The Last Post - maybe

Well it's a hot and humid Thursday July 8, 2010 in good old Toronto the Good.  After four years, tomorrow is my last day as CEO at IPAC.  It has been quite an experience working for a not-for-profit that focuses on public administration and management.  In those four years, I think we have accomplished quite a lot. When I joined IPAC in August 2006, I replaced Joseph Galimberti who had joined IPAC in 1969 and became Executive Director in 1975 until his sudden, untimely death in April 2006.  As you can imagine it is quite interesting and challenging to join an organization that had one person as its leader for 31 years. The thing one has to remember is that you cannot be the person you are succeeding, you have to be your own person and do things your way - which can sometimes be difficult for long time staff!

In these last four years, IPAC has evolved in terms of its outreach, programming and web presence (including this blog and my tweeting!).  There are more innovations to come in terms of IPAC's web presence but I will not divulge these as I don't want to spoil the surprise.  In this day and age organizations such as IPAC must embrace technology to leverage its work and spread the word about what it is doing.  I will leave others to judge what was accomplished in those 4 years.  In my previous post, "All Good Things", I  wrote about the support, or lack thereof from various jurisdictions in Canada.  I know that some will say that they do not provide core funding to organizations or they may even say why support IPAC as opposed to some other organization.  To these comments I just say that IPAC is the only national organization that brings together public servants from all orders of government in Canada and academics in the field of public administration and management.  IPAC conferences, both National Conferences and local events organized by any of our 17 active regional groups, bring together people from all orders of government and academics to discuss and debate issues in public management and policy and allows us to learn from our peers and create connections that will ultimately help create better public services. To those who have the power to do so, I say, support your chosen profession of public service.  If not you, then who? If not now, then when?

I think that all of us who have a few years under our belt (or in my case quite a few years!) have an obligation to give back to our chosen profession and ensure that the next generation of public servants have the same opportunities that we had to connect with their peers across the country, with their peers working in other orders of government and the opportunity to contribute to the evolution of excellent public service in Canada and around the world.  Remember that most of the public policy issues that we now face will require collaboration within government and between governments, between municipalities, provincial/territorial governments, aboriginal governments, broader public sector organizations and the federal government.  A crisis is a difficult time to build good working relationships, IPAC offers the opportunity for us to get to know each other and understand each other through our common bond - the desire to provide excellent public services to Canadians.

Well this may be my last post on this blog.  I want to thank all of you, my faithful readers, for the opportunity to share my thoughts with you over the last number of years.

Conférence 150!Canada - rapport final

Le rapport final de notre Conférence 150!Canada est maintenant disponible sur notre site web. La conférence qui s'est tenue au Centre national des Arts à Ottawa et a réuni 300 délégués de partout au pays pour entendre plus de 25 conférenciers de marque et pour développer un plan d'action pour célébrer le 150e anniversaire du Canada en 2017.
Je pense que vous trouverez le rapport plein d'idées sur la façon dont nous devrions aborder cette occasion mémorable. Comme dans
le cas des présentations des conférenciers, certains thèmes récurrents sont ressortis des tables rondes :
 

• Le sesquicentenaire devrait inclure tous les Canadiens et les Canadiennes. Les célébrations du 150e anniversaire devraient inviter tous les citoyens à apprendre les uns des autres et à prendre part aux traditions des autres. Nous pouvons célébrer le Canada de nombreuses manières, qui ont toutes leur place. Quelle que soit la façon choisie de célébrer, la population entière devrait se sentir invitée à participer.
• Cette célébration doit avoir une dimension internationale. Nous sommes une nation d’immigrants, mais nous sommes aussi une nation d’émigrants. Le Canada est le pays du G8 qui a la plus grande proportion de sa population vivant à l’étranger. Pour inclure tous les Canadiens et les Canadiennes, nous devons faire en sorte que cette célébration ait une dimension internationale.
• Inciter la communication nationale. Nous devons communiquer avec nos voisins d’autres secteurs et régions, et encourager la communication entre le gouvernement et les citoyens. Le sesquicentenaire représente une occasion pour toute la population canadienne de se parler et de partager cette expérience.
• Bâtir le Canada que nous voulons avoir. Le sesquicentenaire sera l’occasion de célébrer ce que nous avons accompli. Ce sera l’occasion d’honorer le Canada en réalisant nos aspirations pour notre pays. Cet anniversaire devrait être un catalyseur pour s’attaquer aux grands problèmes et mettre en branle des projets ambitieux qui créeront des changements positifs pour l’avenir.
• Commencer maintenant. Une réflexion sur le Canada et une discussion sur le sesquicentenaire constitue une démarche excitante. Nous n’avons pas besoin d’attendre qu’on nous donne la permission. Personne n’a à nous dire quoi faire. L’année 2017 approche et nous devons commencer à organiser sa célébration dès maintenant.

