Canadian Government Executive - Volume 26 - Issue 03

Our mission is to contribute to excellence in public service management EDITORIAL EXECUTIVE EDITOR | J. RICHARD JONES john@promotivemedia.ca DEPUTY EDITOR | LORI TURNBULL lori@promotivemedia.ca MANAGING Editor | Marcello Sukhdeo marcello@promotivemedia.ca COPY EDITOR | James Brandon COLUMNISTS | JEFFREY ROY HARVEY SCHACHTER JOHN WILKINS EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD DENISE AMYOT, PENNY BALLANTYNE, Jim Connell, Michael Fenn, Lana Lougheed, John Milloy, Vic Pakalnis, Robert Shepherd, Andrew Treusch, David Zussman Sales & Events Vice President, Sales | Terri Pavelic 905-727-3875 x2 terri@promotivemedia.ca Director, Content & Business Development | David Blondeau 905-727-3875 david@promotivemedia.ca ART & PRODUCTION ART DIRECTOR | Elena Pankova elena@promotivemedia.ca Subscriptions and Address Changes Circulation Services | circulation@promotivemedia.ca General Inquiries 21374, 2nd Concession Rd, East Gwillimbury, ON, L9N 0H7 Phone 905-727-3875 Fax 905-727-4428 www.canadiangovernmentexecutive.ca corporate Group Publisher | J. RICHARD JONES john@promotivemedia.ca Publisher’s Mail Agreement: 40052410 ISSN 1203-7893 Canadian Government Executive magazine is published 6 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 lori@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 // May/June 2020 web Canada and the rest of the world continue to struggle with the far-reaching consequences of COVID-19. Since reaching pandemic status a few months ago, the coronavirus has forc- ibly reshaped society, affected every facet of the economy, and changed the way we live and work. The world in general was not prepared for this pandemic, which is evident in the way this health crisis was handled. Many leaders in government are trying to combat this crisis by putting measures in place to deal with the effects of it. Some have worked, some have not. What are some of the leadership lessons we can take from this pandemic to help us bet- ter prepare for the future? How can we get our cities, of which more than 80 per cent of Canada’s population live in, ready for the future? In this issue of CGE, we take a look at this pressing situation. Our leading article deals with this issue and provides some insights into how we can scale up city-level adaptation during a national crisis. Grant Duckworth from Vancouver Strategic and Integrated Re- search writes about how many of our legacy institutions and risk management protocols were designed for a more predictable era but that has changed with COVID-19 and emerg- ing security threats. He points out that interdisciplinary knowledge sharing, and effective policy coordination will need to intensify as the international threat environment grows more unpredictable in the coming months and years. Urban planners must work in part- nership with other parties to develop sophisticated design thinking, scenario planning, and threat-based analysis so as to create future-ready cities. And with proper execution from a strategic level, Canada will be able to address today’s urban governance challenges while preparing the future-ready policies that can be scaled-up tomorrow. As we continue to grapple with the current health crisis, there has been lots of talk about the use of data and AI in healthcare. The writers of the article, Better Health Outcomes by Applying Artificial Intelligence and Data Analytics show that by engaging advanced data ana- lytics and AI, healthcare providers can deliver scalable and cost-effective solutions that will dramatically improve patient outcomes while reducing the avoidable waste that occurs as a result of low adherence to medications. We have at our disposal the technological advances to make real change in healthcare now. Governments around the world are looking at recovery plans post-COVID-19. For Canada, Michael Fenn proposes a way to rebuild our economy. He writes that infrastructure is often cited as the means to get people back to work and to build the foundation for a broad- based economic recovery. By creating a revival of the “limited dividend” company, which the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) previously used to expand afford- able housing, may prove to be an effective way to provide essential infrastructure services to households and businesses and accelerate sustainable recovery, especially in hard-hit municipalities and regions across Canada. Living through the disruption of COVID-19 has been unlike anything we’ve witnessed before. The implication of this pandemic on the workforce is enormous. While some are ad- justing to the new normal of remote work many are facing uncertainties. As we approach, hopefully, the tail end of COVID-19, now is the time to think strategically about how to emerge stronger. Lesley Ireton from PwC Canada writes about how leaders will need to consider a reboot plan that meets the evolving needs of their organization and supports their people. Leading organizations will learn from the first stage of their crisis response to build resilience and future-proof their organization from further disruption. Thanks for taking the time to read this issue. Marcello Sukhdeo Managing Editor, Canadian Government Executive marcello@promotivemedia.ca editor’s note