OTTAWA - KEVIN PAGE calls for public service renewal from the ‘ground up’ By Kathryn May, OTTAWA CITIZEN November 7, 2013 — Kevin Page worries that Canada’s public service risks losing its values, ethics and principles under the leadership of deputy ministers who have “gone silent” and aren’t challenging a government that doesn’t want their advice or evidence. The former parliamentary budget officer said the public service is losing its way, and that upholding the traditional values of openness, transparency and accountability will have to come from the rank-and-file public servants, because it’s not coming from the top. “There is no vision of where the public service must go in this environment, either from the government or public service,” Page said Thursday. “Yet we are taking big decisions like limiting bargaining rights or reducing the size of the public service without any clear idea of what kind of public service we want or need in 10 years. “Public service values, ethics and principles must be put back on the table. Renewal must come from the base of the public service, given the vacuum at the top. This is not easy but it can happen.” He pulls no punches on criticizing the bureaucracy where he worked for 27 years, steering budgets and financial information through the system from powerful central agencies like Finance, Treasury Board and the Privy Council Office. He called Privy Council Clerk Wayne Wouters’ Blueprint 2020 to renew and modernize the public service workplace an “empty vessel without a rudder.” And he questioned whether deputy ministers have what it takes to “re-energize the public service” and where the policy ideas for the next generation will come from. While at the PBO, Page waged a public battle with Wouters and other senior bureaucrats to get departments to turn over their 2012 spending plans so MPs could see what was being cut. He’s now the Jean-Luc Pepin Chair on Canadian Government at the University of Ottawa. He argues that the public service needs a “ground-up” renewal from the rank and file to live up to the public service’s obligations to provide information, costing, research and analysis to support decision-making, in order to restore the trust of Canadians in government and Parliament. Instead, the public service has been silenced and is “running scared,” he says, and questions how the eroding policy and financial capacity of bureaucracy can be rebuilt. Page will be making his case for a ground-up renewal of the public service at the annual general meeting of the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada, which is giving him a special Public Accountability award. He argues that unions representing thousands of federal employees are well-placed to tap into that base. His call, however, comes at a time when unions are under siege, facing legislative attacks that could significantly reduce their power and threaten their survival. The Conservative government’s omnibus budget bill calls for sweeping amendments to the Public Service Labour Relations Act that will completely change the ground rules for collective bargaining in the public service. But Page said the mandate of unions extends beyond collective bargaining. They defend labour and human rights and promote professional standards and values, which “gives them the opportunity to help develop a bottom-up renewal exercise and create that discussion.” “We have never needed unions more,” said Page. “Union survival may mean doing things a different way and not just about the right to strike, fighting for disability benefits and wage increases. They can raise credibility in a different way.” He said unions can speak out for their members and also about the obligations of professional public servants to provide the information Parliament needs to do its job. “At PBO I worked with public servants that represented the future. They had a mission. They put that mission in front of intimidation from the government and senior bureaucrats. Doing their jobs for Canadians was more important than self preservation in an environment that is becoming more toxic.” PIPSC president Gary Corbett said the union created the Accountability award to recognize Page’s achievements as Canada’s first parliamentary budget officer and for setting an example for “how all professional public servants should work.” “We’re giving him that award because that (accountability) is not something that is awarded or even visible these days … This government doesn’t promote excellence in the public service, and when they do talk about us, it’s about our sick leave or benefits and it make us out to be the enemy.” Earlier this month, the right-leaning Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) gave Page its highest “TaxFighter” Award, putting him in the conservative company of previous award winners such as former Ontario premier Mike Harris, former Alberta premier Ralph Klein and Michael Walker, the founding executive director of the Fraser Institute. But Corbett said unions are facing a major challenge to re-engage apathetic memberships for what some union leaders believe will become a fight for their survival. The Conservative convention approved a slew of motions that would further rein in the power of unions. “Last year we said the wolf is at the door. Well, this year, the wolf has crashed in on us and we have to deal with attempts to drag labour back decades.” Corbett said the assault on labour is forcing unions to connect with grassroots members so they understand and appreciate what they get for the dues they pay every month. PIPSC is proposing a $7 a month dues increase, which was rejected last year when proposed. © Copyright (c) The Ottawa Citizen, November 2013.
Posted on: Sat, 09 Nov 2013 20:34:01 +0000
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