 Le rapport fournit des recommandations concrètes pour nous tous sur la façon dont nous pouvons aller de l'avant. N'oubliez pas que la  Conférence 150!Canada n'était que le début de notre voyage incroyable à 2017.

150!Canada Conference - Final Report

The final report of our 150!Canada conference is now available on our website.  The conference which was held at the National Art Centre in Ottawa and brought together 300 delegates from across the country to hear from over 25 distinguished speakers and develop a plan of action to celebrate Canada's 150th birthday in 2017.

I think that you will find the report chock full of ideas on how we should be approaching this momentous occasion.  There were several recurring themes that came out of the roundtables that were held on the second day of the conference:

• The Sesquicentennial should include all Canadians. Sesquicentennial celebrations should encourage all Canadians to learn from one another and share their traditions. There are many different and important ways to celebrate Canada. However we celebrate, all Canadians should feel welcome.

• This needs to be a global celebration. We are a nation of immigrants, but we’re also a nation of emigrants. 2.8 million Canadians live abroad — more than the population of Atlantic Canada, or the Praries. To include all Canadians, we need to take this celebration to the world.

• Open channels for communication. We should use the Sesquicentennial to reach out to one another and create new ways to connect. Let’s promote dialogue between communities, and different sectors.

• Build the Canada we want. The Sesquicentennial is an occasion to celebrate our accomplishments, and look ahead. It’s time to start punching above our weight. If we’re honest about our challenges, we can make 2017 a catalyst for change.

• Start now. Our 150th anniversary excites Canadians. People want to talk about the country and its future, but there isn’t time to waste. Organizers spent a decade preparing for the Centennial. The time to get started is now.

The report provides concrete recommendations for all of us on how we can move forward.  Remember that the 150!Canada conference was but the start of our incredible journey to 2017.

World Cup

Every four years productivity around the world decreases as people are glued to their TVs to watch that magnificent game - football (or soccer).  This year has been no exception - especially now that you can watch the matches streamed over the net!  It has been an exciting tournament so far with a few upsets.  And note how seriously some governments (you were probably wondering how I was going to tie this to public administration!) take the results from the world cup - France has called an inquiry into how badly the national team played and the discord within the team and Nigeria has banned its team from playing internationally for the next two years.

Hope you enjoy this video........

Winding Down

Well, my last day at IPAC is a week away - July 9th.  I'm sure you all enjoyed Canada Day yesterday and celebrated this great country of ours.  It is truly an wonderful country.  Yesterday we released the report from our 150!Canada conference and it was e-mailed out to participants.  We will be posting it on the website early next week and will send it out to all members as well.  Watch for it.

In the meantime, I thought you might enjoy a couple of songs by Israel "IZ" Kamakawiwo'ole....

Toutes les bonnes choses ......... et le 202 ème blogue

Eh bien selon le décompte sur Blogger, ceci est mon 202ème poste depuis que j'ai commencé le blogue à la fin d'août 2007. Mes premiers blogues étaient de notre conférence annuelle à Winnipeg et j'ai posté directement sur notre site web. Un an ou moins plus tard, j'ai décidé de passer au site public Blogger qui m'a donné beaucoup plus de flexibilité en termes de transfert de photos, de vidéos ainsi qu'une plus grand auditoire. Et la "cerise sur le sundae" c'est que c'est gratuit!  

J'ai joint l'IAPC en tant que PDG en août 2006 juste à temps pour la conférence annuelle de l'Île du Prince Edouard. Au cours des 4 dernières années, j'ai eu le plaisir de rencontrer de nombreux fonctionnaires dévoués de partout au pays - d'une mer à l'autre - et de tous les niveaux de gouvernement. Il est regrettable que le public canadien ne sache pas toutes les grandes réalisations des fonctionnaires. À l'IAPC, nous avons essayé de mettre en évidence l'excellence grâce à nos prix et d'autres événements. Dans le temps que j'ai été ici, j'ai revu des centaines et des centaines de soumissions pour notre Prix de gestion innovatrice commandité par IBM Canada et KPMG; notre  Prix IAPC/Deloitte de leadership dans le secteur public; et la crème de la crème, la Médaille Vanier. En lisant les soumissions j'ai toujours été frappé par les merveilleux exemples de service public. Chaque année, il était difficile de choisir les finalistes parmi les candidats et encore plus difficile de sélectionner les gagnants - en fait tous sont gagnants! 

J'ai eu l'occasion de rencontrer de nombreux universitaires de nos grandes universités qui enseignent l'administration publique et la politique public. Leurs travaux constituent un sous-tendent du travail de la fonction publique au Canada. Au fil des années, j'ai lu une pléthore d'articles extraordinaires dans la revue Administration publique du Canada. 


