Context: The Extent of Canadian Government Workers and What they Have, Have Not Given Up

https://financialpost.com/opinion/in-the-tough-times-ahead-what-is-trudeau-prepared-to-cut

"... The federal government’s single biggest cost centre is the $51 billion it spends on salaries and benefits for its 368,000 employees.

Many government employees have been working hard during the pandemic and they deserve our thanks. But fully 27 per cent of federal employees took at least some (paid) leave during the pandemic, which shows that even in an emergency it’s possible for Ottawa to get by with substantially fewer people on the payroll.

The savings from a reduced headcount would be considerable: if the government were to reduce its workforce by about 15 per cent and also reduce the salaries and benefits of remaining employees by an average of 15 per cent, it could save Canadian taxpayers around $14 billion a year.

Some will protest that this seems cruel and unfair. But is it unreasonable to ask government to cut costs when many businesses have gone bankrupt and millions of Canadians have lost their jobs or taken pay cuts? Are we really “all in this together”..."