On employee relations

Kathryn May has written two noteworthy stories on public-sector staffing issues over the past couple of days - one focusing on depression among public servants, another on a generation gap within the federal civil service. But it's worth noting just who it is that's sending the strongest signals to actual and potential civil servants that their work isn't appreciated.

After all, the Harper Cons have told the federal employees they oversee in no uncertain terms that as far as they're concerned, public-sector jobs aren't important enough to be filled once they're vacated. Hence a strategy of attrition of existing employees - even as the Cons try to claw back the retirement benefits long promised to hardworking public employees.

And for those considering whether to go into the civil service for the future? It's bad enough that they've been met with talk of hiring freezes which send a parallel message that public service positions aren't important enough to fill. But the Cons have also sent clear signals that their hiring is based on ideology rather than merit - and of course their regular punishment of anybody who dares to provide the public with useful information would figure to drive away anybody who actually values public service over political interests.

As May notes, the Cons' attitude toward the public service hasn't yet stopped the flow of applicants - primarily since the Harper recession has left many more Canadians in need of whatever work they can get. But it's not hard to understand how being under the control of bosses who ultimately don't value the work being done might create a serious problem for the civil service. And we probably won't know just how much damage has been done until Harper loses the power to fire anybody who speaks out against him.