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Remarks for Wayne G. Wouters for an Engagement at the Canadian International Development Agency’s Leadership Conference

May 17, 2010

Good afternoon everyone.

It’s my great pleasure to be here today among the senior leadership of the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA).

Thank you for inviting me to your leadership forum this afternoon. I appreciate the opportunity to come and speak with you.

I believe that conferences such as this are vital to organizational growth and renewal.

They give you an opportunity to gather and to discuss, debate and dialogue on your organizational priorities, and the best way forward in fulfilling them.

This afternoon I will speak with you about key government priorities in the short and medium-term, discuss our approach in meeting these priorities and talk about where CIDA fits in all of this.

In discussing the way forward I will touch on the importance and role of Public Service Renewal.

(I) Public Service as a Career

A good place to start is with what we all have in common. Everyone in this room believes in public service.

I began my career with the government of Saskatchewan in 1977.

In 1982, I made the move from the provincial to the federal public service and re-located to Ottawa, and I’ve been here ever since.

I have been fortunate to have a rich career in several different departments and in a wide variety of roles.

I even had a 5-year stint as Deputy Minister at the department of fisheries and oceans, which is pretty ironic really, given my Saskatchewan roots.

After over 30 years as a civil servant, I continue to find my career very rewarding and I imagine you do too.  

CIDA’s mandate, and the nature of what you do, is unique and truly exceptional.

Public servants are known for the pride they take in their work, and if there is a group of public servants who should be proud, it is you.

CIDA is the Government of Canada’s lead agency for the provision of international humanitarian assistance.

You may feel that the benefits associated with your programs and services are not always visible to Canadians.

But I can tell you that your compassionate, swift and effective reaction to the most recent crisis in Haiti was not lost on Canadians.

CIDA has been the government of Canada’s face throughout our mammoth humanitarian response.

What makes your response in Haiti all the more remarkable is that while you were responding to the earthquake and working with displaced and injured people, you were, at the very same moment, victims of the earthquake too!

You mounted this incredible effort at a time when your own operations in Haiti had suffered a dramatic blow.

Your records, equipment, personnel, and offices were all in disarray because of this devastating 7.0 magnitude earthquake…….

And it is a testament to your professionalism and dedication that you still managed to launch a rescue and relief operation to help Haitians in what may have been their greatest time of need. 

For this you have the admiration of all Canadians and I commend you.

It is not only in Haiti however that CIDA is making a difference. You are active in Afghanistan, Indonesia, Vietnam, Bolivia, Honduras, Ethiopia and Senegal just to name a few of the countries you are engaged in.

The work you do takes time, patience and great dedication. Results are sometimes immediate, but often painfully slow in revealing themselves.

Above all, you should know that what you do day in and day out matters.

It matters to those who receive your aide and assistance, and it matters to Canadians.

I strongly believe that Canadians care about global poverty and want their government to play a part in the battle against it. 

I believe that most Canadians understand that our future is intertwined with those in developing countries.

If there was any doubt about this, our national response to the Haitian earthquake makes it clear.

(II) Canada is Well Positioned

These are extraordinary times.

We’re just beginning to emerge from the worst economic downturn since World War II.

While this global recession had serious implications for Canada, our economy faired better than many others.

Canada entered the recession from a position of strength as shown by our well-diversified economy, low unemployment, low inflation, and strong corporate and household balance sheets.

As we continue in our recovery we are better situated than all of our G-7 counterparts. Canada has managed to weather this storm better than others due to:

  • A rapid, consistent, and even response to the downturn from Canadian business;
  • The dividends of solid fiscal and monetary fundamentals, as well as sound regulation and supervision of the financial sector; and
  • The implementation of the economic action plan.

As many of you know, the economic action plan has been an effective stimulus package.

It was designed and developed by public servants from the federal, provincial and municipal level from coast to coast to coast.

The EAP was implemented in record time because public servants who worked long hours, to tight deadlines in order to expedite and simplify complex decision making and approval processes.

They accomplished this without compromising accountability, transparency or the high quality of the decisions themselves.  

