In my Ying and Yang of travel I have been to Barbados and now the Yukon in the space of a month – slight differences in temperature and topology. This was my first ever visit to the Yukon – or the “Great White North”. I left Toronto on Monday night at 18:15 on an Air Canada flight to Vancouver and then I was supposed to board a 22:00 flight to Whitehorse that was supposed to land at 00:30 (local time or 03:00 Toronto time). Well, the flight was delayed and we left at 00:45 and landed in Whitehorse at 03:00 local time (or 06:00 Toronto time). Manon Moreau the Chair of the Yukon Regional Group was there to pick me up.
Apart from that, the rest of my time here has been fabulous. I have had a number of meetings with the Yukon First Nation Groups; with the Government of the Yukon Deputy Ministers and ADMs; with the City of Whitehorse; with the Yukon Government policy community; as well as a meet & greet with IPAC members. I learned much about the realities of the Yukon and Northern life. Did you know that the Yukon has 4 orders of government – the federal government; the Yukon government; municipal governments; and 15 First Nation Governments (11 of which have signed self-government agreements). All this with a population of over 32,000 people, 75% of whom live in Whitehorse. The biggest First Nation Government serves a population of just over 1,000 people. All these First Nation governments are responsible for the delivery of provincial/territorial type services to their community. With all these orders of government, the need for co-operation and collaboration is the key to success. What a challenge!
Apart from talking about IPAC, our mission and our programming, I also was invited to speak to a group of policy folks on “Evidence-based Policy”. It was a lively discussion of the issues around the development of the full range of policy issues based upon reliable evidence. (My presentation is posted on the IPAC website under Research). I also spoke about our international program and our two new initiatives – the Value of Public Service project and the Canada Population Policy project.
I had the opportunity of walking around Whitehorse and seeing a little bit of the town. It is nestled along the Yukon River and there are mountains all around. The trees were all white as they we sprinkled with snow and ice – I should have brought my camera!! There are a number of very nice coffee shops (went to Baked – great coffee and scones!) and some nice shops as well. I was told that the Yukon has more artists per capita than anywhere else and you can tell by the paintings, photos, sculptures, etc. that you find in the stores.
The public administration and public policy challenges of the North – with vast regions and small dispersed populations – are not unique to the Yukon but are similar for the two other territories as well as the northern part of every other province in Canada, save the Maritimes. In these smaller communities you are closer to the people – if you work for the Government of the Yukon, everyone knows you in town and are likely to ask you about a problem at the grocery store or the hairdresser or at the restaurant. For those who work in larger governments, think about that for a second.
I want to thank Manon Moreau and Julie Haywood for organizing this trip to the Yukon and I also want to thank all the dedicated public servants that I met for their warmth and hospitality during my short sojourn in the Yukon. I will be back (with my camera)!!!
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Policy Execution
The process of moving a policy idea from its concept stage to its implementation stage is fraught with peril. A recent survey by Deloitte helps explain why.
Deloitte, with the assistance of IPAC, CGE and APEX, conducted a survey of senior government officials across Canada. The same type of survey was also conducted in the US with their senior government officials. The good news is that we are slightly better than the US. But, then again, this is not a contest. There is lots of food for thought for public servants in all orders of government across Canada in this survey.
Some selected results:
41% of respondents deem governments less capable of successfully implementing large projects than 10 years ago, mainly due to increased complexity (28%); lack of focus (20%) and lack of effective leadership (17%);
In terms of policy design, the majority (51%) thought that the government is moderately successful, but there is a high level of disconnect between those that design policy and those that implement it, with 67% of respondents saying that there is little or no input from the front-line and/or those the policy is meant to serve; and
Lack of clear goals or guidance on implementation is cited as one of the issues that face government, with 42% saying they rarely receive this guidance and 42% indicating that they sometimes receive it.
The survey also asked respondents to list the barriers to successful implementation - the top 4 are: poor timing; partisan politics; unrealistic costs and complexity of coordination.
Leadership was seen to be key to the successful implementation of policy. The top leadership traits that respondents listed were all "soft" skills: good communicator, visionary, and consensus builder.
On of the most shocking response was the one to the question on the confidence of the present leaders with the next generation of leaders ability to address future challenges - only 4% are highly confident! 42% are not or moderately not confident. Isn't it the job of the present leadership cadre to ensure that the next generation is able to address these future challenges. I think that the answer to this question says a lot more about the present leadership!
