Publisher's Message (December 2009) -

A reckoning is coming. I really believe this. I have had the experience of working in government, politics, the business sector as an Executive for a Fortune 500 Company, as an entrepreneur and, of course, in the media. I suppose this provides me with a broad perspective and enables me to make credible observations about the workforce, and our society today. Maybe, after reading the observations below, you will feel entitled to disagree!

A recent study by the Canadian Federation of Independent Business shines a light on the public/private sector wage gap. It found that public sector workers across Canada earn 8 to 17 per cent more than people with jobs in the private sector. At the municipal level, the wage advantage is almost 12 per cent higher, at the provincial level, it is 8 per cent higher, and at the federal level, it is 17.5 per cent higher. Government workers also get better benefits and pensions, their workweeks are shorter by an average of 4 hours, and they get more vacation and sick leave. Now admittedly, a study prepared by the CFIB has some issues with credibility and it would be fair to acknowledge a bias toward a finding that supports public sector cuts. Nonetheless, as the OC Transpo strike exemplifies, there has been a growing sense of entitlement within the public sector that may point to a greater societal issue. Just take the e-Health debacle for example. Several senior Ontario Health Ministry officials set up a consulting firm while they were still public servants to get contracts from e-Health for their “company”. What were they thinking? Why did no one say anything? Why were they not fired? Maybe they were getting their inspiration from former Nortel CEO Mike Zafirovski. He demanded millions of dollars for himself while watching his Nortel employees and pensioners lose everything. It is morality drawn from the same pool as Bishop Raymond Lahey’s; greed, self-gratification and ego.

If I was the CEO of Nortel, I would have gone to the wall to make sure, if the company was going into bankruptcy, that everyone’s pensions would be protected. This would have been my #1 priority. I would have been too ashamed to ask for a cent. There is no shame today. We have all been outraged by this seemingly ongoing saga of corporate fraud, the bloated salaries, and bonuses paid to executives or demanded by executives, like Zafirovski in the private sector. These examples are indicative of an alarming shift in our society’s morality.

How is it that we have “evolved” from the Greatest Generation of World War II, whose notion of personal sacrifice crushed the Nazis and fascist movements worldwide, to our generation where ‘satisfaction of the self ’ seems to be one’s highest calling. Where have we gone wrong? Has our endless cycle of consumption and technological achievement led us to a world where we are no longer our brother’s or our sister’s keeper?

Perhaps this message is a dark note upon which Ottawa Life begins its Christmas issue but for me, the holidays should be a period of renewal of family and societal ties. The onset of the New Year provides us with opportunity to reflect on who we are and the kind of society in which we hope to live. We need to step beyond the “what’s in it for me?” mentality and begin thinking about “what’s in it for us?” As I said earlier, a day of reckoning is upon us. There are choices to be made. We can continue upon this reckless route of self-gratification where me, me, me becomes our calling card or we can reach out to others, the poor, the marginalized and even, each other, and work harder at building a city where the notion of personal sacrifice is not an antiquated notion. It is your choice Ottawa.