Our economy is better today in part due to their efforts.

As the recovery takes hold, we will need to turn our attention to a number of critical longer-term challenges facing this country.

To sustain Canada’s economic and fiscal advantage, the government will need to bring Canada’s finances back into balance over the medium term.

Completing Canada’s Economic Action Plan remains a top priority for the government this year, as the government made very clear in the recent Speech from the Throne.

The government’s commitment to reducing the deficit will entail measures such as:

  • Restraint in the growth of direct program expenditures;
  • Budget freezes;
  • Strategic reviews; and
  • The administrative services review.

We are all in the same boat and tough, yet necessary, measures are required.

This is our duty as public servants – to review what we do on an ongoing basis to ensure that Canadians are receiving the best value for their tax dollars.

The current environment demands that we play the challenge-function internally, examining and investigating how we do business and pursuing paths that will lead to creativity and innovation.

(III) CIDA Progress on Web of Rules

I pay attention to this sort of stuff. Maybe it’s my Treasury Board background or maybe it’s just hard wired in the way I think.

I know, for example, that CIDA is doing its share. I believe you have made notable progress with respect to the design of the process for geographic programs.  

Your work in streamlining the processing time cycle has resulted in a 70% efficiency gain.

That sounds impressive enough on its own but what it really means is that a process that once took 43 months on average now takes between only 12 and 15!!

This result benefits everyone from your clients and stakeholders, to the dedicated CIDA staff who develop and manage these programs.

So bravo and congratulations on a job well done!

(IV) Public Service Renewal

I’d like to change gears now and talk to you about my management priority as head of the Public Service – Renewal.

To allay any fears and to be clear, I want to emphasize that fiscal restraint will not mean an end to public service renewal.

On the contrary, restraint provides further impetus for us to do things differently. Sometimes necessity is the mother of invention.

My Seventeenth Annual Report on the Public Service reports on the progress we have made over past year, and the 2010-11 Public Service Renewal action plan sets out the path forward.

I appreciate that there may be some cynicism and skepticism on the subject of Public Service Renewal, and perhaps when it comes to workplace renewal specifically.

After all, some of our information technology platforms and back-office systems have been with us for more than 30 years. Some look like they could fit nicely in a museum!!

Some of you may feel that workplace renewal has been far too long in coming, slow to take hold, and shy in demonstrating results.

Others among you may think you’ve heard this message before --- and you what? You have.

That’s because PSR is an ongoing initiative and part of a continuum. It is not a fad or a one-off project.

I am carrying on the work initiated by my predecessor and I too will pass on this baton.

Renewal must be continual, if it isn’t we risk the longevity and viability of Canada’s Public Service.

When you consider the complexities of working horizontally across departments, nationally across regions and internationally due to our many global commitments, we’re actually doing fairly well.

Both the annual report and the action plan concentrate on the four pillars of Public Service Renewal:

  • Integrated planning;
  • Recruitment;
  • Employee development; and
  • Workplace renewal.

To date we’ve done a number of things:

  • Empowered managers by giving them more control over HR practices and made in-roads on recruitment strategies by targeting new graduates, mid-career individuals and seasoned professionals in a wide array of fields.
  • Made progress on the web of rules --- demonstrated here at CIDA --- by streamlining, simplifying and expediting decision making, and approval processes without compromising the quality of decisions.
  • Integrated business and HR planning so that they are the norm – not the exception – across departments. We have learned that good human resources and business planning must be done together.

I am pleased to note that CIDA has embraced integrated planning and has incorporated it as part of its ongoing planning activities.

I think integrated planning may be the single most effective strategy to ensure that CIDA, particularly in this climate of fiscal constraint and changing demographics, is well positioned and equipped to address:

  • The tightening of budgets;
  • Departure of baby boomers; and
  • Demands of rapidly evolving technological change.

I don’t think it is an exaggeration to say that the integration of business and HR planning is critical to the public service of Canada.

