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Speech by Reg Alcock
President of the Treasury Board
to the National Joint Council Seminar 2004
September 23, 2004
Ottawa, Ontario
Check Against Delivery
Introduction
Thank you, Dan, and good morning, ladies and gentlemen. I want to thank the Executive Committee of the National
Joint Council for inviting me to this year's fall seminar.
This seminar gives us a good opportunity to take stock. It allows us to stand back from the collective
bargaining process and consider the key issues that affect all employees of the federal public service.
Let me begin with a very simple, but fundamental, thought. The quality of our public service matters.
We in government must value its members more, and publicly express our recognition of the important work they do.
Having been a public service employee myself, I understand, first-hand, the potential for both pride and frustration.
Now that I'm a Cabinet Minister, it's my responsibility to find better ways to build the former and reduce the
latter. And, as you know, that's not easy to do.
The title of your first session this afternoon, "Looking Ahead: Changing Work - Changing Workplaces",
cuts right to the heart of the matter.
It's both a statement of reality and a challenge for the future:
- The reality is that the work and workplace in the federal public sector are changing - rapidly and
fundamentally.
- The challenge hinges on one crucial issue: implementing change that will provide better results for Canadians, and
more effectiveness and satisfaction for public service employees.
How do we achieve that? I think there are three main components: increasing transparency, implementing more
effective management strategies, and providing stronger support for the public service.
This morning, I'd like to highlight our strategy and results so far, and look ahead to the future.
But we can't succeed in reaching our objectives without understanding and - more important - support from
everyone affected.
So let me begin with a few words on the value of partnerships.
Partnerships for Progress
We've got a huge agenda and a long list of challenges. And we need to find more opportunities to discuss these
issues, and mutually agree on a plan for the future.
One of the most important contributions the National Joint Council makes is your willingness to sit down and talk,
frankly and openly - in sessions like this one, and in more informal settings throughout the year.
The NJC complements the collective bargaining process by offering an alternate and innovative way to address issues
on a public service-wide basis.
So congratulations on your 60th anniversary. You've managed to serve two constituencies very well,
and we're both the better for it.
Through the commitment and vision of this Council, employers and bargaining agents can take joint ownership of broad
labour relations issues and develop collaborative solutions to workplace problems.
Of course, we won't always agree on some issues.
Labour-management relationships - in both the public and private sectors - will always have a certain degree of
disagreement and tension. That's not altogether a bad thing. A little tension can make us all more creative,
and more open to compromise and consensus-building.
But that doesn't mean these relationships must be adversarial.
We all share several fundamental goals:
- We want government to work better.
- We want to serve Canadians with excellence.
- We want to build supportive and effective workplaces.
- And, perhaps most importantly, as the Prime Minister has stated, we want the best - and the proudest - public
service in the world.
And that brings me to the first key component for strengthening public sector management: increasing transparency.
Increasing Transparency
Canadians want and deserve good governance.
They want to know that government programs are well managed. They want greater openness and transparency.
Good government is accountable government, focused on public priorities and answerable for its results.
That doesn't mean finding new ways to assign blame. Instead, we want to implement better processes to gather,
analyze and correlate information across government.
Once we have those key details, we'll release them publicly, so Canadians can monitor our progress.
The foundations of increased transparency are enhanced accountability and better oversight.
We've already made significant progress in improving accountability since December. For example:
- We've introduced a new merit-based appointment process for CEOs, directors and chairs of Crown corporations, which
includes a parliamentary review.
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- Travel and hospitality expense information for political staff and senior Government of Canada officials is now
available on-line. And we'll soon be putting information about contracts over $10,000 on-line.
- Once the House resumes sitting, we'll be reintroducing a new Public Servants' Disclosure Protection Act to
protect whistle-blowers.
We've also focused on other key areas that drive better accountability.
The Management Accountability Framework is a good example. This new tool will play a major role in setting
priorities for improvement across government.
The MAF's 10 expectations clearly summarize TBS standards for more effective management. And it gives us a
great new pipeline for reporting to Parliament on our results.
