Quote:
Originally Posted by BIC_BAWS
while I agree that government can be inefficient, with the examples I named, they actually do quite a lot of work and everyone is very aware and mindful of public funds being spent properly. I'm of the opinion that there's a bit too much oversight creating more inefficiencies. Hell, we can't even get catering funded. If you go to a government branded event and there's food that you recognize from Costco, it's likely out of the Project Manager's own pocket.
|
This is so true - gov't can't even buy their staff dinner for a Xmas party for fear that some (nut job) taxpayer will lose their shit over the perks they get. I hear my gov't friends talk about this a lot - everything is scrutinised by someone and that someone doesn't care about reason or nuance. Meanwhile I recall spending $3300USD for 10 people to have steaks in Chicago on a business trip in 2015 and no one batted an eye - SFU, OTOH, wouldn't let me expense the beer I had in Helsinki while on business.
Maybe to clarify a point or maybe expand the topic - I think "gov't" means different things to different people. Do you think of BC Ferries, Translink, BC Hydro and ICBC as "gov't" or as "public sector"? It's easy to criticise federal and provincial gov'ts as they cover so much territory and are so far away but when I look at our local public sector agencies I see mostly well run organisations dealing with challenging problems (lack of resources, funding, aging infrastructure, constant unwarranted criticism). Try doing your private sector job when anyone can go to the news about the work you do and every expense report is fodder for the Canadian Taxpayers' Federation.