On March 11th & 12th, 2010, IPAC in association with our friends at MASS LBP are organizing a conference to help imagine, plan, and organize Canada's 150th anniversary of Confederation (the Sesquicentennial) in 2017. July 1, 2017 is only 7 and a half years away & we must start planning what will be a magnificent celebration of the grand experiment called Canada.
The lead up to Canada's Centenary was part of a decade of extraordinary advancement for Canadian society that included in 1960, the Canadian Bill of Rights and First Nations given the right to vote (about time); in 1965, a new Canadian Flag; in 1966 the Canada Pension Plan; in 1967 a new National Anthem, the establishment of the Order of Canada, the first Caribana parade and of course Expo '67; and in 1969 the Official Languages Act. And these are just a few of the tremendous changes that occurred during that time.
I think that we have an opportunity to make the next decade one of similar changes. As citizens and as public servants we all have an opportunity to contribute to the future vision of Canada.
Our friend Peter MacLeod from MASS LBP recently was part of a TED talk and spoke about the sesquicentennial. Here is the video...enjoy.
If you are interested in joining us to imagine the future of Canada, then register for the conference by going to our website.
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Friday, November 20, 2009
Innovation
Not sure if I have blogged about this (and I'm too lazy to check!), but I have been appointed to the Board of the Innovation Institute of Ontario. The Innovation Institute of Ontario (IIO) is a not-for-profit business services provider supporting other not-for-profit organizations in Ontario and Canada. IIO was established in 2000 as a not-for-profit organization to provide grant management services and shared administrative support to the Ontario Innovation Trust and the Ontario Research and Development Challenge Fund.
Earlier this month, the OIT published a book on some of the innovative projects that the OIT funded in Ontario. Only 22 of the 1250 projects are highlighted in this book (and on the website). The website & book underscore the importance of investing in research to drive economic growth. I would highly recommend that we all take a look at this website & learn the lessons that are highlighted. If Canada is to compete economically and develop the next generation of jobs, then governments, policy makers and the private sector must invest in both pure and applied research. Not doing so will imperil our future.
The website & book contain some very interesting feature articles on public policy, solving the secrets of the universe, searching for gene based vaccines, amongst many other interesting articles.
It also contains "The 10 commandments to make the 21st-century Canada's century"...
1. We must give all our young people as much education as possible because to live in a brain-based economy requires that we exercise our grey matter.
2. We must reward education. We want to see the spectre of people with PhDs or medical or engineering degrees driving cabs or clearing plates to be an anathema. Brainless but worse, to be self-wounding. Education must be rewarded.
3. We must create a culture of excellence. Becoming the best is our only option.
4. We must have strong, independent, well-funded universities. We cannot compete in a worldwide knowledge economy if we don't provide the academic test beds to generate more knowledge.
5. University-based research must be the best in the world. But that means that university-based researchers are going to have to think about themselves in a 21st-century way. They have to ask themselves basic questions like: What can be made of this? How can this be applied? They must see themselves not as trains on a tenure track, not as intellectual high-wire artists trying only to impress their peers in the circus of academia, but as part of the innovation engine, as part of the future of Ontario's economy.
6. We must have entrepreneurs. No, that's not emphatic enough. We must have entrepreneurs! We must develop a sense that making new businesses, spinning off gold from research findings, is not a good. It is a great good, a paramount good, an our-destiny-and-our-hopes-for-the future good.We don't say greed is good; we say not making money from the fruits of our intelligence is senseless and self-defeating. It is an eternally crying eye.
7. We must provide entrepreneurs with intellectual property and technological transfer policies that allow them to be the best. Our academic institutions must understand it is both their job to patent new knowledge and their job to get out of the way of entrepreneurs who transfer intellectual property into commercial good.
8. Accordingly, university administrators and technological transfer officers must say to themselves: How do I get what this institution learned into the hands of someone who wants to make something of it? They must see this as a key part of their mission.
