Speech by
the Honorable Lucienne Robillard,
President of the Treasury Board, and
Member of Parliament for Westmount-Ville-Marie
For the 50th Anniversary of Carleton University's School of Public Policy and Administration
October 3, 2003
1. Introduction: The Current Public Service Environment
Ladies and gentlemen, it is a pleasure to be with you today to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Carleton's School
of Public Policy and Administration.
Over the last five decades, your school has developed a well-deserved reputation for excellence - both for the
quality of the teaching and research it provides and for the quality of the men and women it graduates. Your alumni
have offered - and continue to offer - leadership within the government and their accomplishments reflect very well on
your institution.
This is a fascinating time to be involved in the field of public administration. Many traditional management
assumptions are now being challenged, and in some cases, turned on their heads.
The very nature of the federal public sector itself presents unique management challenges. It is the largest single
employer in the country, employing a broad and diverse workforce. It incorporates many different constituent parts -
from the core Public Service to separate employers, crown corporations, agencies and boards of different kinds, not to
mention the federal police and the military. Each of these institutions is subject to a range of different governance
regimes. In a word, the system is "complex".
Ensuring that everyone is guided by common objectives and working in a coordinated fashion is never easy. Developing
the right frameworks and business processes is often a delicate balancing act. But we do have four clear overarching
goals. They are articulated in our management framework Results for Canadians. Government must be
citizen-centred. We must focus on getting high quality results and we must, at all times, be guided by the highest
ethical and moral values. We also must ensure responsible spending. These principles are the litmus test against which
we should judge the success and failure of our actions.
I believe that we have made progress in all of these areas over the last decade. Which is why I am so dismayed by
the problems that have come to light recently. Allegations of wrongdoing, malfeasance and even criminality are
troubling to us all.
It is important to stress that the problems that have arisen are not a reflection of the behaviour of the wider
public service. What I have heard recently is not the public service that I know.
We need to be clear and categorical about this. We cannot allow a few high profile cases to erode Canadians'
confidence in the performance, capacity and integrity of their public institutions. These troubling stories are
overshadowing the everyday reality of honesty and integrity that exists within the public service institution.
I am not suggesting that there are not concerns. There are. There have been allegations of disturbing behaviour and
inappropriate actions. We need to address these concerns head-on. When and where we see wrongdoing we must act quickly
and decisively. How we handle mistakes and wrongdoing contributes directly to the level of confidence in public
institutions. There is no room for betrayal of the public trust.
As I said recently at a gathering of senior union and management officials: we are being tested and we must meet the
challenge.
2. Management Reform: The Challenges Ahead
Now is a good opportunity to look at the state of our management practices - at what we have achieved, but more
importantly, at some of the challenges that are on the horizon. The questions on the table are not just important to
the government - they are important to us all, as taxpayers and as Canadians.
I have been President of the Treasury Board for four years. It has been a busy time. There were the Y2K preparations
and the introduction of modern comptrollership government-wide. We have flipped the switch on the Government On-line
initiative and introduced legislation proposing the most sweeping changes to the people management regime in over a
generation.
There have been successes. Our citizen satisfaction levels in most areas now rival the private sector. Canada is now
a world leader in the field of e-government. In the last major international comparison, Canada was actually put into
its own category by virtue of the way in which we have both used technology and changed the basic delivery of
services.
These are important steps forward in building more responsive, effective government.
But clearly, questions remain.
The very principles at the heart of modern management are now being challenged. We have made tangible progress in
recent years in moving away from the traditional "command and control" model in favour of a more values and results
based approach to management. But have we gone too far, too fast? I firmly believe that we need to let managers manage.
But in our rush to empower people, have we perhaps neglected our stewardship responsibilities by not emphasizing
adequate oversight?
Concerns have also been raised about capacity. Given the current climate of fiscal restraint, do we actually have
the capacity and data to impartially and quantifiably assess where problem areas lie? Can we conclusively make
judgments on the relative health of the public service?
We need to answer these questions. We need to ensure an effective balance between flexibility and control. We want
people to innovate and experiment. But to do that effectively, you also need clear parameters within which to operate.
It has become evident to me that we must focus more attention on three specific areas if we are going to continue to
build effective, responsive and ethical government for Canadians.