You can get a copy of the powerpoint presentation by clicking www.ipac.ca/policyexecution
Deloitte, with the assistance of IPAC, CGE and APEX, conducted a survey of senior government officials across Canada. The same type of survey was also conducted in the US with their senior government officials. The good news is that we are slightly better than the US. But, then again, this is not a contest. There is lots of food for thought for public servants in all orders of government across Canada in this survey.
Some selected results:
41% of respondents deem governments less capable of successfully implementing large projects than 10 years ago, mainly due to increased complexity (28%); lack of focus (20%) and lack of effective leadership (17%);
In terms of policy design, the majority (51%) thought that the government is moderately successful, but there is a high level of disconnect between those that design policy and those that implement it, with 67% of respondents saying that there is little or no input from the front-line and/or those the policy is meant to serve; and
Lack of clear goals or guidance on implementation is cited as one of the issues that face government, with 42% saying they rarely receive this guidance and 42% indicating that they sometimes receive it.
The survey also asked respondents to list the barriers to successful implementation - the top 4 are: poor timing; partisan politics; unrealistic costs and complexity of coordination.
Leadership was seen to be key to the successful implementation of policy. The top leadership traits that respondents listed were all "soft" skills: good communicator, visionary, and consensus builder.
On of the most shocking response was the one to the question on the confidence of the present leaders with the next generation of leaders ability to address future challenges - only 4% are highly confident! 42% are not or moderately not confident. Isn't it the job of the present leadership cadre to ensure that the next generation is able to address these future challenges. I think that the answer to this question says a lot more about the present leadership!
You can get a copy of the powerpoint presentation by clicking www.ipac.ca/policyexecution
Saturday, November 1, 2008
Climate Change Conference
WOW!! What a great conference. On October 28 and 29, 2008 we held our climate change conference and it was a resounding success.
Over 160 delegates attended this 2-day conference that focused on adapting to climate change. Whether we like it or not, the fact is that even if we eliminated all GHG producing activities today, the GHGs already in the atmosphere will mean that the world's median temperature will still increase by approximately 2 degrees. And we know that GHGs will not be eliminated tomorrow. So as governments around the world and in Canada come to grips with "mitigation" (ie: reducing levels of GHGs), they must also plan for how we will adapt as a society to climate change. From what I heard at the conference, from the experts, we are 10-15 years behind in developing adaptation measures and policies.
We have posted the speakers' presentations on the conference website. You will also find there the speech from the Ontario Minister of the Environment, John Gerretsen, who addressed the conference on Wednesday morning. We have also added a copy of our Globe & Mail insert on climate change that appeared on October 27, 2008. To see the presentations click here.
In this post I won't go into all the details of the conference (will write some more later), but I did want to underscore my admiration for what the Government of British Columbia is doing on this complex issue. They have taken a holistic approach to climate change are have implemented legislated GHG reduction targets as well as concrete actions to achieve these targets. Graham Whitmarsh from BC presented their action plan at the conference.
We heard from a number of extraordinary speakers throughout the two days. I want to especially thank David Pearson for moderating the two days. Over the next short while we will be developing a report on the conference that will also include recommendations for governments at all levels across Canada. Once the report is finalized we will post it on our site and also send it to governments.
Canadian governments have a key role to play in ensuring that we, as a society, are ready to deal with the impacts of climate change - from health impacts to agricultural changes; from water availability impacts to impacts on our infrastructure; and so on.
Over 160 delegates attended this 2-day conference that focused on adapting to climate change. Whether we like it or not, the fact is that even if we eliminated all GHG producing activities today, the GHGs already in the atmosphere will mean that the world's median temperature will still increase by approximately 2 degrees. And we know that GHGs will not be eliminated tomorrow. So as governments around the world and in Canada come to grips with "mitigation" (ie: reducing levels of GHGs), they must also plan for how we will adapt as a society to climate change. From what I heard at the conference, from the experts, we are 10-15 years behind in developing adaptation measures and policies.
We have posted the speakers' presentations on the conference website. You will also find there the speech from the Ontario Minister of the Environment, John Gerretsen, who addressed the conference on Wednesday morning. We have also added a copy of our Globe & Mail insert on climate change that appeared on October 27, 2008. To see the presentations click here.
In this post I won't go into all the details of the conference (will write some more later), but I did want to underscore my admiration for what the Government of British Columbia is doing on this complex issue. They have taken a holistic approach to climate change are have implemented legislated GHG reduction targets as well as concrete actions to achieve these targets. Graham Whitmarsh from BC presented their action plan at the conference.
