Do as I say, not as I work

The federal Treasury Board Secretariat decreed last week that civil servants would be required to spend a minimum of three days a week in the office. That’s a surprise. The pandemic is over.

Most people assumed federal public servants were already back in the office — full time.

Unsurprisingly, there’s pushback from the unions.

Sharon Desousa, National Executive Vicepresident of the Public Service Alliance of

Canada told an Ottawa radio station that,

“Without a doubt, we are going to take legal recourse and we will be fighting it,” she said.

Will they strike? If so, will they picket their workplace — which in this case is their own homes?

Employers — that is, taxpayers — have every right to tell workers where they should report to work.

In many cases, work from home is effective.

That doesn’t seem to be the case in the public service, where the government has added 100,000 employees since 2015, with nearly 70% of that growth happening since 2019 — coincidentally, when the pandemic hit and workers went home.

The more civil servants work from home, the more civil servants we need, which suggests a productivity problem.

This is a classic case of do as I say, not as

I do. It will be hard for the government to argue that working from home is inefficient, since Parliament itself is in a hybrid mode.

In February, several Liberal MPS were quoted in the online publication Politico saying they don’t intend to return to Parliament Hill any time soon, preferring the flexibility of working from home.

Toronto area MP Nate Erskine-smith said he spends a lot time in his constituency: “If you want serious people, younger people, people who want to be good spouses and be good parents to do this job … there has to be a certain level of flexibility to work remotely.”

If Parliament returned to a full in-person proceeding, “there’s no chance I’d run again,” he said.

Well, so long. Farewell. Auf wiedersehen and goodbye, Mr. Erskine-smith. It used to be an honour to stand in the hallowed halls of the House of Commons and vote on behalf of your constituents.

Great leaders lead by example — and not in their pyjamas. If you want civil servants to return to work, MPS must show the way.