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Trump administration 2024-2028

RangerRay said:
It may come as a shock to some here, but most of those in the civil service and military go to work to do their job, not play partisan politics. Even those with strong political opinions.

Another shock is that new governments usually keep a good number of DM’s and ADM’s from the last government.
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This sure came as a shock: the public service isn't that objective anymore, it seems...

Scott Taymun: For Canada’s public servants, blind loyalty is not good enough​


There was one theme, however, that truly unsettled me. That theme was that the values the federal public service supposedly aspires to are not truly respected anymore, nor—and more importantly—are they rewarded inside the federal public service. This view was summed up with the following comment:

Scott, we need to start telling ourselves the truth. What matters inside the public service today is not respect for core values such as integrity, stewardship, excellence, and respect for democracy. What matters is blind loyalty to the political agenda, regardless of whether taxpayers are getting good policy, programs, or results.
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I was gob-smacked by the comment, and not because it didn’t resonate. In fact, it did. And then I wondered: Is it true? Is it more true today than in the past? Has the public service indeed drifted this far from its core values? And, if so, why?

In pondering these questions (as a former public servant with more than 30 years experience), it is certainly debatable whether “blind loyalty to the political agenda of the day” outweighs core values, and whether it is more or less true today than in the past. Regardless of where one lands on these questions, there is significant evidence to suggest that focusing solely on the political agenda of the day at the expense of the fundamentals of good management is not good enough for taxpayers.

Following our spring of scandals, we now have numerous auditor general reports showing a glaring lack of due diligence by public servants, or more specifically, public service managers and executives:

  • The ArriveCan audit showed a blatant disregard for standard management practices;
  • the McKinsey audit showed frequent disregard for procurement policies and contracting practices that often did not demonstrate value for money;
  • various reports have shown a lack of oversight of the federal procurement strategy for Indigenous business, with few firms being audited (before the ArriveCan report) to verify that they met the terms and conditions of the strategy.
The list goes on. While many would like to believe that these management failures are limited to procurement, I have my doubts. Personal experience and feedback from multiple sources suggest that the focus on “loyalty to the agenda of the day” is not constrained to procurement.

thehub.ca

Scott Taymun: For Canada’s public servants, blind loyalty is not good enough

thehub.ca thehub.ca
 
RangerRay said:
It may come as a shock to some here, but most of those in the civil service and military go to work to do their job, not play partisan politics. Even those with strong political opinions.
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That might be true. It also might be true that the few who are partisan can have effect all out of proportion to their numbers, simply because the rest are "just doing their jobs". Why should I assume people working for government are less likely to act on their politics than people who work for universities?
 
daftandbarmy said:
This sure came as a shock: the public service isn't that objective anymore, it seems...

Scott Taymun: For Canada’s public servants, blind loyalty is not good enough​


There was one theme, however, that truly unsettled me. That theme was that the values the federal public service supposedly aspires to are not truly respected anymore, nor—and more importantly—are they rewarded inside the federal public service. This view was summed up with the following comment:


I was gob-smacked by the comment, and not because it didn’t resonate. In fact, it did. And then I wondered: Is it true? Is it more true today than in the past? Has the public service indeed drifted this far from its core values? And, if so, why?

In pondering these questions (as a former public servant with more than 30 years experience), it is certainly debatable whether “blind loyalty to the political agenda of the day” outweighs core values, and whether it is more or less true today than in the past. Regardless of where one lands on these questions, there is significant evidence to suggest that focusing solely on the political agenda of the day at the expense of the fundamentals of good management is not good enough for taxpayers.

Following our spring of scandals, we now have numerous auditor general reports showing a glaring lack of due diligence by public servants, or more specifically, public service managers and executives:

  • The ArriveCan audit showed a blatant disregard for standard management practices;
  • the McKinsey audit showed frequent disregard for procurement policies and contracting practices that often did not demonstrate value for money;
  • various reports have shown a lack of oversight of the federal procurement strategy for Indigenous business, with few firms being audited (before the ArriveCan report) to verify that they met the terms and conditions of the strategy.
The list goes on. While many would like to believe that these management failures are limited to procurement, I have my doubts. Personal experience and feedback from multiple sources suggest that the focus on “loyalty to the agenda of the day” is not constrained to procurement.

thehub.ca

Scott Taymun: For Canada’s public servants, blind loyalty is not good enough

thehub.ca thehub.ca
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The argument was between public servants being partisan/political vs non-partisan/a-political. There's never been any doubt (nor argument here) that public servants will be some measure ignorantly lazy and/or axtively corrupt.
 
Lumber said:
The argument was between public servants being partisan/political vs non-partisan/a-political. There's never been any doubt (nor argument here) that public servants will be some measure ignorantly lazy and/or axtively corrupt.
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Well, I know some good public servants in government (provincial level) who have quit/ retired early because they felt they were being pressured to 'skew' reports and other materials to make the politicians look better.

I assume the pressure to do what you need to do to keep your job is immense.
 
daftandbarmy said:
Well, I know some good public servants in government (provincial level) who have quit/ retired early because they felt they were being pressured to 'skew' reports and other materials to make the politicians look better.

I assume the pressure to do what you need to do to keep your job is immense.
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Changing reports here is not unheard of. Especially if it puts certain people in a bad light.
 
Well it may be interesting if an email was sent to all VAC employees including the Minister.

Found the following interesting from a retired USMC LtCol Inf Bn CO. In the first video he does mention why he retired. Several informative videos on his channel.