By the same token, we've been conducting three key reviews: strengthening the Financial Administration Act;
better defining the respective accountabilities and responsibilities of Ministers and senior members of the public
service; and improving the governance and transparency of Crown corporations.
These reviews are wide-ranging and distinctly multilateral. For example, as part of the FAA review, we
approached union representatives for their input.
I've met with the three people heading up these initiatives. We're now working on how best to take our
recommendations to Parliament.
Engaging Parliamentarians is one of our most important tools for improving transparency and ensuring parliamentarians
have the information they need to fulfill their responsibilities.
If we give Parliamentary committees better information, they can play a more active role in the Estimates process,
and provide broader oversight of government spending and management.
To provide more rigorous oversight, TBS is focusing on three key strategic areas for the future: Management
Performance; Expenditure Management; and Financial Management and Control.
For example, strengthening comptrollership will provide better stewardship and monitoring of funds, higher standards
for departmental financial oversight.
The renewed Office of the Comptroller General is focusing on such key initiatives as:
- Strengthening financial management by providing leadership to ensure appropriate frameworks, and policies
and guidance on controls are available across the federal public service.
- Significantly strengthening financial management systems to promote transparency and openness of financial
activity, including systems for accounting, asset management, and procurement.
- Building financial management and audit capacity to nurture and manage professional development of the
financial management and internal audit communities, including establishing accreditation and certification
standards and advising on the modules of the public service learning curriculum.
But we can't significantly increase transparency without implementing more effective management systems.
More Effective Management Strategies
By changing the way we organize and manage, we can deliver more accessible services that better meet the needs of
Canadians.
Making sure we are doing the right things right means making significant improvements on the full range of management
activities, starting with priority areas we have identified since December 2003.
Canadians across the country have helped set these priorities - issues such as cities and communities, the
environment, national security, and health care.
The Expenditure Review Committee was established in December to review all federal spending. Their
mandate is to find resources we can devote to these "must-have" programs.
Since it first took shape, the ERC has become a sub-committee of Treasury Board, with Revenue Minister John McCallum
at the wheel. They're dealing with such important issues as reallocation of resources to the top
priorities.
Later this fall, we'll be reporting on the nine government operations reviews. I want to make sure we're giving
taxpayers real value for money in such areas as professional services, IT/IM, procurement, and legal services.
And then there's the Management Resources and Results Structure and the Expenditure Management Information System
that supports it.
Together, these new tools will allow us to link resources with results. They'll also generate significantly
improved capacity to support:
- Horizontal management of federal priorities;
- Improved alignment of results to resources for departmental management and accountability;
- Higher quality information for departments and Cabinet to identify opportunities for reallocation; and
- Improved transparency for Parliament.
Making sure we're doing the right things right means making significant changes in many public sector management
policies and processes.
However, as you well know, just doing things differently doesn't mean we're doing them better.
Put another way, life is change but progress is optional. We need to make wise choices.
And that leads me to the third - and, perhaps the most important - key component I want to consider this morning:
providing stronger support for the public service.
Providing stronger support for the public service
Strengthening public sector management is a huge challenge, with an agenda that affects all parts of government - and, indeed, all Canadians as well.
Our last Budget commits the government to re-investing some of the funds identified through reallocation back into
the public service.
A big part of honouring that commitment is ensuring that all members of the public service are well equipped to carry
through on our strategy.
We have to make the most of their great depth of expertise.
We also have another challenge. Many public service employees are rapidly approaching retirement. As these
people leave the public service, we need to fill vacancies by recruiting the best and the brightest, and ensuring the
whole team has better tools to do their job.
To meet this challenge, my team has been reorganized. As of July 20th, my portfolio was expanded.
It now includes TBS, the Public Service Human Resources Management Agency, and the Canada School of Public Service.
Why the change? At least two reasons:
- Top-quality human resources management is key to building a modern organization that responds better to the
changing needs of the Canadian public.
