Media Room

Speeches

Speaking notes
for the Honourable Scott Brison,
Minister of Public Works and Government Services

On the occasion of the
Provincial/Territorial Meeting of Ministers Responsible for Government Services

New Westminster, British Columbia
October 16, 2004

Check against delivery

Good morning.

It's always a delight to come to the West coast. And I would like to thank Joyce Murray for inviting me to this gathering in her home riding in New Westminster. I know that a tremendous amount of work goes into the planning and hosting of these meetings, and Minister Murray and her team have done a terrific job. Thank you.

I come here strongly agreeing with the stated goal of your meeting: "to share solutions for service excellence." It suggests a strong commitment to a spirit of collaboration and co-operation. And there's no doubt that sharing our expertise and our approaches will pay dividends.

It means we can operate more efficiently, eliminate duplication where possible, and make more effective use of hard-earned tax dollars. There is, after all, only one taxpayer.

It is especially fitting that this meeting on shared services is taking place here in British Columbia. My department of Public Works and Government Services Canada has already established a bond with this province particularly with our counterparts at the Ministry of Management Services.

Let me give you some examples. My department maintains the Alaska Highway, and also provides maintenance services for a provincial oil and gas service road branching off the highway near Fort Nelson. Collaboration can work the other way as well. For example, B.C. has provided property management for some of the federal office buildings located in the province. The two levels of government have also worked together to dispose of surplus assets.

And there's more to come…For example, with the ever-present risk of earthquakes here on the coast, the province has already reached out to PWGSC to help plan the seismic upgrading of schools.

Public Works and Government Services Canada is looking at ways it could help plan and execute the 2010 Olympic Games in Whistler. B.C. could use our environmental expertise, or our consulting and audit services, or perhaps draw on our capabilities as project co-ordinators. So you can see how we are well on the way to sharing services already. And I'm here to tell all of you that I am personally committed to finding more creative and innovative ways to work together.

Before I go any further, I'd like to share my strategic vision for my department because it touches on the concept of shared services. I've been the federal minister now for about three months — though it often feels like three years. During that time, I have held town hall meetings with my staff in regional offices right across the country. And my departmental team has helped me appreciate some of the changes that have been going on at Public Works and Government Services Canada.

It's been quite a year for the department. We have had more than our share of challenges but at the same time there have been a number of positive changes and accomplishments.

About a year ago, we realigned the department and the management structure and created a new Service Integration Branch. It will function as our customer service arm and act as the principal window between Public Works and other government departments.

We also developed an Integrity Plan and Ethics Program that the Conference Board of Canada has judged "best practice in Canada."

The plain truth is: our role is changing just as many organizations in this country, both public and private, are changing as well. We realize that our role cannot be limited to just being a common service supplier, providing clients with whatever goods and services they need. Instead, we must take on more of a managerial role in government, and become the check and balance for our colleague departments.

I think that we can play that effective managerial role. And that's why we have been working very hard to improve the way we do business, and to find ways to provide better and faster services at the best possible value for taxpayers.

Just over three weeks ago, I outlined my strategic vision on where I hope to take the department in an address to the Canadian Club in Toronto. It's a vision of transformative change that draws on successful business practice models from both the private and public sectors.

The speech in Toronto identified a three-point strategy to streamline government without sacrificing services to our clients and to Canadians. In fact, we want to enhance those services.

First, we are committed to cutting the time it takes to purchase goods and services in half, and to trim the cost of government purchasing by about 10 percent. That may not seem like much. However, the Government of Canada buys more than a billion dollars worth of goods and services each and every month. So that 10 percent represents a hefty sum…at least1 billion dollars a year that can instead be invested in the priorities of Canadians, such as health care, child care and communities. Smarter buying should make a huge contribution to the efficiency of government.

Already we are working with the private sector to implement the Government of Canada Marketplace: an innovative e-procurement portal that will make it much easier, faster and less expensive for colleague departments across the country to get the goods and services they need.

Second, there is a real opportunity to save some of the 3 billion dollars a year we spend each year in our real estate area. You have probably heard in the media that we intend to sell off government buildings. Well, I'm sure that I don't have to tell the people in this room that you can't always believe what you read.

