Page argues the time is ripe for reform but he questions whether Privy Council Clerk Wayne Wouters’ “vision” for a future “world-class” public service will drive the changes needed. An interim report on his Blueprint 2020 is completed and the final “action plan” is expected in 2014.
“I would argue the public service is in crisis and there is certainly context for change,” said Page. “It’s a crisis of leadership and how we transform the public service has to be from bottom up and not the top down.”
Page is among a growing number of skeptics, including many public servants, who have watched big reforms come and go with few changes ever materializing.
He also joins the chorus of experts who are pressing for an overhaul, even a fundamental rethink, of the public service. Few, however, seem to agree on how that reform should take shape or what should be fixed.
All signs, however, are that the public service is heading into a year of uncertainty, tensions and possible change.
Wouters kicked off discussion of the “vision” last summer in Blueprint 2020 with the unconventional approach of giving public servants a say in their future workforce. The response was overwhelming, indicating public servants are hungry for change and new, innovative ways of working in a rapidly changing world. They went to town-hall meetings, watched webcasts and took to Twitter and internal social media, such as GCconnex and GCPedia, by the thousands to have their say.
After six months of dialogue, the PCO put together a progress report, called What We Heard, including ideas that will set the stage for the final action plan.
At the same time, Wouters appointed longtime deputy minister Robert Fonberg to examine policy development in today’s rapidly changing world of technology and social media.
The government also passed legislation to overhaul of collective bargaining in the public service, giving itself the power to call the shots in the upcoming round of collective bargaining in 2014.
Revamping sick leave and disability will be a key issue during negotiations but now that the government holds most of the cards, some say everything from job security, layoff provisions and other benefits and working conditions could be on the table.
Page criticizes the public service for having “gone silent,” and says its leadership isn’t challenging the government that doesn’t want their advice or evidence. He worries about what has happened to the financial and policy analysis capacity the public service was once known for.
While at the PBO, Page waged a public battle with Wouters and deputy ministers over their refusal to turn over information on the government’s spending cuts. More recently, he locked horns with Wouters over his reform plans, calling Blueprint 2020 an “empty vessel.”
“I don’t see a vision and I have been very critical of the Blueprint 2020, but there is a context for change,” said Page.
“Where is the state of policy and financial analysis in government and its capacity to deliver services? We should be true to our values and no one can say we have been true to accountability and transparency in the past five years, moving on big initiatives with no supporting analysis.
“The public service is accountable to the executive but it is also accountable to Parliament and they have dropped the ball on that, and that comes with the price of lost public trust.”
Donald Savoie, the Canada Research chair in administration and governance at the Universite de Moncton, is also pushing for reform but argues the problem lies with the public service’s relationship with ministers, cabinet and Parliament.
As long as the political debate is dominated by the “blame game,” he said public servants will see their jobs as policy advisers and managers is to protect the government and keep ministers out of trouble.
He argues any reforms to “empower” public servants to promote efficiency or innovation won’t work because they will play it safe and be accountable by “writing endless reports that say nothing and few politicians even read.”
“They have never been able to square the circle of empowering public servants and making them accountable. They have been trying to reform the public service for 30 years and the only constant is the blame game and until Parliament, ministers and politicians look in the mirror and heal themselves, they won’t heal the public service.”
He said all the chatter and discussions generated by Blueprint 2020 may be invigorating, especially for young public servants eager to harness technology and open up government, but it won’t work unless that relationship with politicians changes.
“I can’t figure out Blueprint 2020. It’s like grabbing smoke. I don’t understand where it is going. Maybe something fundamental or important is taking shape in the system and if that’s the case, good luck, but for someone from the outside looking in, there’s nothing there. It seems vapid … and until you deal with the role of ministers, Parliament and their relationship with public servants ... the vision is only sentences in a report and will not have any legs.”
INFO BOX
The Vision of Blueprint 2020.
Canada’s top bureaucrat Wayne Wouters, who is clerk of the Privy Council Office, and his cadre of deputy ministers developed a vision for a “world-class” public service of the future that’s based on four principles:
— 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 new technologies to improve networking, access to data and customer service.
— 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.
Original Article
Source: canada.com/
Author: KATHRYN MAY
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