- Dellert, Karen; assistant deputy minister, Children and Family Development (announced Sept. 15)
Total = 21
Deputy ministers, associate deputy ministers and assistant deputy ministers remaining as of September 2009:
- Brown, Martyn; deputy minister/Chief of Staff
- Brownsey, Lorne; deputy minister, Corporate Initiatives
- Byng, Dave; chief operation officer, Transportation
- Carr, Steven; chief operating officer, Integrated Land Management Bureau
- Ciceri, Robin; deputy minister, Advanced Education (who resigned in Nov.)
- De Faye, Robert; deputy minister, Aboriginal Relations
- Du Toit, Leslie; deputy minister, Children and Family Development
- Dyble, John; deputy minister, Health Services
- Fast, Don; deputy minister, Small Business
- Gorman, James; deputy minister, Education
- Hayden, Dana; deputy minister, Solicitor General
- Henderson, Kimberly; deputy minister, Citizens' Services
- James, Beth; associate deputy minister
- Junger, Robin; associate deputy minister, Environment
- Konkin, Doug; deputy minister, Environment
- Lapper, Robert; deputy minister, Labour
- MacDonald, Cairine; deputy minister, Housing and Social Development
- MacDougall, Michael; chief operating officer, Health Services
- Main, Grant; deputy minister, Healthy Living
- McDonald, Jessica; deputy minister, to the Premier (resigned in October)
- Milburn, Peter; deputy minister, Transportation
- Morhart, David; deputy solicitor general
- Norman, Ron; associate deputy minister, Public Affairs Bureau
- Pedersen, Larry; deputy minister, Agriculture and Lands
- Reimer, Gregory; deputy minister, Energy
- Seckel, Allan; deputy attorney General (now deputy minister to the premier)
- Shoemaker, Wes; deputy minister, Solicitor General
- Steenkamp, Philip; president/CEO B.C. Olympic Secretariat
- Paul Straszak; president/CEO Public Sector
- Tarras, Lynda; deputy minister, Head of Public Service Agency, Advanced Education
- Wall, Dale; deputy minister, Community and Rural Development
- Wanamaker, Lori; deputy minister, Tourism
- Whitmarsh, Graham; deputy minister, Finance
- Ahmed, Sarf; assistant deputy minister, Children and Family Development
- Archibald,W. Ralph; assistant deputy minister, Environmental Stewardship
- Armstrong, Glen Edward; assistant deputy minister, Finance
- Ayers, Karen Jean; assistant deputy minister, Housing and Social Development
- Bailey, Lynn D.; assistant deputy minister, Environment
- Baltes, Janet; assistant deputy minister, Finance
- Baskerville, Shannon; assistant deputy minister, Advanced Education and Labour Market Development
- Begg, Kevin L.; assistant deputy minister, Solicitor General
- Bethel, John; assistant deputy minister, Citizens' Services
- Blasetti, Frank; assistant deputy minister, Transportation
- Bond, Allison Hayward; assistant deputy minister, Housing and Social Development
- Bragg, Denise G.L.; assistant deputy minister, Agriculture and Lands/Environment, Corporate Services
- Brouwer, Shauna Janice; assistant deputy minister, Tourism, Culture and the Arts/Community and Rural Development, Management Services
- Brown, Stephen; assistant deputy minister, Health
- Butterfield, Renate; assistant deputy minister, Education
- Carroll, Sandra; assistant deputy minister, Transportation
- Carter, Michael T.; assistant deputy minister, Small Business, Technology and Economic Development
- Caul, Douglas; assistant deputy minister, Public Service Agency
- Cavanagh, John; assistant deputy minister, Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources
- Chopik, Kathy S.; assistant deputy minister, Premier's office
- Currie, Tami D.; assistant deputy minister, Housing and Social Development
- Davidson, Heather; assistant deputy minister, Housing and Social Development
- Dawes, Jacqueline; assistant deputy minister, Advanced Education and Labour Market Development
- Dickson, Heather J.; assistant deputy minister, Advanced Education and Labour Market Development
- Doyle, Patrick; assistant deputy minister, Children and Family Development
- Elangovan, Joan Q.; assistant deputy minister, Small Business, Technology and Economic Development
- Faganello, Tara; assistant deputy minister, Attorney General
- Fayad, Deborah A.; assistant deputy minister, Citizens' Services
- Foxcroft, Debra; assistant deputy minister, Children and Family Development
- Fraser, Lois; assistant deputy minister, Citizens' Services
- Friesen, Robert S.; assistant deputy minister, Forests and Range
- Furey, Mike; assistant deputy minister, Community and Rural Development
- Fyfe, Richard; assistant deputy attorney general
- Galbraith, David; assistant deputy minister, Healthy Living and Sport
- Gillen, Bob W.G.; assistant deputy attorney general
- Goodman, Gordon D.; assistant deputy minister, Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources
- Griffin, Sandra; assistant deputy minister, Children and Family Development
- Hackett, Stuart; assistant deputy minister, Citizens' Services
- Hansen, Brian; assistant deputy minister, Small Business, Technology and Economic Development