What we are doing is looking at a variety of options, such as outsourcing the management of our buildings or setting up real estate income trusts or perhaps selling some office buildings. The goal is not a fire sale. The aim is to provide the best possible working conditions for our public servants, and the best possible value for Canadians.

Third, we want to improve the business of government by modernizing our information technology systems. Information technology is the fastest growing part of our business. Our goal is to provide centralized IT services — networks, data centers, backup and recovery services, and phone lines — for the entire federal government.

For example, we are developing the Secure Channel, one of the most sophisticated information technology infrastructures in the world. It's not just a concept. Services such as secure data networks, payment systems and authentication services are already being used by federal government departments and agencies. And we expect that by the end of next year, Canadians will be able to securely access about 130 of the most commonly used services of the federal government from their home computer.

This quest to transform my department will in itself require a serious investment in shared services. At the federal level, we must remain committed — as you yourselves are committed — to developing innovative and integrated models to deliver services. And we must continually review what we are doing to make sure we are acting in the best interests of our ultimate client, the Canadian taxpayer.

This ambitious vision for change will not be easy. We all know there is a degree of inertia within any huge institution such as a government. One obstacle at the federal level is the tendency for individual departments to try to protect their own employees and their own way of doing things. It's understandable. And I recognize that it potentially can be more problematic when dealing with the provinces and territories which have their own mandates and jurisdictions and political stripes.

Still I think there is potential for more co-operation in all these areas: procurement, IT, and even in the maintenance, management or sharing of office buildings. I hope all of us gathered here can see the big picture: the possibility of reducing costs by increasing efficiencies, of eliminating wasteful spending and of providing responsible management of public resources and tax dollars.

I earlier talked about co-operation with British Columbia. There are also a lot of examples where PWGSC is working with all the provincial and territorial governments. That includes ensuring a safe supply of medications for Canadians in the event of emergencies. This year my department bought more than $100 million worth of vaccines, prescriptions and over-the-counter pharmaceuticals — especially for the territories and smaller provinces. And in doing so, we saved money. Price comparisons have consistently shown that our prices for volume products especially for vaccines, rank among the lowest in the western world.

Public Works and Government Services Canada is also a leader in the issuing of joint child benefit and child tax credit cheques through agreements with the provinces and territories. The savings are estimated to be in the millions of dollars annually.

Of course, delivering on shared services requires a common set of objectives — the same kinds of objectives that motivate this forum. I think there are three key points.

• First, there is a need to share information on the best practices available to reduce costs and improve services.
• Second, we should identify joint initiatives that create economies of scale and reduce duplication.
• And third, we need to work collectively as a team to try to make it happen.

These objectives were the inspiration behind an historic deal signed between the Government of Canada and the Government of Ontario this past May. The agreement sets out a vision, guiding principles and a process for the two governments to collaborate in providing public services in Ontario. This could include working together on emergency management systems, on enforcing workplace health and safety, on environmental assessment and food safety, and on services for immigrants.

This agreement is a first for Canada, and it has the potential to serve as a model across the country.

I am convinced that this is a trend that will continue…and that must continue. There are so many opportunities to join forces: the development of green procurement standards; standards for green buildings and for fit-ups; travel modernization; e-learning; and payment services.

As you probably know, many of these areas were on the agenda of the recent Federal-Provincial-Territorial Meeting of Deputy Heads of Public Works in Toronto.

The Deputy Heads made significant progress by approving a series of initiatives that will take us through the next year — initiatives on co-location, sustainable development, outsourcing, building technology transfer, and accommodation. They also agreed to create a new working group on ethical procurement, to be co-chaired by my department and the Department of Transportation and Government Services in Manitoba.

These are very significant and positive outcomes. And I strongly endorse them.

My department must never take for granted the strong relationships it has already developed with its provincial, territorial and municipal partners across the country. I am committed to seeing those relationships grow. It simply makes sense to search for "synergies"...the kind of joint activities that recognize the principle of the single taxpayer, that eliminate duplication and that share expertise, information and training.

Too often the public face of federal-provincial relations has been one of tension and squabbling over who should pay, how much, and who has what mandate. Often it's not a pretty picture and it has fed into public cynicism.

However, the federal and provincial governments have already started to reshape that prevailing view with the recent Health Accord. Let's build on that and do more…let's collaborate on services; let's recognize our differences but work from our strengths and above all let's try to work together.

Thank you.