Are Our Public Services At Risk?

 

“The value we bring to society is tremendous and we will continue to risk much for our cities and neighbourhoods. I dislike being in a position where I am defending our bargaining system in a public format,” he said.

 

This past week, a new addition was welcomed to our family; the professional medical care we received was top-notch, surpassed only by the human connection and empathy of the doctors, nurses and other specialists we encountered.  There was one surprise, though - on the Labour and Delivery floor walked a couple of penny-pinchers in suits carrying clipboards, looking over the medical staff's shoulders and discouraging supply use wherever possible.  The professionals we dealt with referred often to the pressure being placed on them to move patients out of the system as quickly as possible to reduce cost to the overall system. 

 

It's a theme I have come across many times in the past year or so - police officers confessing to personal and system strain due to an insufficient number of officers on patrol; obstetricians frustrated at the score of stories being circulated about the use of cosmetic Cesarean Sections, which is not reflective of their patient experiences at all; front-line service providers ranging from teachers to phone operators saying they need to put their foot down somewhere, because what is being demanded of them isn't long-term sustainable.

 

The arguments surfacing are all about money - the Political Right will decry well-heeled public servants living high of the taxpayer hog, due mostly to union interference.  The easy answer goes like this - kill the unions, roll back the extravagant wages and benefits of these police officers, paramedics, fire fighters, nurses, doctors, water inspectors, teachers, etc. and let the free market determine what their services are truly worth.  But truly, can you put a dollar value on preemptive social care?

 

I have also come across public servants who felt constrained from doing their work by the nature of the system in place.  When I was hit a number of months ago by a negligent driver, the officer who ended up with my case actively discouraged me from seeking justice, saying it would be a waste of time; he'd been through the ringer on similar cases countless times.  He sounded downright defeatist and professed a disturbing lack of faith in our justice system, seeing as how he was part of that system.  That wasn't the first or last time I have encountered front-line service providers who feel their efforts are often futile. 

 

It almost becomes a vicious circle - instead of serving a noble cause, front-line service providers come to accept they haven't enough fingers to plug all the holes in the dyke and instead look at their job as a pay cheque and try to get what they can from it; that's the trend being set up and down the social scale, after all.  As the economic watering hole shrinks, the haves are shoring up their interests at the expense of the have-nots who are beginning to believe that the cards are stacked against them.  It's wholly disheartening.

 

The same holds true for politics; the Party of Transparency has become as opaque as any in Canada's history, while the odd slip of a story of entitlement or cronyism, or perhaps down-right corruption, creeps through to an already-preoccupied public consciousness.  People are loosing faith in our public system; instead of the complete collapse that threatens in Greece, we instead face democratic death by a thousand cuts.  The pragmatic are hedging their bets and turning elsewhere than the polling booth to exert their influence and keep trouble from lapping at their shores.

 

Penny-pinching, service-hoarding, self-interest trumping social contributions - it's all very tragedy of the commons, all very feudal.  But it doesn't have to be that way.  The best public servants aren't in it for the money; it does a disservice to their contributions to think otherwise.  It's true that, given meaningful work, some food and regular acknowledgement, volunteers will work endless hours willingly on causes they believe.  The same can be true of public sector employees - if we provide decent wages and benefits, get that part out of the way, then add value to their work experience and provide the best environments for them to work in, we can motivate a whole new level of commitment, contribution, productivity and even innovation.

 

But we have to take a leap of faith to try this model out - there are few templates to follow.

 

I look at the emerging trends, then I look at the bright new face that greats me every day - and I wonder what sort of society he will inherit.  I hope that it will be a strong one.  That, after all, is what Canada should be about.