Once again, the Canadian Taxpayers Federation has decided to nickel and dime the public service - claiming an expenditure of $20,000 apiece for quarterly oath ceremonies "shows a disrespect" to British Columbians. The government defends the expenditure, saying the ceremonies are meant to "make the employment oath a more meaningful experience for public service employees." No doubt, they're attempting to shore up morale in a public service that, like elsewhere, has had to endure years of attacks by taxpayers federation staffers who make their living diminishing it.

I wonder, do these self-appointed arbitrators of the public interest place any value at all in the drinkable water that flows mysteriously from their taps the light that magically comes on with the simple flicking of a switch? Do they cherish the roads they travel while taking their children to a public school or, God forbid, the emergency at a hospital? Are they opportunists just taking advantage of a misguided political currency that government isn'timportant - a currency that other opportunists have, ironically, used to get elected to government? Or do they really believe this stuff and are just that stupid?

Ever since we lived in caves and dragged our knuckles on the ground, we've come together into groups for physical safety, economic security, and to provide a stable environment for reproducing the species. It is an imperative, not a choice. And everything and anything related to this imperative is called politics - which is why Aristotle referred to the study of it as the "master science." Everything government does still relates to one of these three functions. And today, in British Columbia, the people who are entrusted with ensuring the reliable, continuous delivery of these functions are called public servants - who take an oath to do so.

Anyone who thinks these functions and the people who provide them are not important needs to shake their head. But those who claim the type of extravagance exemplified by the Campbell administration's oath ceremonies would never be seen in the private sector are absolutely correct. Private companies instead spend millions and use all manner of perks to make employees feel valued so they hopefully will bond with the entity that employs them. Why? Because studies show a lost employee costs their employer anywhere from 25% to 200% of that employee's annual compensation. The cost is calculated by adding the expense of hiring and training a new employee to estimates of the cost of goods that go unsold, customers who go unserviced and customers who are simply lost in the transition.

Placing a dollar value on the same disruptions in the public sector is a little more problematic as it would involve affixing a monetary value to a public good. How would one measure the cost of a social worker leaving the bureaucracy, for example? In the private sector you can measure the cost of a lost customer. But, in this instance, we might be losing a child at risk, as case files at transferred to other workers. What's that cost? Priceless.

By comparison, $20,000 to give new public servants a sense that they do important work is a pittance. And criticizing that expenditure as anything other than not being enough: well, how does one calculate the cost of ignorance?

Premier Gordon Campbell is to be commended for initiating a campaign to give bureaucrats pride in their work - despite how fashionable in some cricles it would be to do the opposite. Because, in the grand scheme of things, devaluing the public service has a much shorter history than applauding and celebrating it. Any value brought by withholding support for it is far outweighed by what we get in return and might attain if we supported it more. And picking on people who can't defend themselves is bullying. So to the taxpayers federation and others of their ilk, it's time your 15 minutes was up. Kindly take a step back.

Bob Russell, a businessman and former civil servant, was chief of staff for the provincial Liberals in Alberta from 1986 to 1989. In 2004, he ran for the federal Liberal nomination in Saanich-Gulf Islands.