ICYMI: A Future Government Blueprint or Return to Yesteryear? [Lynch & Mitchell]

Good critique by David McLaughlin. As usual, most of these types of articles are strong in the diagnostique but weak on the how:

This might hold the bitter truth of whether our relentlessly mediocre system of governance will ever be changed. The authors note the importance of leadership in actually changing anything. Their first recommendation for implementing renewal is for the PM “to release a public statement (via a Speech from the Throne) committing the government to a major program of reform and renewal”. The reality is that unless the PM and Clerk of the Privy Council, Cabinet Secretary, and Head of the Public Service invest serious political capital in such an initiative, big necessary change will not occur. 

The authors plant their flag firmly in the terrain of big change, now. “Incrementalism is Not the Answer”, they write in their final chapter heading. “Business-as-usual is not a viable strategy for success in a world of rampant change”. No disagreement here. But good stewardship is grounded in guardian institutions with a guardian mindset. Incrementalism is a feature, not a bug, of such a system and culture. This is what governance reformers are up against as much as anything else. Incrementalism may be the only means to regime change on offer. 

If so, then this governance blueprint, or any other, requires a second layer of engineering and technical schematics as to how to get there. Credit to Lynch and Mitchell for erecting the scaffolding.

Here’s how the book’s two dozen recommendations stack up:

• Restore Cabinet Government – 4 recommendations
  • make Cabinet the central place for collective decision-making
  • reduce the size of Cabinet by at least a third
  • return authority and accountability to ministers
  • reintroduce an operations committee to manage key files and keep government on track
• Reverse the Centralization of Power in the PMO – 5 recommendations
  • counter the creeping ‘presidentialization’ of our Westminster system of government
  • restore the proper role and accountability between public servants and political staff
  • empower parliamentary committee with more independence, staff, and resources and fewer committees with broad mandates
  • right-size government with less spending, fewer agencies, fewer small departments, and simpler governmental organization. 
  • create an appropriate rules and accountability regime for political staff
• Modernize Core Government Institutions – 11 recommendations
  • modernize and strengthen the public service for tomorrow
  • downsize federal employment by about 17 percent to unwind excessive growth
  • re-mandate the Treasury Board and the Public Service Commission 
  • Establish forward-looking, sophisticated planning and risk management capacity in the public service
  • rebuild a cutlure of purpose, pride, and accomplishment for results in the public service
  • simplify, reduce, and refocus government oversight mechanisms 
  • transform the RCMP into a modern national police force
  • resource, rebuild, and re-equip the Canadian Armed Forces
  • set out focused, longer-term priorities for foreign policy with the resources and capacity to execute
  • establish clear protocols for the distribution and use of intelligence
  • Focus on improving productivity, both in the private and public sectors
• Implement the Reforms – 4 recommendations
  • release a public statement by the PM committing the government to a major program of reform and renewal
  • create a National Productivity Commission
  • Create a PM’s Advisory Council on the Public Service
  • Create an expert panel on public sector productivity

Source: A Future Government Blueprint or Return to Yesteryear?