Escaping the Consulting Trap with Chris Hurl and Leah Werner

Perspectives: A Journal of Political Economy and Social Democracy

When public services malfunction, such as the Phoenix Pay scandal or the failure of the pandemic travel ArriveCan app occur, it is easy to point the finger at the government and the political party in power. As Chris Hurl and Leah Werner describe in our latest Perspectives Journal podcast episode, there is some truth to this, but The Consulting Trap: How Professional Service Firms Hook Governments and Undermine Democracy, Hurl and Werner’s latest book, makes the case that the issue is much deeper than governmental failure and is also the result of a deepening intertwining of consulting firms within Canada’s government.

Werner and Hurl offer a detailed account of how many Western governments, including Canada, became so reliant on consulting firms. The rise of neoliberalism and the influence of “Transnational Professional Service Firms,” not only led to further privatization of public services, but also led to small government mandates that worsened services and deskilled the public sector.

In the end, this systemic issue has come at a cost for ordinary Canadians. Hurl and Werner break down some of the major issues facing countries trapped in what they call “the consulting trap,” including the huge and disproportionate costs to taxpayers. Despite the bleak landscape of TPSFs embedded administrations across Canada's democratic institutions, the authors also highlight forms of resistance that have spawned in response to the rise of TPSFs and clear areas for reform.

Listen Chris Hurl and Leah Werner’s interview to learn more about the origins, the problems, and the solutions to “the consulting trap” at the highest level of democratic governments on the Perspectives Journal Podcast.
Notes:

• The Consulting Trap: How Professional Service Firms Hook Governments and Undermine Democracy, by Chris Hurl and Leah B. Werner, Fernwood Publishing, May 2024.
• REVIEW - "Escaping the Consulting Trap," by Jack McClelland, Perspectives Journal, 20 September 2024.
• The Big Con, by Mariana Mazzucato and Rosie Collington, Penguin Press, March 2023.
• “Shadow Government: The Consulting Firms Telling Ottawa What to Do,” by Justin Link, The Walrus, 31 July 2024.
• “McKinsey Charged in South African Corruption Case,” by Michael Forsythe and Walt Bogdanich, The New York Times, 30 September 2022.
• Open Canada Government Procurement Database - search federal government contracts over $10,000.