Big, Bold Headlines - Oops...

Sometimes news reportage trots along at an absurd pace, headlines attempting to grab the notice of the public, and leaving impressions deliberately that do not reflect the content of the story they headline. It seems that Canada's newspapers and their reporters go out of their way to portray government - particularly this Conservative-led government, as intent on doing harm to public service workers.

It was, in fact, historically previous Liberal-led governments that decimated the public service. Liberals have always felt they had the public trust - and not without reason, in the past - and that whatever they did would be forgiven. It's true the public has a short memory in recalling to mind incidents that scandalized and angered them when they were performed by Liberals, and not so by Conservative governments.

The public service employment rolls swelled under the current government. Which received more than its share of criticism by those same reporters who are now calling !foul! at the current, austerity-led cut-backs in the public service. A broad sweeping series of cut-backs that have and will affect every government department to find expendable efficiencies has been undertaken.

And with that initiative, a deep and incisive scrutiny of public service performance and streamlining of services to eliminate as many redundancies as possible. It seems like common sense. Public servants, understandably, feel threatened by the initiative, uncertain whether their jobs will be cut. And, it has been reported that morale is low. And that an amazing number of sick-days are taken for mental health.

It's always frightening when a job is on the line and the prospect of unemployment looms; our sense of security is shaken. But it's no different when one is employed by private enterprise; there are no job guarantees, there is competition and there is a need to perform well in a position or face the prospect of being freed from it. And no employer willingly takes on more employees than his business requires.

Headlines: 'CRA to cut 600 jobs in capital'. Panic will ensue if the affected reader fails to pursue the details in the article. For perspective, there are roughly ten thousand CRA employees within the National Capital Region. Of the 600 jobs affected, some 309 represent vacancies; another 50 people leaving or retiring. And, 75 will retain their jobs, while the Canada Revenue Agency has promised to find jobs for the remaining 119.

Headlines, content, where's the connection?