Message from the Clerk to all Public Servants
National Public Service Week 2013
It is my pleasure to wish you all a happy National Public Service Week. This annual celebration gives us an opportunity to take pride in our accomplishments and recognize the many contributions of federal public servants to Canadian society.
I have said before that this week is about telling our stories, to each other, and to Canadians. Over the past year, I have had several opportunities to tell some of these stories to audiences here at home and around the world, and to highlight the achievements of our public service employees.
We have successfully navigated a year of significant changes in the way the Public Service of Canada does business and we are well positioned as we continue to manage this process of renewal and transformation. Technological innovations and social media mean greater citizen engagement, and therefore, a greater need for transparency in our operations.
The lead-time for advice and decision making is shorter. We have to be more productive, more efficient and more agile with fewer resources. These are not small challenges.
As in the past, we have been responsive and timely in meeting the needs and expectations of Canadians and we have done so while upholding the values and ethics of the public sector. We should all take pride in this fact.
The theme of this year’s National Public Service Week, “Proudly Serving Canadians”, succinctly captures what public servants across our organization strive for – to serve Canadians with passion, pride and excellence.
We must build on these strengths. Moving forward, I believe that we need a clear and shared vision of what Canada’s Public Service should be, now and in the decades ahead. At my invitation, senior deputy heads came together over the past year to develop a vision of a revitalized and world-class public service equipped to serve Canada and Canadians. Their resulting work, Blueprint 2020 – Getting Started, Getting Your Views, articulates a vision of a public service with several guiding principles. These are:
- An open and networked environment that engages citizens and partners for the public good;
- A whole-of-government approach that enhances service delivery and value for money;
- A modern workplace that makes smart use of technologies to improve networking, access to data and customer service; and,
- A capable, confident and high-performing workforce that embraces new ways of working and mobilizing the diversity of talent to serve the country’s evolving needs.
In my Twentieth Annual Report, I invited all public servants across the country to take part in a dialogue about the future of the Public Service. The dialogue on the Blueprint 2020 vision is your opportunity to help shape the Public Service of tomorrow. Together, we’ll refine the Blueprint 2020 vision, determine what we need to do to make it a reality, and find fresh ways to uphold the tradition of excellence that is the hallmark of Canada’s Public Service.
More information on the Blueprint 2020 vision is available through my website and on the Blueprint 2020 spaces on GCpedia and GCconnex.
Thank you for your continued hard work and for putting the needs and expectations of Canadians at the centre of all your efforts and for building the kind of public service that Canada needs to succeed in the years ahead. Please enjoy your week.
Wayne G. Wouters
Clerk of the Privy Council and Secretary to the Cabinet