Prime Minister Mark Carney is reportedly getting tough about returning the federal civil service to the workplace. He told the Ottawa Board of Trade last week that his government is in discussions with public sector unions to get them back into the office.

Ottawa Mayor Mark Sutcliffe has expressed concern that a prolonged work-from-home employment ethos is creating a ghost town in the capital’s downtown core.

Federal public employees are now expected to be in the office three days a week. Managers have to be in the office a minimum of four days.

One big issue will be how to fit all those public servants into the available office space. The federal public service ballooned under Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. A recent report by the Fraser Institute points out that the bureaucracy grew by

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