- Harrington, Molly; assistant deputy minister, Housing and Social Development
- Hazlewood, Andrew G.; assistant deputy minister, Healthy Living and Sport
- Hill, Wendy; assistant deputy minister, Health Services
- Hopkins, James; assistant deputy minister, Finance
- Hughes, Bette-Jo; assistant deputy minister, Citizens' Services
- Jardine, Kevin D.; assistant deputy minister, Cabinet Operations
- Jensen, Tom R.; assistant deputy minister, Community and Rural Development
- Jensen Wayne; assistant deputy minister, Citizens' Services
- Kendall, Jacquie; assistant deputy minister, Advanced Education and Labour Market Development
- Kislock, Lindsay; assistant deputy minister, Agriculture and Lands
- Knight, Craig R.; assistant deputy minister, Health Services
- Kot, Jill; assistant deputy minister, Citizens' Services
- MacFarlane, Paige; assistant deputy minister, Education
- MacLaren, Les M.; assistant deputy minister, Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources
- MacMillan, Elizabeth; assistant deputy minister, Healthy Living and Sport
- Maranda, Pierrette; assistant deputy minister, Intergovernmental Relations Secretariat
- Markwart, Alan E.; assistant deputy minister, Children and Family Development
- Mattison, James C.; assistant deputy minister, Environment
- McHale, Jerry; assistant deputy minister, Attorney General
- McKnight, Elaine; assistant deputy minister, Health Services
- Miller, Keith; assistant deputy minister, Education
- Moysey, Sharon; assistant deputy minister, Housing and Social Development
- Munro, Steve; assistant deputy minister, Aboriginal Relations and Reconciliation
- Nakagawa, Bob; assistant deputy minister, Health Services
- Nikolejsin, David J.; assistant deputy minister, Citizens' Services CIO
- Owen, Peter H.; assistant deputy minister, Education
- Paine, Julian C.; assistant deputy minister, Aboriginal Relations and Reconciliation
- Parnell, Grant G.; assistant deputy minister, Agriculture and Lands
- Paton, Arlene D.; assistant deputy minister, Aboriginal Relations and Reconciliation
- Peterson, J.D. (Dave); assistant deputy minister, Forests and Range
- Phipps, Albert O.; assistant deputy minister, Solicitor General
- Porter, Charles; assistant deputy minister, Forests and Range
- Poutney, Richard G.; assistant deputy minister, Citizens' Services
- Proudfoot, Mike A.; assistant deputy minister, Transportation
- Rasmussen, Bruce; assistant deputy minister, Citizens' Services
- Ritchie, Carol J.; assistant deputy minister, Citizens' Services
- Sasaki, Harvey W.; assistant deputy minister, Agriculture and Lands
- Schultz, Ray L.; assistant deputy minister, Community and Rural Development
- Shimkus, Jody M.; assistant deputy minister, Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources
- Sidhu, Manjit; assistant deputy minister, Health Services
- Sieben, Mark K.; chief operating officer Children and Family Development
- Smith, Terry P.; assistant deputy minister, Chief Coroner
- Snetsinger, James G.; assistant deputy minister, Chief Forester
- Soles, I James; assistant deputy minister, Small Business, Technology and Economic Development
- St. John, Valerie; assistant deputy minister, Health Services
- Sturko, Derek; assistant deputy minister, Solicitor General
- Sutherland, Craig; assistant deputy minister, Forests and Range
- Symes, Elan C.; assistant deputy minister, Finance
- Taylor, Sheila A.; assistant deputy minister, Health Services
- Townsend, Gary; assistant deputy minister, Forests and Range
- Vincent, Tom; assistant deputy minister, VP Public Sector Employers' Council
- Walman, Barbara J.; assistant deputy minister, Labour
- Walters, Peter D.;assistant deputy minister, Tourism, Culture and the Arts
- Wenezenki-Yolland Cheryl; assistant deputy minister, Finance, Comptroller General
- Wittenberg, K. Ruth; assistant deputy minister, Advanced Education and Labour Market Development
- Wood, Robert; assistant deputy minister, Attorney General
- Yardley, Jim R.; assistant deputy minister, Tourism, Culture and the Arts
- Zacharatos, Phil; assistant deputy minister, Forests and Range
- Zacharias, Mark; assistant deputy minister, Forests and Range
Total = 131
Assistant deputy ministers hired since Feb. 2, 2009:
- Bain, Nancy A.; assistant deputy minister, Transportation
- Boyd, Wes; assistant deputy minister, Healthy Living and Sport
- Denlinger, Rebecca; assistant deputy minister, Solicitor General
- Halls, Lori; assistant deputy minister, PSA Talent Management
- Morel, David; assistant deputy minister, Advanced Education and Labour Market Development
- Rogers, Carolyn; assistant deputy minister, Public Service Agency
Total = 6
*An earlier version of this story said the former deputy minister of finance Chris Trumpy is working for the Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources Ministry. The Chris Trumpy working for EMPR is in fact his son. ![[Tyee]](http://thetyee.cachefly.net/ui/img/ico_fishie.png){kind=small}
Jeffrey J.