- And, equally important, better people policies promote a more supportive working environment for public service
employees.
That's why the Government of Canada created the Public Service Human Resources Management Agency of Canada.
The Agency, along with its partners, is committed to help departments and agencies develop stronger human resources
management strategies that will deliver effective, quality services to Canadians and uphold the values of integrity,
transparency and accountability.
The Agency is firmly focused on improving human resources management in the public service, including playing a lead
role in implementing the Public Service Modernization Act.
This Act is the cornerstone of the government's agenda for better human resources management.
It gives the public service the tools to continue to serve Canadians with excellence and adapt to evolving needs of
the country.
By implementing the Public Service Modernization Act, the government is providing the leadership required to
foster and sustain modern, results-driven, human resources management across the public service.
We have worked closely with bargaining agent representatives on PSMA implementation. Their participation in
this process is crucial, and we look forward to strengthening this relationship with them.
Among other initiatives, the new Public Service Labour Relations Act within the PSMA supports and encourages more
collaborative relations between bargaining agents and managers.
The Public Service Labour Relations Act calls for improved labour-management dialogue through mandatory departmental
Labour-Management Consultation Committees, informal dispute resolution, and official recognition of the National Joint
Council as a forum for consultation and development.
The new Act also requires that Deputy Heads establish an Informal Conflict Management System to help resolve
conflicts at an early stage.
And it encourages the employer or Deputy Head to establish co-development arrangements with bargaining agents that
promote joint discussions and problem solving.
Providing comprehensive professional development opportunities will help ensure that employees are able to adapt
rapidly to the ongoing change that results from evolving needs of Canadian society.
And that brings me to the Canada School of Public Service.
For the first time, the public service has a single institution to provide a comprehensive, balanced view of the
learning needs of public service employees at all levels.
Attracting and retaining quality people with good skills comes with an obligation to help them enhance their skills
on an ongoing basis.
Through the School, we are developing a solid core curriculum to ensure that everyone, from entry level to senior
executive, has the up-to-date training they need to fulfill their duties.
For example learning needs associated with PSMA implementation are being assessed so the Canada School of Public
Service can deliver the appropriate training to managers and the HR community.
Steps like these will help better focus our efforts on building an even stronger, more effective public service.
They will also help us promote better integration and coordination for whole-of-government change initiatives.
But, as I noted earlier, we need help - from this Council, members of the public service, and the people we serve.
So let me conclude my remarks with a little food for thought on where we go from here.
Conclusion
I've found that successfully introducing new, more effective management policy is 10% inspiration and 90%
implementation.
McGill University management professor Henry Mintzberg is widely acknowledged as an expert on organizational insight.
He says that management is neither a science nor a profession. Instead, it's practice, the application of
leadership to a specific situation at a given point in time.
A big part of leadership is reconciling a host of inputs, and then making the right decisions on how to proceed.
We have any number of perspectives on meeting our challenges, some of them quite different, depending on who's
talking to whom. I even get comments from public service employees in the grocery store.
I need to hear those varying points of view. I want to be challenged. I want to be
part of the dialogue that the NJC promotes and nurtures so well.
Above all, I want to engage more people in the process. The stronger consensus we build, the easier it will be
to successfully implement the changes we need to make.
One thing is certain: teamwork is key.
Henry Ford described the process very well: Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress.
Working together is success.
Change can be chaotic. Some people are comfortable with the existing system. Changing the system
is going to make some people uneasy, and even confused.
But change can also be liberating, opening up exciting new opportunities for enhancing excellence and personal
satisfaction.
A dynamic, well managed public service contributes to our quality of life and is a competitive advantage in a global
economy
I want all Canadians to know that the public service deserves their trust and their respect. So today, I give
you my personal commitment that Cabinet will implement change in partnership with the public service.
We get it: to succeed, we must be able to count on the many talents in the public service, and its members'
commitment to conceptualize and drive change.
It won't be easy, but I, and my Cabinet colleagues, are committed to making change work and to helping build the kind
of public service we all want.
Thank you.
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