Donald J. Savoie is the author of Speaking Truth To Canadians About Their Public Service.

It is clear that Ottawa is looking to get its fiscal house in order. On the campaign trail, the Liberals and Conservatives both talked about getting the cost of government operations under control, with both, pledging to reduce spending on outside consultants, currently running at $16-billion a year. Who could possibly disagree with that?

But both parties were less forthcoming when talking about the ideal size of the public service. The Liberals pledged to implement a cap, a promise that makes some sense in a campaign because no difficult decisions are required until after the election; the commitment only matters if they win. But it also suggests that to them, the size of the federal public service is about right at current levels, even though it has grown by more than 40 per cent over the past 10 years.

Now that the Liberals are back in power, however, a cap will prove unworkable. History has shown that these efforts will invariably generate new committees and countless meetings, which will only produce reports, not actual change.

An ambitious reform of the federal........

© The Globe and Mail