Is Excessive Oversight Destroying the Canadian Public Service?

From a The Hill Times article by Jessica Bruno on Professor Donald Savoie's upcoming book Whatever Happened to the Music Teacher? How Government Decides and Why:

“We’ve taken away from the music-teacher type people, people on the front line delivering services. We’ve reduced their ranks and what have we added? Well, if they don’t have the policy advisory function that we once did, the one thing we’ve added—and in my view grossly oversupplied—is oversight bodies, oversight functions, reporting requirements,” he explained. 
 
“Not that long ago, 25 years ago, 71 per cent of federal public servants were in the field, in regional offices and local offices. Today, it’s down to 57 per cent. Imagine the shift,” he said. 
 
Prof. Savoie said that the public service is now burdened with so many reporting requirements that many public servants are “shell-shocked” about always having one or more oversight bodies looking over their shoulders.

The solution according to Prof. Savoie?

“The only way really is to de-layer management, say that from now on there will only be four management layers: deputy minister, assistant deputy minister, director general, and directors. No more of these associates and layering management levels. That consumes a lot of paper and a lot of make-work activities,” he noted. 
 
When Prof. Savoie was speaking to senior bureaucrats about his book, they tried to persuade him not to write it, he said. They were concerned that it would heap more criticism onto the already unloved civil service.

“I don’t think this book is critical of the public service, or critical of politicians, it just explains how we’ve gone astray,” said Prof. Savoie. 
 
“I think we need to give a sense of value and esteem to the public service. I think we cannot denigrate the public service and think that all will be well,” he said.