9. We must give rewards/recognition to those who risk, even if they fail.
10. This means government must ask itself every day before it closes for business: Have we supported knowledge-based industries today? How did our tax policies make us attractive to investors and entrepreneurs? Have we made it attractive for scientists who are thinking of coming to Ontario? Have we created a climate that will entice investors and make it easy to keep good managers? Are we becoming the best? And what did we do to make sure we were better than yesterday and will be better tomorrow?
Earlier this month, the OIT published a book on some of the innovative projects that the OIT funded in Ontario. Only 22 of the 1250 projects are highlighted in this book (and on the website). The website & book underscore the importance of investing in research to drive economic growth. I would highly recommend that we all take a look at this website & learn the lessons that are highlighted. If Canada is to compete economically and develop the next generation of jobs, then governments, policy makers and the private sector must invest in both pure and applied research. Not doing so will imperil our future.
The website & book contain some very interesting feature articles on public policy, solving the secrets of the universe, searching for gene based vaccines, amongst many other interesting articles.
It also contains "The 10 commandments to make the 21st-century Canada's century"...
1. We must give all our young people as much education as possible because to live in a brain-based economy requires that we exercise our grey matter.
2. We must reward education. We want to see the spectre of people with PhDs or medical or engineering degrees driving cabs or clearing plates to be an anathema. Brainless but worse, to be self-wounding. Education must be rewarded.
3. We must create a culture of excellence. Becoming the best is our only option.
4. We must have strong, independent, well-funded universities. We cannot compete in a worldwide knowledge economy if we don't provide the academic test beds to generate more knowledge.
5. University-based research must be the best in the world. But that means that university-based researchers are going to have to think about themselves in a 21st-century way. They have to ask themselves basic questions like: What can be made of this? How can this be applied? They must see themselves not as trains on a tenure track, not as intellectual high-wire artists trying only to impress their peers in the circus of academia, but as part of the innovation engine, as part of the future of Ontario's economy.
6. We must have entrepreneurs. No, that's not emphatic enough. We must have entrepreneurs! We must develop a sense that making new businesses, spinning off gold from research findings, is not a good. It is a great good, a paramount good, an our-destiny-and-our-hopes-for-the future good.We don't say greed is good; we say not making money from the fruits of our intelligence is senseless and self-defeating. It is an eternally crying eye.
7. We must provide entrepreneurs with intellectual property and technological transfer policies that allow them to be the best. Our academic institutions must understand it is both their job to patent new knowledge and their job to get out of the way of entrepreneurs who transfer intellectual property into commercial good.
8. Accordingly, university administrators and technological transfer officers must say to themselves: How do I get what this institution learned into the hands of someone who wants to make something of it? They must see this as a key part of their mission.
9. We must give rewards/recognition to those who risk, even if they fail.
10. This means government must ask itself every day before it closes for business: Have we supported knowledge-based industries today? How did our tax policies make us attractive to investors and entrepreneurs? Have we made it attractive for scientists who are thinking of coming to Ontario? Have we created a climate that will entice investors and make it easy to keep good managers? Are we becoming the best? And what did we do to make sure we were better than yesterday and will be better tomorrow?
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Quick Thoughts of the Day
Heard the following two thoughts last week at the Peter Aucoin symposium that I was attending:
Knowledge v Wisdom
Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit
Wisdom is knowing not to put it in a fruit salad
Kissinger
Richard French recounted what Henry Kissinger once said to journalists: "Do you have questions for my answers?"
Knowledge v Wisdom
Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit
Wisdom is knowing not to put it in a fruit salad
Kissinger
Richard French recounted what Henry Kissinger once said to journalists: "Do you have questions for my answers?"
Monday, November 16, 2009
Symposium in Honour of Peter Aucoin
On November 12th and 13th, I had the pleasure of attending a symposium in honour of Peter Aucoin held at Dalhousie University in Halifax. This symposium was to recognize Peter’s tremendous and prolific body of work in the field of public administration and public policy. The title of the Symposium was: From ‘New Public Management’ to 'New Political Governance’.
Anybody who has studied or read about public administration in Canada would be familiar with Peter’s writings on a diverse range of topics. You can view a selected bibliography here.
