I think that we're going to have bad management in place as long as the EX system is in place. There are individual good managers and you could even make the claim that the majority of mangers actually want to be good public servants but...the system rewards conformity through its bonuses and the lack of a union.

The system is also a failure due to placing more importance on testing criteria, a person's gender/ethnic background and their ability to speak French over competence.

Combined with 5 layers of management in a department which dilutes assigning responsibility for public policy failures, and extremely weak unions that have idiotic priorities...well, we're just screwed.

Sorry if this sounds super pessimistic but after a certain fatalism seems like the only option because that way, you don't constantly end up being disappointed by the sheer amount of incompetence that's pervasive throughout the public service of Canada.