J'ai eu l'occasion de travailler avec les présidents incroyable dans mes 4 ans à l'IAPC - Luc Bernier, Carol Layton, Louis Borgeat, Bill Greenlaw et Wynne Young. Ils sont tous bénévoles et ont très occupé avec leur emplois, mais ils croient tous dans la fonction publique et dans l'IAPC et on librement donné de leur temps et continue à donner de leur temps à l'IAPC. La même chose vaut pour le conseil d'administration, les présidents des groupes régionaux et leurs exécutifs et tous les bénévoles qui donnent de leur temps parce qu'ils croient que l'excellence dans le service public est important au Canada et partout dans le monde. Les 17 groupes régionaux de l'IAPC sont très actif et offrent un large éventail d'activités d'apprentissage à la fois membres de l'IAPC et les non-membres. 

Et je m'en voudrais si je ne mentionne pas le personnel dévoué de l'IAPC.  

Donc, vous devriez avoir deviné que je quitte l'IAPC. En effet, je vais continuer à travailler dans le domaine de l'administration publique et la politique comme sous-ministre adjoint au ministère de l'Éducation de l'Ontario. J'ai hâte aux défis et aux opportunités que ce boulot va apporter. 

Pour ces hauts fonctionnaires qui ont lu mon blogue, je tiens à vous encourager à augmenter votre soutien à l'IAPC. Il existe de nombreuses juridictions qui n'ont pas augmenté leur contribution à IAPC depuis le début des années 1990 et d'autres (vous savez qui vous êtes), qui ne fournissent aucune aide de base à cette magnifique institution. Comme je l'ai mentionné dans mon dernier éditorial dans le numéro de juin du magazine Management Secteur Public, sans l'IAPC je crois vraiment que le corps des connaissances actuelles de l'administration publique au Canada ne serait pas aussi grande qu'elle l'est aujourd'hui. Je vous invite à redonner à votre profession choisie - le service public - et à investir dans l'avenir les fonctionnaires en soutenant l'IAPC.

All Good Things.........and the 201st blog post

Well according to the count on Blogger, this is my 201st post since I started the blog in late August 2007. My first blogs were from our annual conference in Winnipeg and I actually posted directly on the website.  A year or less later I decided to move to Blogger a public site that gave me much more flexibility in terms of uploading pictures, videos as well as greater exposure.  And the "cerise sur le sundae" as we say in Québec is that it is free!

I joined IPAC as CEO in August 2006 just in time for the Annual conference in PEI.  In the last 4 years, I have had the pleasure of meeting many dedicated public servants from across the country - from sea to sea to sea - and from all orders of government.  It is unfortunate that the Canadian public does not hear of all the great accomplishments of public servants.  At IPAC we have tried to highlight this excellence through our awards and other events. In the time I have been here I have reviewed hundreds upon hundreds of submissions for our Innovative Management Awards co-sponsored by IBM Canada and KPMG; our IPAC/Deloitte Public Sector Leadership Awards and la crème de la crème, the Vanier Medal.  As I read these I was always struck by the wonderful examples of public service that leaped off the page.  Every year it was difficult to choose the finalists from among the nominees and harder still to select the winners - actually all are winners!

I have had the opportunity to meet with many academics from our great Universities who teach public administration and policy.  Their work provides an underpinning to the work of public service in Canada.  Over the years I have read a plethora of extraordinary articles in the Canadian Public Administration journal.

I have had the opportunity of working with incredible Presidents in my 4 years at IPAC - Luc Bernier, Carol Layton, Louis Borgeat, Bill Greenlaw and Wynne Young.  They are all volunteers and have very busy "day" jobs but they all believe in public service and in IPAC and freely gave of their time and continue to give of their time to IPAC.  The same holds true for the Board of Directors, the Regional Group Chairs and Regional Group Executives and all the volunteers who give of their time because they believe that excellence in public service is important in Canada and around the world. IPAC very active 17 regional groups provide a wide range of learning activities to both IPAC members and non-members alike.

And I would be remiss if I did not mention the dedicated staff at IPAC who keep the place running.

So you should have guessed by now that I am leaving IPAC.  Indeed I am going to continue to work in the field of public administration and policy as an assistant deputy minister with the Ontario Ministry of Education. I look forward to the challenges and opportunities that the new job will bring and I look fondly back at my time at IPAC.

For those senior public servants who read my blog, I want to encourage you to increase your support to IPAC.  There are many jurisdictions who have not increased their contribution in support of IPAC since the early 1990's and others (you know who you are) who provide no core support to this wonderful institution.  As I mentioned in my last editorial in the June issue of Public Sector Management magazine, without IPAC I truly believe that the existing body of knowledge on public administration in Canada would not be as extensive as it is today. I urge you to give back to your chosen profession - the public service - and to invest in future public servants by supporting IPAC.