Is The Trump Purge of the Pentagon Enough, or More Must Be Done?​

Trump's New General, A Winner or a Dud Like Others?​

 
MilEME09 said:
And the first casualty, a NATO logistics hub in Greece

https://twitter.com/x/status/1893977355049222640
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Gonna have to wait for more solid confirmation. So far it's only a single Greek newspaper reporting this as a possibility, and then you have defence-blog here going a bit further as if it's already decided (if it's even at thing at all). Wasn't this base also slated for a significant expansion as a major naval hub back in 2022?

EDIT:
2022 announcement.
www.hurriyetdailynews.com

Alexandroupoli to become US naval base: Greek media - Türkiye News

The U.S. aims to transform the Alexandroupoli port, which it has used for the shipment of weapons and personnel to the Balkans and Europe in recent years, into a military naval base, the Greek media has claimed.
www.hurriyetdailynews.com www.hurriyetdailynews.com

EDIT 2:
The newspaper in question, if the article exists it's not online yet.
www.dimokratia.gr

Εφημερίδα ΔΗΜΟΚΡΑΤΙΑ

www.dimokratia.gr www.dimokratia.gr
 
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HavokFour said:
Gonna have to wait for more solid confirmation. So far it's only a single Greek newspaper reporting this as a possibility, and then you have defence-blog here going a bit further as if it's already decided (if it's even at thing at all). Wasn't this base also slated for a significant expansion as a major naval hub back in 2022?
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Well it's being reported by Tass and Pravda so it must be true, right???
 
daftandbarmy said:
Well, I know some good public servants in government (provincial level) who have quit/ retired early because they felt they were being pressured to 'skew' reports and other materials to make the politicians look better.

I assume the pressure to do what you need to do to keep your job is immense.
Click to expand...

Thereby leaving the field to the political...

The other question is "When?"

When does the public service opt to be apolitical non-partisan and when does it opt to be supportive of the government of the day?



Justin Trudeau joyfully mobbed by federal civil servants​

New PM tells departmental staff his cabinet will need the civil service's help​

Julie Van Dusen · CBC News · Posted: Nov 06, 2015 3:36 PM MST | Last Updated: November 8, 2015

Things have transformed. Just two days after Justin Trudeau's cabinet was sworn in, it's become a different world for a political reporter.

And the civil service is behaving differently too.

Friday morning, CBC News heard that there was an orientation meeting for new cabinet ministers in Ottawa. After some snooping around, a crew ended up at the Lester B. Pearson Building on Sussex Drive, home to offices for the Foreign Affairs Department.
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Crowd formed to cheer ministers
But then something truly unexpected happened.

Word went out that ministers would be making a statement about U.S. President Barack Obama's decision to reject the Keystone XL pipeline, which would have carried oil from the Prairies to Gulf Coast refineries. But it wasn't clear who would be doing the talking.

Dozens of staffers lined the conference hall. They were mostly women, all holding their smartphones at the ready.

They were waiting to see Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Several cabinet ministers left the meeting.

Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould was hugged as she made her way out.

Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan, Agriculture Minister Lawrence MacAulay and Science Minister Kirsty Duncan left too. They were all cheered.
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Booing for negative question​

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'You've got it'​

Suddenly there was a buzz and the crowd moved forward.

Trudeau appeared and began to make his way out of the building. He was swarmed. Many took photos and even selfies along the way.

The prime minister was hugged. Cheers erupted. He smiled, waved and stopped by the door.

He thanked the crowd for supporting the members of his cabinet, who had just left.

Then he continued: "We're going to need every single one of you to give us, as you always do, your absolute best."

They applauded and cheered some more. Some yelled back: "You've got it."

One longtime staffer nearby said he'd never seen anything like it. Not in all of his years.

And it might not be the only instance of a crowd forming to welcome a minister Friday.

On Facebook, a photo circulated of civil servants at another location waiting to greet Sajjan.
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Our new selection of friends and enemies?

Interesting that the only countries Trump seemed to carry with him to the Russian camp were Haiti and Israel.....

The Chinese and the Arabs are sitting this one out - including Trump's new Saudi buddies. As are the Indians.

Africa and Latin America - The Prizes.
 
Kirkhill said:
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Our new selection of friends and enemies?

Interesting that the only countries Trump seemed to carry with him to the Russian camp were Haiti and Israel.....

The Chinese and the Arabs are sitting this one out - including Trump's new Saudi buddies. As are the Indians.

Africa and Latin America - The Prizes.
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Well Israeli shouldn’t be a shock. They see this precedent as legal defense against complaints against them if they chose to want to keep Gaza or go elsewhere.

But I think Canada and the Uk should invade Nicaragua, for nothing more of a reason than you need someplace to snowbird now that Trumps make Florida unpalatable.
 
FWIW most of Africa voted the way China voted, for very specific reasons.

The Red Africans are already Russian aligned.

Not sure I’d call Argentina, Paraguay and Brazil prizes..
 
A lot of the old "non-aligned" nations in yellow. Old habits die hard: they will abstain whenever it involves the West/US/Russia.
 
QV said:
The US is close to inking a deal for Ukraine's minerals. What does this do?

Denies them to Russia.
Creates closer links between US/Ukraine through economic partnership (instead of NATO), again denying Russia that link.
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Hah, no. Not even close.


HavokFour said:

Well this certainly might confirm some things.
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Note this part: “Putin said that potential rare earth metals exploration deals could also be extended to deposits in territory in eastern Ukraine that Russia controls after three years of military action.”

So basically Putin is offering Trump a deal literally rooted in Russia plundering Ukrainian asserts seized by illegal invasion. And there’s a really possibility Trump will be just fine with that.

The hypocrisy from the U.S. administration knows no bounds.
 
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