We heard from a number of extraordinary speakers throughout the two days. I want to especially thank David Pearson for moderating the two days. Over the next short while we will be developing a report on the conference that will also include recommendations for governments at all levels across Canada. Once the report is finalized we will post it on our site and also send it to governments.
Canadian governments have a key role to play in ensuring that we, as a society, are ready to deal with the impacts of climate change - from health impacts to agricultural changes; from water availability impacts to impacts on our infrastructure; and so on.
Monday, October 27, 2008
Globe Insert
Wow - today (October 27, 2008) IPAC had an insert in the Globe & Mail - a first for us!
The insert was on adapting to climate change and was entitled "A Climate for Action". The insert was 6 pages and includes an article by yours truly (and also my picture - thanks to Dylan for taking my picture) as well as a number of interesting articles. Check it out.
Tomorrow we start our 2 day conference on climate change in Toronto. We have a great lineup of speakers. Look for an update on the conference later on.
The insert was on adapting to climate change and was entitled "A Climate for Action". The insert was 6 pages and includes an article by yours truly (and also my picture - thanks to Dylan for taking my picture) as well as a number of interesting articles. Check it out.
Tomorrow we start our 2 day conference on climate change in Toronto. We have a great lineup of speakers. Look for an update on the conference later on.
Sunday, October 26, 2008
CAPAM
Video Blog from the 2008 biennial conference of the Commonwealth Association of Public Administration & Management (CAPAM) in Barbados that took place from October 19-22, 2008. Over 400 delegates from the 53 Commonwealth countries attended the conference whose theme was Achieving Public Sector Excellence.
Saturday, October 25, 2008
POLITICS – The Ugly Side
I've been watching the election campaign in the USA with a growing sense of disgust. Disgust at the tone and the ugliness on display. This from a country that espouses democracy and pretends to be morally superior to other countries.
What I am talking about is the vitriolic language used by the McCain-Palin camp and their followers against Barack Obama. There have been numerous episodes where Republican spokespersons have used Senator Obama's middle name (Hussein) to imply that he is not a real American, and to imply that he is Muslim. The other day at a rally in Minnesota, a McCain supporter said that she understood that Senator Obama was “Arab”.
I guess being “accused” of being Muslim or Arab is a negative in American politics. Why is it that in this and age it is still OK to vilify a whole religion and a whole people? I came across a press release by Dr. James Zogby, president of the Arab American Institute, who has said “Enough is Enough” to this bigotry (read his post here http://www.huffingtonpost.com/james-zogby/john-mccain-i-am-an-arab_b_133884.html ). Bravo Dr. Zogby.
With all the complaints about the increase of negative advertising in Canadian election campaigns, at least we can be thankful that we do not have this kind of disgusting behaviour in Canada.
What I am talking about is the vitriolic language used by the McCain-Palin camp and their followers against Barack Obama. There have been numerous episodes where Republican spokespersons have used Senator Obama's middle name (Hussein) to imply that he is not a real American, and to imply that he is Muslim. The other day at a rally in Minnesota, a McCain supporter said that she understood that Senator Obama was “Arab”.
I guess being “accused” of being Muslim or Arab is a negative in American politics. Why is it that in this and age it is still OK to vilify a whole religion and a whole people? I came across a press release by Dr. James Zogby, president of the Arab American Institute, who has said “Enough is Enough” to this bigotry (read his post here http://www.huffingtonpost.com/james-zogby/john-mccain-i-am-an-arab_b_133884.html ). Bravo Dr. Zogby.
With all the complaints about the increase of negative advertising in Canadian election campaigns, at least we can be thankful that we do not have this kind of disgusting behaviour in Canada.
Saturday, October 4, 2008
Still Alive
It has been a long time since my last blog. Sorry about the delay in posting.....It has been a little hectic since I got back from our very successful 2008 Annual Conference in Quebec City.
While we were away at the conference, our offices were repainted and re-carpeted. So everything was in boxes, even the phone was in a plastic bag. IPAC staff who were not at the conference had the "pleasure" of dealing with the paint, the boxes, etc. It all looks great now! I think the carpets were over 10 years old and so was the paint job...so this "refresh" was long overdue. Drop by and see us anytime you are in the 'hood!
Will post some more in the next few days.
While we were away at the conference, our offices were repainted and re-carpeted. So everything was in boxes, even the phone was in a plastic bag. IPAC staff who were not at the conference had the "pleasure" of dealing with the paint, the boxes, etc. It all looks great now! I think the carpets were over 10 years old and so was the paint job...so this "refresh" was long overdue. Drop by and see us anytime you are in the 'hood!
Will post some more in the next few days.
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