Hi! I am from Canada. A large portion of our taxpayers hate public servants and describe them as lazy, entitled, and incompetent. I have worked in both the public and private sector. My impression is that the public service is mostly filled with idealistic, dedicated people who could make more money in the private sector but choose to work for the public service because they believe in good government. Many of them work very hard, even without pressure from their supervisors. There are, as you say, rotten apples - but they are a small minority.

I think that attacks on the public service are right-wing attempts to undermine faith in government - they are trying to promote privatization (which benefits private corporations at the expense of the public) and cuts to social programs (in order to reduce the tax burden of the rich).