In the News

When I was up in Whitehorse, I was interviewed by the Whitehorse Star...here is the story....

Institute promotes public service excellence
By Stephanie Waddell on November 21, 2008



LEARNING CURVE APPRECIATED - Gabriel Sekaly, seen Wednesday in Whitehorse, says his trip north also gave him the opportunity to learn how the public service operates in the territory.

It should come as no surprise that Gabriel Sekaly ended up working in the public service.
The chief executive officer for the Institute of Public Administration of Canada (IPAC), who’s visiting the territory from Toronto this week, grew up in Ottawa, where his father had worked for the federal government.

Sekaly’s grandfather and great-grandfather were also civil servants.

These days, in his role with the IPAC, Sekaly’s job sees him working to improve public service at all levels of government across the country and, in some cases, internationally, with the IPAC’s mission being “to promote excellence in public service.“

Sekaly travelled to Whitehorse at the invitation of the IPAC’s Yukon chapter on Monday. He met with officials from the four orders of government in the territory and informed them of the services the organization offers to public servants.

“I could see a good opportunity to share information,“ Manon Moreau, chair of the IPAC’s Yukon chapter, said in an interview Wednesday following a noon meeting with city council and senior management.

The visit also meant raising the profile of the IPAC and letting the many government workers in the territory know of the services and programs the IPAC offers, she said.

That’s exactly what Sekaly did as he went over the IPAC’s initiatives with city officials.

With a membership of 3,100 public servants, academics and others interested in the world of public administration, the organization has conducted research, published books and papers and done projects overseas.

One of its more recent international programs has Ontario partnering with Uganda. Another has seen work done in Ghana to help develop a better decision-making process.

Many of the efforts have seen the Canadian contingent learn from the countries they are partnering with, Sekaly said.

New projects that will be happening on the home front are set to look at the value of the public service, stressing its importance and encouraging individuals to seek careers in the field.

Another project, he said, will look at developing a possible policy on what the ideal population might be for the country and how that can be achieved.
Coun. Jan Stick pointed out in many cases, that’s out of the hands of government officials.

Fort McMurray, Alta. serves as a prime example, she continued. While government officials have tried to do what they can to help control the population, it’s been out of their control, given the number of jobs in the community. “It took them over,“ she said.

Sekaly said countries like Australia and New Zealand have policies in place around population. Some countries facing uncertain futures around climate change now may consider it the right time to look at it, he added.

The organization is also continuing its efforts in building leadership through a number of programs.
After meeting with Yukon government, municipal and Council of Yukon First Nations officials, Sekaly noted the public service plays quite a different role in the Yukon compared with southern Ontario.
Recalling his years working in Ontario’s Department of Finance, Sekaly noted few people he talked to understood what he did or would recognize him if he saw them in the street.

That’s not the same in Whitehorse, where individuals run into bureaucrats around town regularly, he said.
Along with giving him a chance to let Yukoners know what the IPAC does, Sekaly noted the three-day trip also gave him the opportunity to learn how the public service operates in the territory.