3. Accountability, Value for Money and Supporting Our People: The Key to Effective Reform
i) Accountability
First and foremost, we need to strengthen accountability. Accountability is the foundation of good governance. It is
not enough to ask Canadians to trust us. We need to demonstrate that we deserve that trust. And we do that by getting
results, reporting clearly and by standing up and taking responsibility for our decisions and actions. I don't think
that it is realistic to expect governments to always make the right decisions. But we certainly should always be ready
to explain those decisions and to operate in a transparent manner.
Some real progress has been made in developing a more robust results-based management regime. Our programs and
services are now focusing more and more on defining outcomes as opposed to simply accounting for inputs. We are telling
departments that their accountability involves both what they achieve and how they achieve it.
More needs to be done, however, to systematically strengthen the general accountability regime across government. I
am not promising any overnight solutions. There are no silver bullets. Trust me, if there were, we would use them.
Effective management reform is an incremental process. But we need to take action now and specifically target those
activities that can be leveraged most effectively to improve the whole system.
In this context, we have introduced a new Management Accountability Framework which will act as a tool for rigorous
and comprehensive oversight and management accountability. It is designed to assess how well a department is being
managed in important areas like human resources, accountability, financial management and values and ethics. It was
developed to provide managers with a brief, clear list of expectations for management excellence. It also includes a
list of indicators and measures that departments and central agencies will use to assess progress.
This Framework will play a central role in the determination of performance pay for deputy ministers and deputy
heads. It will assist Treasury Board in the allocation and reallocation of funding to departments. Ultimately, it will
help the Treasury Board determine how much flexibility is appropriate for each deputy head, and help identify where
concerns may lie and corrective action needed.
The implementation of the Framework is an important step forward. It is not the only area, however, where progress
has been made. We have formally clarified the roles, responsibilities and accountabilities of Deputy Ministers through
the publication this summer of the Guidance to Deputy Ministers document. We have also seen some very positive
developments in our efforts to promote greater transparency.
Government is here to serve the public - not itself. Government should never operate in the shadows. At the end of
the day, every action should bear up to public scrutiny.
We need to make information available and I don't mean putting information in massive binders full of charts that no
one can decipher. We need to talk to Canadians in language that we all understand, and explain what we are doing and
why.
In this context, we are currently revising the manner in which departments and agencies report on both their plans
and priorities as well as the results they subsequently achieve against those plans. We want these reports to be
concise, user-friendly, balanced and focused on results.
I am also instructing my officials to look at making more information, such as information on travel and hospitality
expenses, available in a more timely manner. Journalists shouldn't have to go on Access to Information fishing trips to
find out how people spend money. That information should be readily available to all. After all, we should have nothing
to hide.
I should note that we are also placing special attention on the relationship with parliamentarians. We need to
engage parliamentarians more effectively and facilitate their oversight role. My officials are currently working with
parliamentarians to examine existing reporting mechanisms, the estimates process and other issues to ensure that they
are meeting Parliament's needs as effectively as possible.
ii) Value for Money
The second area in which we need to focus is value for money. Nothing erodes public confidence in government more
than the perception that government is too loose with the purse strings. Stewardship is a sacred trust. Government
programs and services must be efficient and must make a meaningful contribution to the public good. If they do not,
then we should stop delivering them. Just as there are things, like defense, that I believe we have a responsibility to
administer, there are equally things that might be best left to others.
We have to be able to effectively shift our existing expenditures from lower to higher priorities. We have to be
able to do this as a regular, ongoing and accepted way of doing business. In fact, most departments and agencies do
this now as a matter of course within their own individual budgets. We need to do a better job of doing this across
departments for the whole of government.
This year we launched two new initiatives in this area. First, there was the effort to re-allocate a billion dollars
in existing spending, something on which I reported earlier this week. Second, we began a longer-term exercise - a
series of expenditure and management reviews - to examine the whole of government's non-statutory spending over a
five-year cycle. This year we are examining four departments and agencies - Justice Canada, Public Works and Government
Services Canada, Statistics Canada, and Fisheries and Oceans Canada - and four areas of horizontal activity - that is
programs and activities that cut across departments. These are biotechnology, public security and anti-terrorism,
common infrastructure and service delivery, and management of assets of small cultural organizations.
Treasury Board Ministers are expected to see the results of these reviews within the next two months. We will then
have to assess the results and determine how to proceed in the future based on the experience thus far. One thing is
certain, however, we have to be able to make reallocation of our existing spending across government an ongoing feature
of our expenditure management.
iii) Supporting our People
The final area where I think more work needs to be done is on the people management front. We often forget about the
human dimension of stewardship. It is easy to focus on accountability models and reporting mechanisms. But the best way
to ensure that Canadians get good policy development, high quality service delivery and effective management is to
ensure that we have the right public servants in place, supported by the right tools and working environments.
