The public sector should be run like a private sector company

The ongoing Canada Post strike is simply a symptom of an overall issue: there are far too many public sector jobs being supported by our tax dollars.

The fact that so many of the postal workers and many, many others at all levels of government are making more than the Canadian average, getting benefits, and other perks but still choose to complain is rubbing many taxpayers the wrong way.

The cashier at your local grocery store can’t go on strike. The florist who owns her own shop can’t go on strike. My friends that own restaurants and cafes and printer companies and publishing businesses can’t go on strike.

My other friends (and one very special family member) in healthcare can’t go on strike. Neither can my friends in the media or legal businesses.

All the self-employed contractors and freelancers are hustling their butts off and not complaining about it.

None of us can on strike or our families would eventually suffer.

But, sure enough, the people with the least ambition and cushiest careers who are being supported by our tax dollars always seem to find a reason to complain, a reason to strike, and so many unreasonable requests.

Yeah. I’m writing and speaking out because everyone else is too scared to “go against the union.” Look, I’m not against the individual workers (which I’m sure don’t want to be walking picket lines right now).

However, I am against overspending at the public, tax supported level. I am against union heads and union bosses who are justifying their positions by stirring the pot and drawing lines in the sand rather than asking for something reasonable, getting the deal done and moving on.

Middle Class Paying for It

On top of all this, do you know who is paying for it all? The middle class. Whether it’s the lower, middle, or upper middle class, these are the people who are paying for everything in our country.

Everyone from the grocery store manager to the administrators to the retail store staff to the bank staff to the journalists to the teachers and everyone in between.

How do I know this?

Thanks to an awesome study released in April by the Fraser Institute, an independent, non-partisan Canadian public policy think-tank released in April, we see the results of marginal effective tax rates negatively impact lower to middle income earners more than anyone else.

According to the study, which can be found here, Some lower income earners in Ontario, when factoring in tax rates and a loss of benefits, are only bringing home 40 cents on the dollar in net income. Even the middle-middle class can lose up to 50% of their earnings in the net.

Overblown salaries and wages

Meanwhile, staff members at all three levels of government employees earning well above what the private sector will pay for the same roles.

According to studies done in 2023, government sector employees get paid 8.5 per cent more than private sector employees for similar work, retire 2.4 years earlier, takes five more personal days away from work per year, experiences five times less job loss, and is almost nine times more likely to have guaranteed retirement income through a pension.

The 2024 federal budget is projected to be $538 billion in expenditures and $498 billion in revenues, resulting in a deficit of $40 billion. It’s difficult to find the exact percentage and spending on staffing, but several reports estimate that it’s at least 21 per cent of the budget – or around $112 billion annually.

So, you’re telling me, that you can’t find $40 billion in redundant jobs and unnecessary spending? I promise you a private sector CEO could find that in minutes.

The Province of Ontario is set to spend around $50 billion of their 2024 budget on salaries and wages. That’s around 23 per cent of their expense budget. Considering there will be an estimated $6.6 billion deficit, it’s conceivable that there are more than enough savings to be had by finding efficiencies and reducing salaries and wages spending in the budget.

The percentage of taxes that go towards overpaying government staff gets worse as you get into municipal politics.

Some municipalities have well over 50 per cent of taxes go to the salaries, wages, and benefits line of the budget. In many cases, it means less funds for community programming, facilities improvements (which are always subcontracted out anyways), and other important items that taxpayers want their money going towards.

Enough is enough

And we’re not even including the gross salaries and pensions being received by elected officials at the federal level. Do we even still need a senate? Alas, that’s an upcoming piece on its own.

Federally, even provincially, there is too much representation and not enough action worthy of the renumeration in many cases.

Never do we see spending done on valuable items like healthcare and education, but rather on programs like DEI (diversity, equality, inclusiveness), special days that don’t need to be special days, trips for the prime minister and his cronies, special meetings for provincial representatives, and other bureaucratic nonsense that is only about securing votes to stay in power.

The worst part is while the fat cats in the governments are eating well and living in nice homes, so many of our countrymen are one pay cheque away from bankruptcy, homelessness, and not being able to feed their families.

Housing affordability has evolved from a looming issue to an urgent crisis affecting millions of Canadians. For many, the dream of homeownership feels out of reach, with rising costs and stagnant wages creating significant barriers. 

A new survey conducted by Leger for EveryRate.ca found that 67 per cent of Canadians can’t comfortably afford housing costs above $1,749 per month. Despite this, the average monthly mortgage payment sits at $1,829, according to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC).  The craziest part is that 42 per cent of respondents are earning over $100,000 per year.

Enough is enough. It’s time to privatize Canada Post and other government organizations that are not being run properly.

It’s time to reduce the number of public sector jobs. And its far past time to elect people at every single political level (municipal, provincial, federal) with the cojones to do the job right.

Governments and government agencies need to be run like private sector companies. Trimming the fat, which is in abundance (both literally and figuratively), needs to start happening sooner than later.

We’re tired of our taxes going up and up and up but not receiving any value for it. We’re tired of paying for undeserving people’s vacations. We’re tired of the public sector making more than the private sector for equal work.

It’s time Canadians stood up and said no more. It’s time to demand smaller government with less staff spending and more financial accountability. It’s time for the tax paying public to remember we’re the bosses and they work for us.