The final surprise is how parties in government have contributed to this slide in our politics from civility, intelligence, and an understanding that an opponent is not a blood enemy. The Harris government ripped the brains out of the Ontario public service very deliberately. As one veteran of the era reflected to me sadly, “We went from thinking and advising to being shouted at and marked on task implementation. More of us should have quit.”
The Liberals continued the dumbing down, replacing policy expertise within the OPS with kids from local campaigns anointed as “senior policy advisers” in ministers’ office, often paid six figure salaries.
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The McGuinty government increased the “short pants set” significantly after firing most of those it inherited from the Harris years. The Wynne government took the process to the lowest level ever with 578 [sic] tax paid, politically exempt staff members at the time of its defeat. There were ministers being served by no less than 25 kids carrying hilariously grand-eloquent titles for people only a few years out of school. This is not only an abuse of taxpayers dollars, it is a dumb way to run a government.
You do not get continuity, or the best advice. You do not get well-researched options to choose from. You get communications strategies for launch day that in granular detail ensure that the premier will shine.
This premier’s own communications staff were the laughing stock of their peers across Canada for their obsession with backdrops, and colour, and guest diversity over content and meaning.
