More than 50 percent of Canadians say the size and cost of the federal public service should be scaled back in the years ahead, a new poll suggests.
A Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) poll conducted by Leger found that 54 percent of respondents would like to see the federal bureaucracy trimmed while 24 percent want it maintained. Only 4 percent said it should be increased and 17 percent said they were uncertain.
Demographically, those aged 35 and older were more inclined to say the size and cost of the federal bureaucracy should be reduced compared to those aged 18 to 34. A notable 61 percent of adults aged 35 and up shared this perspective, in contrast to just 34 percent of the younger demographic.
Broken down by province, Quebec was most likely to say federal bureaucracy should be reduced at 62 percent, followed by Alberta at 61 percent, and British Columbia at 53 percent. Fifty-one percent of Manitoba and Saskatchewan residents surveyed held that opinion followed by Ontario at 50 percent, and the Atlantic provinces at 49 percent.
The online survey referenced federal data showing that the government has increased its workforce by nearly 99,000 employees since 2016, with personnel expenses rising by more than 70 percent.
The Parliamentary Budget Officer reported that the bureaucracy cost taxpayers $40.2 billion in 2016. This cost escalated to $71.2 billion last year, reflecting a 77 percent increase in the expenses related to the federal bureaucracy since 2016.
CTF federal director Franco Terrazzano said the survey results indicated that Canadians don’t think adding more bureaucrats automatically means better services.
“The poll shows Canadians know they’re paying for too many federal paper pushers and want the government to shrink its bureaucracy,” Terrazzano said in a press release. “The poll also shows Canadians don’t think they’re getting value from Ottawa’s ballooning bureaucracy.”
The poll also found that half of Canadians say the standard of federal services has deteriorated since 2016, with 30 percent indicating that the service is significantly worse and 20 percent stating it is somewhat worse.
Nearly 25 percent of Canadians surveyed said they think the quality of services has stayed the same while 11 percent said services have improved. An additional 16 percent said they were uncertain.
Again, those 35 and older were more likely to have a negative view of federal services than those aged 18 to 34.
Alberta was the province with the most negative view of government services with 55 percent saying services have worsened, followed by Saskatchewan and Manitoba at 51 percent, and Ontario and the Atlantic provinces at 50 percent. Quebec was closed behind at 49 percent with B.C. bringing up the rear at 48 percent.
The survey of 1,533 adult Canadians was completed between July 25 and July 27 using Leger’s online panel. It can’t be assigned a margin of error because it was performed online, Leger said.
