Peckford: Remote workers benefit bedroom communities

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In recent weeks, Ottawa Mayor Mark Sutcliffe and Ontario’s Premier have appealed to federal Minister Anita Anand to get public servants “back to the office” more days a week in Ottawa’s downtown core. News from an anonymous Ottawa insider suggested this message is being heeded.

As mayor of a high-growth community south of Ottawa, I find this development troubling.

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The call for more public servants to get back to Ottawa is partly in response to a distressed business community in the nation’s capital. Pre-pandemic, it heavily relied on the good wages of federal employees whose 9-to-5 lives were tethered to large office buildings in Ottawa and Gatineau.

As we all know, when the pandemic hit, large swaths of Canada’s workforce, including federal public servants, many of whom lived nowhere near Ottawa’s urban core, were suddenly freed from grinding commutes, expensive parking and cumbersome before- and after-school childcare, among other things. Consequently, they were able to bear down and work harder and longer during an unprecedented national emergency.

During the pandemic’s height, federal public servants even rolled out Canada’s largest income stabilization program (CERB) in a matter of weeks, oversaw complex vaccination acquisition programs, provided crucial public health oversight, accelerated its investments in infrastructure, continued to collect our taxes without a hitch and generally kept Canadians safe.

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Remarkably, almost all of this work was undertaken while public servants worked exclusively from home.

Further, many communities surrounding Ottawa found themselves growing as a consequence of this newfound flexibility. North Grenville (Kemptville and several rural hamlets) became an appealing option as families sought a little more space and lower housing prices.

As a result of less commuting, newcomers and long-time residents of North Grenville frequented local businesses more often, contributing to our economy. Residents also found that with less commuting, they could volunteer at the local rink, senior’s centre, or food bank. Their car maintenance costs dropped, and they could better support elderly parents and their own children.

All of this prompts the question: Are federal public servants living in my town or other communities surrounding Ottawa obliged to shore up Ottawa’s economy? I don’t think so.

But does the Treasury Board have an obligation to be evidence-based and fair about its hybrid work arrangements? Absolutely.

The appeal for public servants to return to work in Ottawa also ignores the fact that due to our growth, North Grenville is able to invest in more roads, expand recreational options and introduce an on-demand transit system. None of these things would be possible without an increasing tax base that comes directly from employees generally having more virtual work options.

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As Canadians, we all pay the wages and benefits of federal public servants. Shouldn’t they be able to fully contribute to the local economies where they reside, and not be heavily concentrated in just a few?

Finally, this latest Treasury Board directive comes when the childcare sector has experienced unprecedented demand. The implications of these more restrictive policies on women and caregivers have clearly not been contemplated, despite the federal government’s repeated commitments to gender-based analysis.

Less hybrid work also seems to contradict the federal government’s 2024 budget announcement to allocate $1.1 billion over the next 10 years to offload its office holdings more quickly to spur housing conversions in Ottawa, not to mention reducing carbon emissions by limiting the reliance on the “single occupancy commuter vehicle.”

Most senior managers worth their salt in the public service would acknowledge that it’s not “in the office” work that is the secret sauce to workplace productivity. Instead, it’s attracting qualified, well trained, highly motivated, and nimble employees.

This new development will only make recruitment and retention harder, put more people needlessly on the road and away from their own communities, and ultimately deter our best and brightest from working in the public sector.

Nancy Peckford is the Mayor of North Grenville.

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