Many public servants ran for federal office in last election — only one of them made it

National Observer

a day ago

Out of the many federal public servants who ran as candidates in the last federal election, only one was elected: Caroline Desrochers, the Liberal member of Parliament for Trois-Rivières, Que.
Originally from Montreal, Desrochers worked at Global Affairs Canada for almost 25 years; her first posting was in Haiti. She later worked for about a decade on Canada-US relations and was posted to New York during US President Donald Trump's first mandate.
During that time, she worked on the first round of tariffs and the renegotiation of the North American trade pact.
"I always knew one day I would want to do that," Desrochers said of entering politics, adding that she was interested in doing work that felt closer to people.
"For me, it was important to have a solid experience to come and do this kind of work."
Desrochers ran for the Liberals in the La Prairie riding in 2021 but was defeated by Bloc Québécois candidate Alain Therrien.
Desrochers said her experience in dealing with the Americans on steel and aluminum tariffs and her outreach with the US Congress will be valuable in this "consequential" moment.
Many public servants ran for federal office in the spring — only one of them made it.
She said she's also interested in working on economic development and industry issues, noting the presence of a federal port and a large steel and aluminum industry in her new riding.
This is the first time the Trois-Rivières riding has been held by a Liberal since the 1980s. It has been held most recently by Conservative, Bloc and NDP members of Parliament.
The Public Service Commission of Canada gave 54 federal public servants permission to run in the recent federal election.
Federal government employees who want to run in federal, provincial, territorial or municipal elections need to get permission from the commission, said a commission spokesperson.
Before that permission can be granted, the commission has to be satisfied that there are no risks to the political impartiality of the public service.
More federal public servants showed interest in running in the recent election than in previous years.
The commission received requests from 65 public servants for permission to run in the 2025 campaign — 11 later withdrew their requests.
The commission received 29 requests from public servants for permission to run in 2021, and 44 in 2019.
The commission granted 38 requests in 2015 and 12 in 2011. The commission says it doesn't have data on the total number of requests filed in those years.
While she's keen to work on economic issues and housing — she's now parliamentary secretary to the minister of housing and infrastructure — Desrochers said she also wants to be part of ongoing conversations about modernizing the public service.
While Prime Minister Mark Carney promised during the election to "cap," not cut, the size of the public service, most departments and agencies have since been asked to find program spending cuts of up to 15 per cent by 2028-29.
A recent report by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives said the public service could shed almost 60,000 jobs over the next four years as Ottawa looks to cut costs.
Desrochers — who worked on transforming Global Affairs Canada before the election — said she believes the public service needs to be trimmed down to make it more efficient. She said that complex processes and multiple levels of bureaucracy are slowing down the work of government.
"We owe that to the Canadian public, to be more efficient in how we do things," she said.
Reducing the size of the public service will be "a dance" and will "take some coordination," Desrochers said, because people retiring or leaving for other opportunities may not be working in the places where cuts are most needed.
Desrochers also said that the ratio of executives to non-executives is "quite high" in some departments and the plan seems to be to cut back in that area as well.
The Carney government has struck a new cabinet committee focused on government transformation. Desrochers said she already has started to engage with colleagues on that committee.
"It's important that we get it right," she said. "I hope it can be a constructive conversation also with the public service."
Desrochers said there will also be a "conversation" if some departments are unable to achieve their targets without cutting essential items and services. She said some departments may be able to cut deeper than others, which could allow other departments to make smaller cuts.
Desrochers said her main focus when Parliament returns will be housing, particularly for students.
She said she's also working on the new Build Canada Homes initiative promised by the Liberals during the election.
Desrochers said the government is exploring options for Build Canada Homes, which could become a separate agency or a unit within Housing, Infrastructure and Communities Canada.
"We're going to start doing work right now with what we have already, the programs that we have, and then we're going to see about what's the best governance of it, but our goal is really to not create more layers of bureaucracy and approvals," she said.
"This is why you do politics … to work on something that is going to have impact on people. And so, I think to have the privilege of working on that is really, it's really awesome."