18-11-2009
Real news, real reporting
This is how news is done! Citizens learning exactly who doing what, how many hired, how many retired. This is what 'clear and transparent' really means. And with some light shed on the shadows, we see that the bold statement of achieving 20% now looks to be an out and out falsehood. Oops.
The government forgot that the media isn't just CanWestGlobal and Black Press and newcomer Glacier Media (who just donated $100,000 to Gordon Campbell), who would never think to either question a pronouncement, or run this article. But the media now includes real news sources, like the Tyee, Public Eye, rabble.ca, etc.
Excellent coverage.
Van Isle
18-11-2009
Of those people listed, how
Of those people listed, how many are now working for VANOC and are of course still on the Government payroll? How many were let go and later were rehired on a per diem basis as consultants?
DPL
18-11-2009
Gordo has visions and says
Gordo has visions and says things he has no intenion of carrying out. The clerk threes are the ones who get booted not the well over 100,000 a year folk. We will know he is serious when his right hand man Martye Brown gets a pink slip.Or some CEO's wages come down from the stratosphere
soleprobe
18-11-2009
"But the media now includes real news sources, like the Tyee..."
Jeffrey J, do you work for Tyee? You seem to plug Tyee as being "real" and "independent" on many occasions.
The prudent individual can discover for themselves what information is "real" and "independent".
Tangler
18-11-2009
Off With Their Heads?
Something has always bothered me about government leaders and corporate CEOs who essentially "brag" about how many people they intend to sacrifice in a quest to appease voters or shareholders.
Maybe it's because I know, from experience, that the victims of periodic cost-cutting campaigns are all human beings, not digits on a spreadsheet. I also know that most of them are good people, doing good work ... and they're being paid what the job market says they should be paid for the work they do.
Why do "we" cheer when an executive head is lopped off? Why do "we" demand that more heads roll, more blood be spilled? Are we that resentful of what we perceive to be an elite, ruling class? Are we simply jealous of their material gains?
Once upon a time, "we" used to aspire to increased job responsibility, status and wealth. Now, those who achieve such things are subject to derision and contempt. What happened, and where will it lead ... to a generation and a nation of under-achievers, content to complain but unwilling to put in sufficient effort to improve their situations? I don't know.
Mr. Campbell - I'm not impressed by gleeful promises of management executions. Pledging to trim a certain percentage of the workforce, simply to pander to voters, is the sign of a poor, inexperienced and opportunistic chief executive.
Instead, promise me that you and your team will MANAGE government better; that you will ensure everyone working in government performs at a high level and brings value to the organization; that poor performers will be rooted out and sent packing; that duplication and redundancy will be kept to a minimum. In other words, promise me that you will do YOUR job.
If the net result of good management is that the employee count drops by 20%, fine. If the net result is a 0% reduction, that's fine too. I couldn't care less about the numbers - just the performance.
KWD
18-11-2009
sheeple or mushrooms?
Freebear, I fear you are right. And what’s worse, they probably won’t roll after the next election either.