(V) Workplace Renewal

While all four of the PSR pillars are important, the 4th, workplace renewal, is the one that I have chosen to personally champion.

Without it, I believe that the other three will not be sustainable.

Workplace renewal entails modernizing our computer systems, the widespread incorporation of Web 2.0 technologies such as wikis and social media, and the promotion and encouragement of innovation.  

A modern workplace is also one where we are not inhibited in trying new approaches, taking risks or being innovative in what we do.

The fact that many of our current systems are woefully outdated is not a secret.

The Auditor General noted the GC’s information technology deficiencies in her recent report.

Ms. Fraser has stated that if we don’t spend billions of dollars to upgrade our information technology systems and service to Canadians will be compromised.

While there may not be a lot of buzz or excitement around this challenge, it is critical, and this is why I raise the issue of workplace renewal whenever I can.

Without significant upgrades we will:

  • Become inefficient and ineffective;
  • Risk the longevity and long-term success of the public service;
  • Fail to provide our employees the tools they need to do the best job possible; and
  • Compromise outstanding service to Canadians.

Provincial governments and some federal government departments have adopted Web 2.0 enabled technologies, and it has made a significant difference in the way they communicate internally, are able to serve the public and interact with their client base.

This is the way of the world, if we don’t move with it, we will be left behind.

(VI) Leadership

Being a leader is not always easy. The role can be even harder to fulfill difficult times.

I note that your keynote address tonight, being given by Ms. Prudence Bushnell, a career diplomat, and former US ambassador to Kenya and Guatemala.

She is actually speaking on “leadership in challenging times.”

In light of her experience in countries like India, Senegal, Kenya, and her experiences during the Rwandan genocide, I think your choice of speaker is excellent and I hope that she will be able to share some insight on how to manage in the face of shifting priorities.

Like many of you, I watch the news, I read the papers and I am aware of that you guys have had some rough times of late.

I want you to know, that through it all you have performed superbly.

In the face of at times, difficult media coverage, negative reactions and responses from the public and scrutiny from stakeholders, you have maintained your professionalism and dignity.

Add to this complex and charged public environment, Canada’s duties as hosts of the important, and high profile, G-8 and G-20 meetings, and the expectations of international counterparts, and you have a really challenging set of circumstances.

As leaders you are responsible for those that report to you, you are expected to work horizontally across the system with your colleagues and you are accountable to those to whom you report.

You have continued to make decisions, manage your programs and fulfill your responsibilities calmly. This has not been lost on anybody.

I referred to your work in Haiti. I know that you are making a difference in many parts of the world.

I particularly want to acknowledge the wonderful efforts you have made in Afghanistan.

Under very difficult conditions, you have been instrumental in opening new schools and providing humanitarian support to afghan people.

I want you to know that I am proud of you.

Decisions made each and every day by CIDA employees, and other Canadian public servants, demonstrate true leadership in Canada and in these distant lands.

These decisions are central to our values and ethics.

In times like this, our values and ethics become even more important --- they guide and ground us.

These values and ethics are also at the heart of what drew you to the Public Service and you should never lose sight of this.

Also remember that governments do not and cannot have all the answers in such a complex world.

Insights from the academic community, the private sector, non-governmental organizations and the public only expand and enrich our perspectives.

Building and expanding your networks is key to designing and developing the most viable, service-oriented and cost effective programs and policies in the days ahead.

In this vein, continue to promote collaboration and innovation, encourage the taking of calculated risks, work towards reducing the web of rules and embrace new technologies.

This is the only approach that will serve us well in the long run.

Tough times pass because good leaders see through them and provide the stability needed for others to keep their heads up and continue to make a difference.

I would like to wrap up now on a really positive note: it’s a great time to be a public servant!

We are recognized the world over and I am extremely proud of our recent successes – such as our response to the Haiti disaster.

The roll-out of the economic action plan and the 2010 Vancouver Olympics – only reinforce my view that we are second to none.

Finally, we should be honoured that we have the faith, confidence and trust of Canadians.

This is something we can never afford to take for granted.

Thank you again, and keep up the good work!