Public Service in Tough Times: Working Under Austerity in Manitoba

A scathing indictment of austerity policy

In 2016, Brian Pallister’s Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba successfully campaigned on a platform to reduce taxes and restore the balance between revenue and spending. The years that followed their victory saw wages frozen, emergency rooms closed, intensive care unit beds reduced, healthcare jobs eliminated, Manitoba Housing funding slashed, and payments to foster parents decreased, as the civil service was diminished by 27 percent.

Public Service in Tough Times gives voice to the people behind the balance sheets, shedding light on the vicious cycle of understaffing, burnout, attrition, and despair created by austerity policy. Using survey data from thousands of public sector workers and carefully compiled statistics on spending and staffing, editors Jesse Hajer, Ian Hudson, and Jennifer Keith, demonstrate how cuts to government expenditures disproportionately benefit the wealthy and exacerbate poverty and inequality.

As the virtues of small government, tax cuts, and private sector investment continue to be the rallying cry of right-leaning politicians worldwide, this impeccably researched case study delivers a crushing critique of austerity and its consequences.