The Symposium included presentations from a who’s who of scholars in public administration from across Canada and some international guests as well on topics that reflect Peter’s interests, including Democratic governance; electoral reform; Public Management and Reform; and Accountability. I had the privilege of moderating the first session on “Bridging the Gap between Government and Academia”. The panel was composed of Mel Cappe, President of the Institute for Research on Public Policy and past Federal Clerk of the Privy Council and Rick Williams, Deputy Minister of the Office of Policy and Priorities of the Government of Nova Scotia.
Mel spoke about how Peter has played the role of the bridge between government and academia and how the elegance of scholarly work intersects with the chaos that is the life of the practitioner. According to Mel, only academia can help practitioners to sit back and reflect on issues and help draw lessons and academia can provide fearless advice to the “fearless advisors” in the public service. He sees academia as a translator of the practitioners work and as a useful interface between the public service and the political level as it is always helpful to say to the political level that there exists a body of literature on a particular topic. Mel also spoke of the increased centralization in government, which he sees as evolutionary in nature. He also spoke about the different skills needed for operations versus policy and the lack of policy capacity (i.e.: ideas generation) that he sees in government these days. Part of the reason for this is the lack of demand for new ideas from the political level.
Rick Williams spoke about the need to enhance the capacity of government to implement core policy. As a new DM reporting the Premier (from outside government) he thanked Peter for providing sage advice during the transition process. He spoke about the complexity of issues facing governments today that require “joined up solutions”. He underscored the need for a professional public service and the critical role of Deputy Ministers in achieving governmental objectives. The majority of his talk was on the upcoming release of the report of the NS Panel of Economic Advisors being released the next day that would address the transformation in health, education and public service that the government of Nova Scotia needed to do to address the structural deficit.
The presentations were followed by a robust round of Questions & Answers that I will write about shortly as well as give you some of the other highlights from the symposium.
Anybody who has studied or read about public administration in Canada would be familiar with Peter’s writings on a diverse range of topics. You can view a selected bibliography here.
The Symposium included presentations from a who’s who of scholars in public administration from across Canada and some international guests as well on topics that reflect Peter’s interests, including Democratic governance; electoral reform; Public Management and Reform; and Accountability. I had the privilege of moderating the first session on “Bridging the Gap between Government and Academia”. The panel was composed of Mel Cappe, President of the Institute for Research on Public Policy and past Federal Clerk of the Privy Council and Rick Williams, Deputy Minister of the Office of Policy and Priorities of the Government of Nova Scotia.
Mel spoke about how Peter has played the role of the bridge between government and academia and how the elegance of scholarly work intersects with the chaos that is the life of the practitioner. According to Mel, only academia can help practitioners to sit back and reflect on issues and help draw lessons and academia can provide fearless advice to the “fearless advisors” in the public service. He sees academia as a translator of the practitioners work and as a useful interface between the public service and the political level as it is always helpful to say to the political level that there exists a body of literature on a particular topic. Mel also spoke of the increased centralization in government, which he sees as evolutionary in nature. He also spoke about the different skills needed for operations versus policy and the lack of policy capacity (i.e.: ideas generation) that he sees in government these days. Part of the reason for this is the lack of demand for new ideas from the political level.
Rick Williams spoke about the need to enhance the capacity of government to implement core policy. As a new DM reporting the Premier (from outside government) he thanked Peter for providing sage advice during the transition process. He spoke about the complexity of issues facing governments today that require “joined up solutions”. He underscored the need for a professional public service and the critical role of Deputy Ministers in achieving governmental objectives. The majority of his talk was on the upcoming release of the report of the NS Panel of Economic Advisors being released the next day that would address the transformation in health, education and public service that the government of Nova Scotia needed to do to address the structural deficit.
The presentations were followed by a robust round of Questions & Answers that I will write about shortly as well as give you some of the other highlights from the symposium.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Remembrance
On November 11th, all Canadians should take time to pay homage to our fallen heroes as part of Remembrance Day. I remember when I was in the Army Cadets in Ottawa we took part in this day by firing one of the guns as part of the official salute. It is always a moving and solemn occasion when we remember the sacrifice of the ultimate in public servants.
