When I say "bureacrat", I am referring to everyone who is paid from the public purse, at all three levels of government: departmental employees; teachers; police / fire; nurses; armed forces; etc. etc.
It has reached the point where it has gotten totally out of hand and these wages / benefits are in desparate need of being reined in - if for no other reason than to help reduce the ever-increasing tax load. I could give lots of examples but we all know in our own lives how out of whack things have become.
In a very real sense, the only party not present when negotiations take place between the government and the employees is the taxpayer and he or she is the only one that has actual money on the line. The employees present their claim for an increase, the government replies, a settlement is eventually reached and the citizen is stuck with the bill.
No doubt many of you who fall into the civil servant class are squirming with this analysis however, I too am a civil servant but I see the unfairness of expecting the hapless taxpayer to always pay up.
So what's the answer?
I like things simple - so I have come up with a very simple approach:
- Determine pay on the basis of multiples of the average mininum wage. New employees, summer students would receive pay at the first level - that is to say at minimum wage - say $9.00 per hour.
- Level 2 bureaucrats would receive 1.5 x the minimum wage or $13.50 per hour and this would continue until the Deputy Minister level - say level 11 where he or she would be paid 6 x the minimum wage or $54 which would total over $100,000 per year.
- There would be no more negotiations between two parties neither or whom have a stake in the outcome. As the minimum wage increased, so would the bureaucrats salary.
- Accordingly, Unions and various other Employee Associations would no longer be needed.
- Pensions would accrue in the same manner they do in the private sector. That is to say, Employees would be expected to contribute to their own RRSP and the government would match their contributions in accordance with the private sector standard.
- No more gold plated pensions that the humble taxpayer can only dream about and yet he is paying for it.
I was visiting friends in Belleville on the weekend - a chap I grew up with. His charming wife raised a very good question: "what happens when the government needs to hire professionals - such as lawyers or doctors, - they are going to expect more in remumeration?"
Good point, I countered - in such cases the need for such services would be tendered out on contract - just the same as if the government was buying pencils or toilet paper.
"Galagher"
