Justin Trudeau has added 100,000 bureaucrats to the federal apparatus since his arrival, but that has not improved services. François Legault, who promised to reduce the size of the administration in Quebec, has instead inflated it, adding 10,000 new civil servants, but we still cannot find a family doctor.
François Legault arrived as Prime Minister of Quebec in 2018 with an exceptional track record under his belt.
When you have experienced both the private and public sectors at a very high level, you can afford to provide a diagnosis of the repairs to be made.
Legault had been minister responsible for the two most important files of the Quebec government: Health and Education. He knew what he was talking about.
With Trudeau, it was a different story. He had no serious experience in administration, private or public, before becoming head of a G7 country. He knew politics better than anyone, but even today, he seems to have never understood that we do politics to better manage the government and thus improve people’s lives.
Easy promises
It is always fashionable for parties aspiring to power to criticize the number of “rounders” in the bureaucracy.
Legault did it to get elected. Poilievre is doing the same today.
However, a prime minister is the most important of all the ministers who govern us.
He is the one who chooses all the others.
It is therefore the Prime Minister who is responsible for the good and bad moves of his government. And in both cases, Quebec and Ottawa, the bad luck increases at the same time as the size of the State!
Image priority
Upon leaving his position as Minister of Finance in Ottawa, Bill Morneau wrote an interesting book on Trudeau’s governance.
Morneau explained that everything revolved around Trudeau himself. On his person. In his image. On its popularity. Very little attention was paid to results.
Like a tired juggler, Trudeau’s heavy tendency to prioritize image over substance is starting to let everything fall to the ground.
Public administration in Ottawa is in a critical state and Trudeau has no experience or expertise to fix it.
It’s starting to look like a lost cause and Poilievre is taking advantage.
Hope
François Legault made excellent choices of ministers and his government succeeded very well as a result.
Let’s think of Sonia LeBel at the Treasury Board, Christian Dubé at Health or Christine Fréchette at Immigration. Exceptionally tough files where they do really well.
On the other side of the coin, it is becoming increasingly difficult to understand why some ministers are still in place.
With the boondoggles and dirty tricks in Housing, Higher Education, Cybersecurity and Digital, Legault, the public administrator, must assume his responsibilities.
A major shake-up and a fresh start are required.