On this occasion, we should all re-read the poem by John McCrae
In Flanders Fields
In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.
On this occasion, we should all re-read the poem by John McCrae
In Flanders Fields
In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.
Monday, November 9, 2009
Recruiting New Talent
The October 31st issue of the Economist has an interesting article entitled "Public Service Careers: A tough search for talent" that looks at the on-coming demographic problems that Western countries face in revitalizing their respective public services.
The article references an OECD survey showing that at least 30% of central-government workers were 50 years of age or older and that due to generous early retirement provisions, many of these workers would. be retiring in the near future. In Canada the proportion of Federal government employees over 50 years of age has grown from 20% in 1995 to 33% in 2005 according to this survey.
The new way of working - in a networked government with policy issues that cut across government departments and across governments - means that the skill set that governments look for are different than in the past. As well, government is no longer the sole source of information and ideas. A multitude of think tanks and NGO's have carved out a significant role in policy development in the Western world and government policy shops have to work and also compete with them.
At the same time that governments are focused on recruiting new talent and on developing programs and supports for new professionals, they should not forget that the next cadre of public sector leaders will come from those who have been in the service for 10 or so years (the Generation X-ers who are in the 30's and early 40's).
The article references an OECD survey showing that at least 30% of central-government workers were 50 years of age or older and that due to generous early retirement provisions, many of these workers would. be retiring in the near future. In Canada the proportion of Federal government employees over 50 years of age has grown from 20% in 1995 to 33% in 2005 according to this survey.
The new way of working - in a networked government with policy issues that cut across government departments and across governments - means that the skill set that governments look for are different than in the past. As well, government is no longer the sole source of information and ideas. A multitude of think tanks and NGO's have carved out a significant role in policy development in the Western world and government policy shops have to work and also compete with them.
At the same time that governments are focused on recruiting new talent and on developing programs and supports for new professionals, they should not forget that the next cadre of public sector leaders will come from those who have been in the service for 10 or so years (the Generation X-ers who are in the 30's and early 40's).
Saturday, November 7, 2009
Board Meeting
It is a mild Saturday in Toronto and we are inside at the IPAC Board meeting. Meeting is at the Pantages Hotel and this morning we are having our committee meetings. I am in the Finance Committee meeting talking about the future of the organization. The Service to Members Committee and the International Committees are also meeting this morning. The Research Committee met yesterday afternoon. This afternoon and tomorrow the full Board will be meeting with a strategic focus on where we want IPAC to be in 5-10 years from now.
IPAC has a key role to play as the "go-to" organization in public administration and policy in Canada and as a meeting place of public servants from all orders of government in Canada - federal, provincial, territorial, municipal, and aboriginal as well as the broader public sector.
Stay tuned........
IPAC has a key role to play as the "go-to" organization in public administration and policy in Canada and as a meeting place of public servants from all orders of government in Canada - federal, provincial, territorial, municipal, and aboriginal as well as the broader public sector.
Stay tuned........
Friday, November 6, 2009
Leadership Awards - the Winners are announced
Event: Gala Dinner for the IPAC/Deloitte Public Sector Leadership Awards
Day: evening of November 5, 2009
Place: Pantages Hotel
Almost 150 people gathered at the Pantages Hotel for an evening of celebrating public sector leadership. From all orders of government and from across Canada, these representatives of what is best in public service in Canada came together to enjoy the evenings festivities.