The problem here, vis a vis obscene wages, can’t all be blamed on Campbell and his Liberal reichmarshalls. The voting public is not being kept informed and voter apathy is being encouraged by MSM. The sad fact is Campbell was re-elected not just because he lied, over and over, but because the voting public lacks the info it needs to make informed decisions. The consequence of recent corporate media trends … keeping the (investigative) lights low and ensuring a constant flow of MSM manure … is that you end up with mushrooms that are happy to be harvested any time the need arises.
bcliberals_suck
18-11-2009
We Cheer because it should be Off with their Useless Heads
Tangler said:
"Why do "we" cheer when an executive head is lopped off? Why do "we" demand that more heads roll, more blood be spilled? Are we that resentful of what we perceive to be an elite, ruling class? Are we simply jealous of their material gains?"
This government has created the most bloated, parasitic administration in the history of BC. Every single Ministry, Crown agency, newly created quasi-privatized organization, Health Authority etc. are filled with layers of new bureaucrats and managers. While our public and community services are slashed, while people go homeless, while for 6 years in a row BC leads Canada in child poverty. While legal aid offices are closed down & people denied representation ...
This government and it's stacked decks of incompetent @$$ ki$$ers wouldn't know good management, or governance if they fell into a pit of them. Those who really know what it means to be a true public servant have been, or are being weeded out and they are NOT the type that get promoted in this gravy train.
Just look at the Public Affairs Bureau, the most offensive government regime ever to be sucking up funds that would be more ethically spent elsewhere. Like many of the salaries given to people who quite literally produce no results, meet no performance measures as set by their own selves sometimes. These people know they have it good and will milk it for what it's worth. There are many who would never be competent enough to be hired into the private sector, nor would they last. The BC public service and bureaucracy has become rife with people who wouldn't know an honest days work, or accomplishment and ethical conduct that is in the interests of the public good. So cry me a river about the poor executives. Save the tears for the people of BC who are being screwed by paying these parasites who are sucking our province dry. You know, the people who have nowhere else to turn. The seniors who spent their lives paying into a medical system that is failing and harming them. Etc. etc.
http://bcliberalssuck.blogspot.com/2009/11/off-with-their-gigantic-inflated-heads.html
Jeffrey J.
18-11-2009
Soleprobe
Do I work for the Tyee? In my dreams. One day, I hope I can. But until then, I have to go to work at my day job, like many others, which precludes a career in writing/publishing. However, what I like and admire about the Tyee (as well as rabble.ca, Public Eye, Gush Shalom, 24 Hours) is its very pointed independence. It is SO rare, and thus, so striking.
For those interested in the fourth estate, particularly the independent minded, it doesn't take long to realize that public discussion of those in power results in blowback and flak. The more powerful the elites, the more touchy they are about criticism.
So when Canadian's are allowed to read views that expose the inner workings of power, we need to applaud that. Without the courage of these media sources (and don't forget Bill Tieleman and his groundbreaking coverage of the Basi-Virk 'corruption' trial), and without our recognition of this work, it would probably CEASE to occur.
That's why I applaud independent media. We need much, more of this recognition. Or we will revert to the pablum of CanWestGlobal, Black Press and Glacier Media, parroting the message of the Campbell regime, while the Liberals spend millions in advertising, and they donate heavily to Campbell. No thanks.
But thanks for asking.
ME2
19-11-2009
Tangler
Thank you Tangler, for your insightful and necessary contribution to this discusiion.
Which prompts me to note the prominent attitude here. It reeks of a witch hunt in which a few sacrificial heads would roll, satisfying the blood lust of some, while doing nothing positive to increase the productivity of government. What is worse, doing so would certainly make it difficult afterwards to hire good people without offering even higher remuneration.
The REAL problem which lies at the root of this mess is the obscene discrepancy between the very high wages for the managerial classes versus mere subsistence wages for those workers on the lowest rungs of the ladder.
Following the War, and up until the late Seventies, this was never much of a problem, since unions and a strong sense (in Canada at least) of social responsibility were keeping workers wages, along with the minimum wage, at a reasonable level.
But that began to quickly change in the early 80s when in order to control the perceived spectre of the "Wage-Price Spiral", wages and salaries were "frozen", theoretically to stabilise prices? HAH !!
As we have seen in the ensuing years, worker's wages have barely kept up with inflation, if at all, and consumer prices have steadily risen. But what actually happened to salaries - and profits ?? You guessed it....out of sight.
So, we could sacrifice a few of these those guys, achieve nothing, and the rest will just continue on as usual.
