More than half of Canadians want cuts to the federal public service: poll

OTTAWA — More than half of Canadians think the size and cost of the federal public service should be reduced in the coming years, a new Leger poll suggests.

The poll indicates that 54 per cent of respondents want the federal bureaucracy cut, 24 per cent want it maintained and four per cent say it should get bigger. The poll suggests 17 per cent of respondents were not sure what should happen.

The poll, which was conducted online and can't be assigned a margin of error, cites federal records that indicate the government has added almost 99,000 employees since 2016 and personnel costs have increased by more than 70 per cent.

Conducted by Leger for the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, the poll suggests that half of Canadians say the quality of federal services has declined since 2016.

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