Nova Scotia AGM – “Excellence in Public Administration”

I recently attended (June 18th) the Annual General Meeting of the Nova Scotia Regional Group. In addition to the normal AGM business, the meeting featured a panel on “Excellence in Public Administration” that included senior representatives from the three orders of government, namely, Robert Fowler, DM to the Premier and Clerk and Secretary of the Executive Council; Deborah Windsor, VP of the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency; and Dan English, CAO of the Halifax Regional Municipality. The panel discussion was ably chaired by Rodger Gregg the New Professionals rep on the NS Regional Group. And I had the pleasure of saying a few words in introducing the topic of excellence in public administration.

The AGM was well attended and was run with upmost efficiency by the Jeannine Lagassé, chair of the Nova Scotia Regional Group. The panel discussion took place following the end of the “formal” AGM business.

Deborah Windsor spoke about leadership and the need to create an innovative environment for staff; where staff is committed to the organization’s objectives and its values and ethics. She also spoke about the need to take risks and learning from our mistakes. On the learning front, Deborah mentioned the requirement from the Clerk of the Privy Council that 90% of staff across the federal public service have a learning plan and the ACOA learning account for each employee of $2000.

Robert Fowler emphasized that the public service provides a “sense of purpose”. He recounted that he is an accidental public servant – started over 30 years ago with a plan to only stay a couple of years in the public service. He spoke about being proud of being a public servant and how to bring out the best in people. He recounted how he had received an e-mail from a young public servant who had been involved in the evacuation of residents outside Halifax as a result of the recent fire and how he described his sense of purpose as a public servant.

Dan English spoke about the need to implement a culture of continuous improvement and citizen centered delivery; and of the challenges of managing and recruiting staff within the generational diversity that organizations are now facing. The development of outcome focused indicators and performance reports that are understandable by citizens were also another theme of his talk.

All three spoke about the pride of working in the public service and contributing to the development of Canadian society.

It was a great session and I was very happy to be back in Nova Scotia.