The Present and Future of Canadian Public Administration

Week 11

“The Precarious State of the Federal Public Service” (Zussman, 2010) New People

New Environment

New Rules

New Players

How did we get here?

“The past 50 years have been characterized by waves of reform through both legislative changes and new government-wide policies to respond to those pressures that existed at the time of the reforms” (Zussman, 2010: 221).

Public Service Modernization

Public Service Modernization Act was passed in 2003 (Inwood, 2012: 272, 311).

Streamlining Public Sector Governance Office of the Chief Human Resources Officer

was created in 2009.

News Release: “Prime Minister Harper announces changes to streamline human resources management in the Public Service of Canada” February 6, 2009.

New People

New hires

Individuals working in new jobs inside the public service

Loss of knowledge and experience due to retirements

New Environment

Impact of new technology

Increasingly a culture of risk aversion

Impact of new media

Centralization of power

New Rules

More scandals lead to more rules.

New Players

Centralized decision-making in government

Significant increase in the influence and importance of political advisors (relative to non-partisan civil servants)

Moving Forward (Zussman, 2010) Not enough is being done for new employees Employee feedback needs to be followed Deputy Ministers are a key constituency Office of the Chief Human Resources Officer needs

to provide leadership Talent management remains a challenge Need for greater stability among Deputy Ministers

and Associate Deputy Ministers Need to improve human resources management

within departments

The Service State (Dutil et al., 2010) “The service state has not lived up to its

mission” (Dutil et al., 2010: 148). “The service state must ask new questions to

achieve its vision” (Dutil et al., 2010: 154). “Asking the right questions and working

towards innovative solutions will keep public servants motivated to create their own culture of service” (Dutil et al., 2010: 158).

Budget season

Ontario budget, Tuesday March 27

Federal budget, Thursday March 29

Students should at least observe the media coverage of the budget speeches. Even better, you should watch the speeches.