Government employees are people too. They have the same rights and freedoms that everyday citizens have.
Unless they work for the Alberta government.
On April 7, the same day the provincial election was announced, a number of government departments issued a directive stating that if they were going to volunteer for a political campaign, even if it was on their own time, they needed to notify their superior in advance.
Of course, it did not take long for the story to break and government officials, including Premier Jim Prentice, quickly denounced the practice. It is only fair. Especially considering that before the election, the Alberta Progressive Conservative Party already planned that at least five high ranking civil servants within the Prentice government take on jobs for the Tory election campaign (on their own time).
So with the exception of having to a wipe a little egg of their faces, the issue of being allowed to volunteer for whatever political party or cause an Alberta government employee would like to should be over. The problem is the word hasn’t seemed to reach the front line civic workers.
Two weeks ago, on more than one occasion, reporters for the Barrhead Leader attended functions where Alberta government employees were present and were told by the employees that they could not be interviewed or have their pictures taken during the election.
They said during the election campaign, all government employees have been told they need to be invisible.
It is understandable that during their working hours, in their official government capacity that it is incumbent on them not to be publicly seen as supporting one political party or cause.
However, they should be able to speak to their actual job function.
For example, one of the events at which a government employee was reluctant to speak to the Barrhead Leader was in large part, sponsored by the employee’s particular department as part of their regular duties.
The employee said workers in his/her department were told that during the election they were told that they couldn’t talk to the media. They said that in some cases staff were actually covering up their department’s logo at public events, all in their efforts to be invisible during the election.
This may be a little too extreme. Should there be a code of conduct how government employees conduct themselves on their own time during elections? Perhaps, but just because there has been an election called doesn’t mean government comes to a stop.
Life goes on, election or not, and so does the work of the public service, regardless of whether it is during an election campaign. Public employees are also normal citizens and as such, should be able to volunteer or support any cause, as long as it is legal and on their own time. Nor should the work government workers do daily go unnoticed just because it is during an election.
