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New Public Management and the Ontario “Common Sense Revolution”
Douglas Brown
St Francis Xavier University
Revised March 2009
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New Public Management and the Ontario “Common Sense Revolution”
• The International NPM Paradigm
• Canada in Comparative Perspective
• The Common Sense Revolution Platform
• The Harris Government in Office
• Some Tentative Assessments
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What is New Public Management ?
• paradigmatic theory
• neoliberal ideology
• managerialist rhetoric: business metaphors
• political program
• international template of “best practice”
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Key Objectives (OECD)
1. Improving strategic oversight by elected politicians over the business of government
2. Ensuring greater accountability for outcomes against pre-set objectives
3. Greater contestability and market competition for the provision of goods and services.
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The Climate for NPM Ideas in Canada
• Declining economic growth, fiscal crisis
• Declining trust in government, bureaucrat bashing
• Globalization and continental integration
• Limited acceptance of neoliberalism
• Federalism as constraint and opportunity
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The Changing Context of Governance in Ontario
• 1992 recession and Ontario’s competitive economic position
• The Rae government dilemma
• Public Service restructuring
• The Voice in the Wilderness (Mike Harris)
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The “Common Sense Revolution” Platform
– Tax cuts first, then balanced budget– Expenditure cuts of $6 billion in “non-priority”
areas– 725,000 new jobs – Regulatory review and reduction – Welfare reform – Education reform – Turn-Around management
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Common Sense = NPM ?
• Common Themes:– reasserting control– performance standards – spending smarter
• Contradictions:– CSR not a management strategy– risky public finance– distrust of or by the public service ?
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Harris Government in Office
1. Reasserting Strategic Control
2. Reinventing Public Finance
3. Accountability for Objectives
4. Introducing Contestability
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Reasserting Strategic Control• Controlling the Bureaucracy:
– Top-down Cabinet process– Centralized Communications– Public service cuts – Policy control by political advisors / “create a crisis”
• Centralizing the public sector: – Education reforms– Municipalities– Hospital restructuring – Community boards
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Reinventing Public Finance
• Tax Cuts
• Tax Structure– PIT and CIT– Property Tax
• Expenditure Cuts
• Balanced Budget
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Accountability for Outcomes
• Ministry Business Plan process
• Partnerships within: accountability conflicts (e.g. Andersen/Comsoc affair)
• Contracting Out (social services, prisons, highways, water quality)
• Delegated Regulatory Authorities (e.g. Technical Standards and Safety Authority)
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Contestability
• Hydro markets
• Competition within Education (testing, private schools)
• Mandating competition for service delivery (e.g. Community Care)
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The Walkerton Case• May 2003: 7 people die as a result of
contaminated water supply in small town of Walkerton, Ontario
• Inquiry finds failure of overall regulatory system to protect water supply. Points to:– The effect of MOE budget cuts– The effect of anti-red tape culture….Harris government
had cut regulation, privatized water testing– Government ignored expert advice
• Public became highly skeptical of NPM reform rhetoric following the Walkerton episode
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Assessment 1: By CSR Blueprint
• Successful in terms of program completion• Good luck / good management in public
finance • Major unforeseen challenges: municipal
restructuring• Unfinished reforms: health and education• Successful in (re)electoral terms?
– Yes in 1999 No in 2003
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Assessment 2: By the NPM Paradigm
1. Strategic Control: Effective, but became over-control, especially on implementation matters
2. Accountability for outcomes: Improved within government; but had problems with alternative delivery
3. Contestability: In progress / Incomplete
4. Overall assessment: Not a thorough reform
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Assessment 3: By Traditional Public Administration Values
• Fiscal probity and efficiency increased
• Over-centralization of government and the public sector
• Loss of policy capacity
• Low public service morale
• Reduced accountability for some functions
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Concluding Thoughts
• NPM ideas have been very influential but not the dominant paradigm in Ontario
• NPM not a passing fad, but will continue to be exercised in tandem with older Public Admin values
• Deep NPM reform in Canada is (so far) the product of neo-conservative leadership
• Uncovering the “secular” merits of NPM requires careful evaluation: by sector, by each specific reform.