There is, however, a solution that the scammers cannot overcome, and for which there is plenty enough moral justification. This is to support the unions in their endless fight to keep worker’s wages in a reasonable balance to those of the managerial classes, and raise the minimum wage to at least the subsistence level, which is ABOVE $10 hr..
RickW
19-11-2009
I am not sure there is any point in beating this particular drum
The next election is in 2013. Until then, Campbell & Co. can (and do) treat BC citizenry with complete and total contempt, like any banana republic oligarch. In fact, his disdain for his "subjects" is much worse, for he has little to fear from assassination in the Wet Coast, unlike his contemporaries in other climes.
In the meantime, he and his cohorts glibly lie to the public at large, substituting innuendo for fact (I refer to Van Isle's comment above, as well as DPL's).
Or (as in this opinion piece):
http://www.timescolonist.com/opinion/Ontario+makes+Campbell+look/2236030/story.html
the prominent bobbleheads of this government simply do not answer the questions they are asked.
It is contempt of the worst sort.
The Blackbird
19-11-2009
Similar Pattern at the Vancouver Public Library
Thanks for reporting on yet another BC Liberal lie.
As reported in the Vancouver Courier yesterday,
"of the 25.6 full-time equivalent positions management proposes cutting, one would be a management position not covered by CUPE 391. The union argues more significant savings would come if more exempt managers and directors, with higher earnings, were to go. 'With exempt management getting [wage increases] of at least 23.5 per cent over five years, I think it won't kill them to have a salary freeze for 2010 and 2011 because it costs the city nothing to do, there are no contracts they're breaking,' said Alex Youngberg, CUPE 319 president."
The entire recession has been about the concentration of wealth in fewer hands, the widening of the gap between rich and poor.
The Blackbird
19-11-2009
Similar Pattern at the Vancouver Public Library
Thanks for reporting on yet another BC Liberal lie.
As reported in the Vancouver Courier yesterday,
"of the 25.6 full-time equivalent positions management proposes cutting, one would be a management position not covered by CUPE 391. The union argues more significant savings would come if more exempt managers and directors, with higher earnings, were to go. 'With exempt management getting [wage increases] of at least 23.5 per cent over five years, I think it won't kill them to have a salary freeze for 2010 and 2011 because it costs the city nothing to do, there are no contracts they're breaking,' said Alex Youngberg, CUPE 319 president."
The entire recession has been about the concentration of wealth in fewer hands, the widening of the gap between rich and poor.
Mike.J
20-11-2009
A great piece of
A great piece of investigation, and some meaningful comments from the community. What I think is important to keep in mind is that it is the POSITIONS and not the PEOPLE that were promised to be cut. These men and women at the high level have seniority and are protected from random "head rolling". The ongoing objective from Victoria is to cut managerial positions where possible, and shuffle those affected into positions deemed a higher priority. In climbing the corporate ladder, would you not hope that your career within a company or government would be protected? To demand the heads of 20% of the government executives does not help our province or our unemployment rates.
zalm
20-11-2009
Actually, Mike.J
There is no seniority at high levels - that exists in the union only. You're quite right - it's about the positions, not the people. A long-term middle-level management employee at Vancouver Coastal was recently eliminated in Facilities as all the employees were or are being "invited to reapply for new jobs", which includes a reduction in senior staff of perhaps 12 people across all sites. This fellow, despite years at his hospital, was not eligible to reapply for any of the positions left to him, and seems to have been let go. He isn't working there any more anyway.
You DO have to have your qualifications up, though. Perhaps years ago it was OK to work your way up in management with only a trades ticket, but there's simply too much to know, too much education that will make your work more successful , and if you don't participate in it for life you are pretty much assured of being out of your job in a decade or less. It's just about as ruthless in many parts of the civil service as it is in the private sector now.
...speaking as one who came from the food industry, as dog-eat-dog a business as any; and with coworkers who came from pulp and paper, aerospace and Eaton's.
ME2
21-11-2009
Right on and.....
Good points, Zalm. I find it amazing to see Lefties join in with the neocons in badmouthing public service workers at whatever level.
One would think that they could recognise that public service workers are no different, and no less "efficient" than themselves, and that by criticising them, they merely lend crediility to the neocon propaganda thar all gov't is "inefficient".
THEN, when neocon gov'ts eagerly take this as a cue to cut services or privatise them, these same Lefties howl like banshees when services are cut and / or cost more.
You think Lefties are immune to neocon propaganda? Take a very close look at what you believe to be "obviously" true, folks, you might surprise yourselves.