And the winners are:
Federal/Provincial/Territorial category
Gold: Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada
Project: Response to the 2007 Passport Surge in Demand
Silver: Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care
Project: Leading the Transformation in Stewardship
Bronze: Ministère de l’Emploi et de la Solildarité sociale du Québec
Project : Pacte pour l’emploi
Municipal category
Gold: City of Toronto
Project: Streets to Home
Silver: Vancouver Police Department, City of Vancouver
Project: Reclaiming the Street of Shame
Bronze: City of Edmonton
Project: Leading Change – Neighbourhood Revitalization
Education category
Gold: Simon Fraser University
Project: Coming Down from the Mountain
Silver: The Michener Institute for Applied Health Sciences
Project: Innovation Strategy: Transforming Education in the Applied Health Sciences
Bronze: Ryerson University
Project: Leadership for Student Success
Health category
Gold: Hospital for Sick Children
Project: The Canadian Pediatric Surgical Wait Times Project
Silver: Provincial Health Services Authority, British Columbia
Project: imPROVE – PHSA’s Program Focusing on Patients and Empowering Staff
Bronze: Saint Elizabeth Health Care
Project: Partners for Aboriginal Health
Not-for-profit category
Gold: La Société de vélo en libre-service, Ville de Montréal
Project: BIXI : Société de vélo en libre-service (SVLS)
Silver: Children’s Treatment Network, Simcoe York
Project: From Vision to Reality
Bronze: Canadian Partnership Against Cancer
Project: Cancer View Canada – the CPAC Partnership Portal
Public Sector Leadership Award Finalists
Other finalists who also demonstrated outstanding leadership and innovation are:
City of Toronto
Project: The kids@computers – Leading Investment in Disadvantaged Children and Communities
Deputy Minister Council, Alberta Public Service
Project: Creating a Culture of Leadership in Alberta Public Service
Health Canada
Project: Health Canada’s Way Forward Initiative: An Enterprise Approach to IT
Medical Advisory Secretariat
Project: Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care
Ministry of Citizens’ Services, British Columbia
Project: Project Management Centre of Excellence
Ministry of Citizens’ Services, British Columbia
Project: Advanced Communication and Collaboration Services
Institut national de santé publique du Québec
Project: Vision et leadership en santé publique
Congrats to all!
Day: evening of November 5, 2009
Place: Pantages Hotel
Almost 150 people gathered at the Pantages Hotel for an evening of celebrating public sector leadership. From all orders of government and from across Canada, these representatives of what is best in public service in Canada came together to enjoy the evenings festivities.
And the winners are:
Federal/Provincial/Territorial category
Gold: Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada
Project: Response to the 2007 Passport Surge in Demand
Silver: Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care
Project: Leading the Transformation in Stewardship
Bronze: Ministère de l’Emploi et de la Solildarité sociale du Québec
Project : Pacte pour l’emploi
Municipal category
Gold: City of Toronto
Project: Streets to Home
Silver: Vancouver Police Department, City of Vancouver
Project: Reclaiming the Street of Shame
Bronze: City of Edmonton
Project: Leading Change – Neighbourhood Revitalization
Education category
Gold: Simon Fraser University
Project: Coming Down from the Mountain
Silver: The Michener Institute for Applied Health Sciences
Project: Innovation Strategy: Transforming Education in the Applied Health Sciences
Bronze: Ryerson University
Project: Leadership for Student Success
Health category
Gold: Hospital for Sick Children
Project: The Canadian Pediatric Surgical Wait Times Project
Silver: Provincial Health Services Authority, British Columbia
Project: imPROVE – PHSA’s Program Focusing on Patients and Empowering Staff
Bronze: Saint Elizabeth Health Care
Project: Partners for Aboriginal Health
Not-for-profit category
Gold: La Société de vélo en libre-service, Ville de Montréal
Project: BIXI : Société de vélo en libre-service (SVLS)
Silver: Children’s Treatment Network, Simcoe York
Project: From Vision to Reality
Bronze: Canadian Partnership Against Cancer
Project: Cancer View Canada – the CPAC Partnership Portal
Public Sector Leadership Award Finalists
Other finalists who also demonstrated outstanding leadership and innovation are:
City of Toronto
Project: The kids@computers – Leading Investment in Disadvantaged Children and Communities
Deputy Minister Council, Alberta Public Service
Project: Creating a Culture of Leadership in Alberta Public Service
Health Canada
Project: Health Canada’s Way Forward Initiative: An Enterprise Approach to IT
Medical Advisory Secretariat
Project: Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care
Ministry of Citizens’ Services, British Columbia
Project: Project Management Centre of Excellence
Ministry of Citizens’ Services, British Columbia
Project: Advanced Communication and Collaboration Services
Institut national de santé publique du Québec
Project: Vision et leadership en santé publique
Congrats to all!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
