In a December 2022 column in Policy Options, Kathryn May conveyed Donald Savoie鈥檚 reluctant call for a royal commission to explore the state of the Canadian public service and its future direction. Many different reasons were highlighted. The public service is overloaded, relying on slow and outdated processes. There has been rapid growth after COVID and yet 鈥 despite an arguably quick pivot to implement government policies 鈥 it has been slow to handle the demand for . It also seems incapable of to access-to-information requests despite politicians鈥 trumpeting of 鈥渙pen government.鈥
We could also add that there are long-held concerns about top public servants being too responsive to the government of the day, along with central agencies micro-managing and contributing to the centralization of power in the Prime Minister鈥檚 Office. There have been concerns about declining or insufficient skills or resources, and and human resource practices that have led to a risk-averse culture.