As I mentioned at the outset, we are moving forward with the Public Service Modernization Act, which will
bring welcome and necessary changes in areas such as improved staffing and more productive labour-management
relations.
But we also need to focus more attention on non-legislative reform. One key area for me is learning and core
capacity building. We need to ensure, for example, that as people climb the public service ranks they have the skills
and knowledge they need to exercise strong leadership. We will be moving to mandatory learning programs in a number of
areas to do this. That means knowledge of contracting and hiring policies. It also means having effective personal
skills and the ability to build productive and supportive working environments. This is especially critical given the
demographic shift occurring in the public service.
Of course, effective managers alone cannot build a good workplace. They need to have the right support in place.
Given current public concerns, a great deal of attention has been placed recently on the issue of whistleblowing and
the need to encourage people to speak truth to power without fear of reprisal.
This is a priority. We need cases of wrongdoing brought to light. We have had a policy on the disclosure of
wrongdoing in the workplace in place for roughly two years. While I believe that it is sound in principle, many
concerns have been raised about its application. Too many public servants, for example, are simply not aware that the
policy exists or how to use it. Many do not believe that it really will protect them if they come forward.
With this in mind, two weeks ago I announced the creation of a small working group of experts, led by Professor
Kenneth Kernaghan to examine the issue, and to recommend ways that we can truly address people's concerns. I have asked
them to report back to me in four months with recommendations that I will then bring before my parliamentary
colleagues. As far as I am concerned, every option is on the table - including legislative options, as recommended by
the Public Service Integrity Officer.
In the end ladies and gentlemen, I believe that we need to focus more attention on values in general. The Public
Service has a long and proud tradition. Many of you are part of that tradition. And in what is undoubtedly a difficult
time, it is important that we continue to stand true to those principles that have always served to guide the
institution: honour, integrity and excellence. These principles are clearly articulated in the new code of Values and
Ethic, which came into effect September 1st of this year.
4. Conclusion: Engaging the Public Administration Community
Ladies and gentlemen, I cannot promise error-free government. We do not live in Utopia. In a large institution like
the public service, there will always be mistakes and errors in judgment. Fortunately, we run a very open government
and inevitably these errors do come to light. And when they do, those responsible must be held accountable, as fits the
circumstances.
But what I can promise is that we will continue to take action to improve management practices. Management reform is
founded on the principle of continuous improvement. We do not live in a static world. Our processes, procedures and
systems must be scrutinized on an ongoing basis to ensure that they are relevant and capable of meeting evolving
expectations.
And as we move forward, we increasingly look to schools like Carleton as a strategic partner in providing good
government. Carleton itself looked into the future and re-engineered itself over the past five years, very
successfully. You have demonstrated what can be accomplished in a very short time if you have a clear vision and focus
on your strengths.
Over the coming years we will be looking to your institution to educate future public servants. To provide both
basic and applied research and analysis functions. To act as an advocate for our policies. And perhaps, more
importantly, to let us know when things aren't working and to help point us in the right direction.
To fulfill all of these functions, there needs to be clearer dialogue between the public service and universities
and more open access for researchers to the senior ranks of the public service. Equally important, I believe that we
need to find ways to give students access to public servants, both as resources for research purposes and as potential
mentors for those wishing to one day enter the public service.
I am encouraged that Deputy Minister-level champions have already been identified to act as liaisons with each of
the schools of public administration across the country. The Associate Secretary of the Treasury Board, Jim Lahey, has
been appointed as the liaison with the Carleton School and I know that Jim has already been over to the school to meet
with students and faculty and intends to do a lot more of this over the coming months.
Ladies and gentlemen, I thank you for your kind invitation to be here today. For those of you in the public service,
let me say the Treasury Board has heard the concerns that are out there and we will ensure that the actions of a few
people do not tarnish the good work that you do. For those students among us - let me assure you that a career in the
public service is both rewarding and challenging and we need your enthusiasm, your new ideas and your dedication. You
are the future of this honourable institution - the executives and deputy ministers of tomorrow.
I am confident that management reform will continue to unfold and that the public service will continue to be led by
the type of ethics and values that have helped to make this country the success that it is.
Once again let me congratulate you on the achievements of Carleton's School of public Policy and Administration and
I wish you all the best as you look forward to another fifty years of success.
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