Canadian Government Executive - Volume 23 - Issue 07

Our mission is to contribute to excellence in public service management Editorial Editor-in-Chief: George Ross george@promotivemedia.ca Associate Editor: Marcello Sukhdeo marcello@promotivemedia.ca Editorial Advisory Board Vic Pakalnis, Mirarco, Laurentian University; Denise Amyot, CEO, ACCC; Guy Gordon, Manitoba; Peter Jones, OCADU; Murray Kronick, BDO-Interis Consulting; Michael Eastman, Government Internal Auditors Council of Canada; Peter Stoyko Sales & Events Vice President, Sales: Terri Pavelic 905-727-3875 x2 terri@promotivemedia.ca Director, Media Content & Events: Laskey S. Hart 905-727-3875 x5 laskey@promotivemedia.ca art & production Art Director: Elena Pankova elena@promotivemedia.ca Subscriptions and Address Changes Circulation Director: Mary Labao 905-841-7389 circulation@promotivemedia.ca General Inquiries 1-226 Edward Street, Aurora, ON, L4G 3S8 Phone 905-727-3875 Fax 905-727-4428 www.canadiangovernmentexecutive.ca corporate Group Publisher: John Jones john@promotivemedia.ca Publisher’s Mail Agreement: 40052410 ISSN 1203-7893 Canadian Government Executive magazine is published 10 times per year by Navatar Press. All opinions expressed herein are those of the contributors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher or any person or organization associated with the magazine. Letters, submissions, comments and suggested topics are welcome, and should be sent to patrice@promotivemedia.ca Reprint Information: Reproduction or photocopying is prohibited without the publisher’s prior written consent. High quality reprints of articles and additional copies of the magazine are available through circulation@promotivemedia.ca. Privacy Policy: We do not sell our mailing list or share any confidential information on our subscribers. We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Canada Periodical Fund (CPF) for our publishing activities. www.canadiangovernmentexecutive.ca 4 / Canadian Government Executive // October 2017 One of the many luxuries of having ended the “formal” part of a public service career is that you have an opportunity to apply the skills and knowledge you have acquired over the years to volunteer activities and other areas in your life that you are passion- ate about. I’ve just returned from a three-week assignment in Mongolia, where I was a volun- teer project Technical Advisor working with the Mongolian Mineral Resources and Petroleum Authority, building policy capacity and facilitating policy discussions on a state-level policy. This project called the Mongolia: Enhancing Resource Management through Institutional Transformation Project (MERIT) is a joint effort of the Canadian Executive Services Organization (CESO) and the World University Service of Canada (WUSC) and is a multi-year initiative funded by Global Affairs Canada. This was a wonderful experience that allowed me to work alongside some very dedi- cated, professional Mongolian public servants. The public service institutions in Mon- golia, like its current form of government, are quite young and still evolving, however, the desire for change and professional development is palpable and very encouraging. Like many of you who have worked internationally, these types of experiences al- ways cause me to reflect on our Canadian public service history and on what many of us, even those working in public service, take for granted; namely the strength and sta- bility of our public service institutions. Our public services have matured and evolved over the generations as a direct result of the hard work of the public servants that went before us and through the protections afforded by our Constitution, our political systems, and conventions and the scrutiny of an independent media. All of us have an eye to the future and are constantly exploring ways to make our public services more relevant and efficient but we should never forget that all of this, and everything we do on a day-to-day basis, is built on that stable foundation. It’s when you work outside of Canada and understand how challenging public service work is, without some of that basic “infrastructure”, that you truly appreciate our values and in- stitutions. So, let’s never take for granted our independent, professional public service; in fact, let’s jealously guard it and continue to promote it as a model for the world. This is something that I know we’ll all agree on. In keeping with this, CGE’s October issue is full of leading-edge thinking. Robert Taylor and Andrea Migone of the Institute of Public Administration of Canada discuss Commissioning, an outcomes-focused approach to program design that moves beyond traditional procurement and outsourcing models, injects greater competition into the public-sector economy and more effectively harnesses the strengths of the private and not-for-profit sectors. Vincent DaLuz and Dean Shivji outline a new model for devel- oping Departmental Risk-Based Audit Plans and Sidney Shapiro and Vivian Oystrick caution us on some of the pitfalls of the poor use of “big data”. Over the last few years, we have increasingly been consumed with summer news about wildfires, which appear to be increasing in both frequency and severity. Have you ever wondered who coordinates the sharing of resources across provinces and ter- ritories and internationally for that matter? Kim Colman of the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre outlines his organization’s roles and activities which have been so crucial to Canada’s coordinated response to these significant natural disasters. Regular contributor Jeffrey Roy observes on the fraught history of, and opportuni- ties that exist in effective horizontal collaboration between departments and the need for a commitment to really make collaboration work from the political level. In her “Last Word” Column, Lori Turnbull discusses the challenges for the B.C. Public Service in providing steady and professional support to the new government in Victoria. As always, I welcome your feedback and suggestions for content. You can reach me at george@promotivemedia.ca . editor’s note George Ross web