Irregular service
Two years ago, I sold my old Buick sedan and, because the annual licensing sticker on my number plate was six months from expiry, a clerk at the provincial licensing bureau said I was owed C$18.50 ($123). She would not give me cash, but wrote out a credit note that I could use towards the cost of the sticker for my new car.
Two weeks later, when I purchased the new sticker, they would not give me the credit because while the old car was registered in my name alone, the new one was in my name and my wife's.
Okay, it was a small irritant and not much money but still, this is often what it is like dealing with government agencies. Their rules are of paramount importance, your convenience barely relevant. Canada is not an overly bureaucratic country but it is one that values, as the constitution states: 'peace, order and good government'. There are a great many government departments - at the federal, provincial and municipal levels - that deliver a wide range of services.
From obtaining a new passport to presenting proof that your car's exhaust emissions meet government standards or seeking a new birth certificate, it can all get pretty complicated and cumbersome. To help befuddled citizens, Canada's federal government recently created a new agency called Service Canada - which will eventually employ 22,000 people and offer one-stop access to the services of some 120 different departments. Civil service unions fear the new agency will mean a rationalisation of existing offices and massive layoffs.
Treasury Board president Reg Alcock acknowledges that there may be job cuts. He is an enthusiastic promoter of better service to citizens: he claims the federal taxation agency is already one of the most highly automated and efficient administrations of its kind in the world. Now, making it easier to pay taxes is not necessarily a big priority for most taxpayers. Still, any government that helps citizens to navigate through its maze of rules and regulations has my vote.
Last week, I had to get new number plate stickers again, I decided that, this year, I was going to get my C$18.50 credit. It took about 30 minutes at the licensing bureau. A clerk eventually made me write out a statement declaring that I would use the credit towards my own car. Her computer programme, she said, would not let her issue the sticker I needed until she had checked a box showing she had received the written statement.
One-stop shopping is a start. But if the federal initiative fails to let employees use common sense to solve problems, as the clerk in that licensing bureau was not able to do, Service Canada will just mean longer queues at fewer offices.
