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Commentary

by David Zusman


Public service renewal has become a major priority of the federal government and many provincial governments. The interest in renewal is driven by a number of diverse but converging factors:
· Canadians expect increasingly higher levels of service from their governments and greater transparency. Consequently, the skills that are required to be an effective public servant have changed to respond to these new circumstances.
· To compound the renewal ch...

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ON THE COVER

PWGSC, Canada's largest purchaser of goods and services, is responsible for much of the environment and infrastructure within which federal public servants work. Left to right, Janice Cochrane, the Deputy Minister; Michel Cardinal (President and CEO of the Translation Bureau); and Jane Billings (ADM, Supply Operations).

Photography: Martin Lipman - martin.lipman@gripandgrinphoto.com

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SHARED SERVICES BUREAU: ONTARIO'S VISION
Art Daniels and Janet Faas
The Shared Services Bureau (SSB) employs 1,200 people who provide business support services to more than 60,000 members of the Ontario Public Service (OPS). SSB is a product of the Ontario Government's ongoing efforts to restructure the OPS.
MAKING PROCUREMENT WORK FOR GOVERNMENT ON-LINE
David Brown and David Brook
The Government On-Line (GOL) initiative is the driving force behind the federal government's plans to harness information technology to improve the delivery of government services to Canadians. The far-reaching vision and scope of GOL may make it one of the most significant modernization programs in the history of the federal public service. By the end of 2004, all core government services are to be available electronically, along with a continuing capacity to provide these services through more traditional channels.
INNOVATION AND HR REFORM
Frances Horibe
Canadian federal public service managers are among the brightest and best trained, even in comparison with their private sector counterparts. The best are inspired leaders who deliver a mandate while juggling the demands of many stakeholders, all of whom quite rightly assume they should be heard but many of whom have diametrically opposed needs and desires.
MAKING YOUR SURVEY DOLLAR$ PAY OFF
George Spears and Kasia Seydegart
Survey research can provide insights that enable the sage public sector executive to make informed choices among alternative courses of action.
Executives need to be able to optimize the benefits and minimize the risks involved in procuring and using surveys.
LANGUAGE: THE FINAL FRONTIER
Interview with Michel Cardinal Interview by Erika Rosenfeld
The Government On-Line initiative, with its promise of faster and more convenient access to government, is unleashing a whole new era in government service delivery, and with it a whole new set of demands on public servants and their service providers. Many public sector managers have not yet turned their minds to how they will cope with the rapid response times implicit in the concept of on-line service delivery, or how they will ensure the quality and technical integrity of their multilingual, multimedia Web sites. CanGovExec magazine asked Michel Cardinal, who recently took on the post of President and CEO of the Translation Bureau, to offer his perspective on the challenges posed by Government On-Line and to describe how the Bureau intends to support its clients in their bid to make the Canadian government the most connected government in the world by 2004.
JANICE COCHRANE: FUTURE DIRECTIONS FOR PWGSC
John Dingwall
Public Works and Government Services Canada (PWGSC), Canada's largest purchaser of goods and services, is a large and multifaceted department which plays an important enabling role for the federal government. It is responsible for much of the environment in which public servants work: buildings, offices, equipment, and the informatics infrastructure. PWGSC also provides key services such as procurement, translation, and consulting and audit.
CanGovExec magazine spoke with Janice Cochrane, the Deputy Minister, concerning the current directions of PWGSC and the approach she is taking in leadership of the department. >>Full Story
JANE BILLINGS: FEDERAL PROCUREMENT CHALLENGES
John Dingwall
As Assistant Deputy Minister for Supply Operations, in Public Works and Government Services Canada (PWGSC), Jane Billings plays a leading role in federal government procurement  especially for the larger and more complex projects and major initiatives such as Government On-Line. Working with departments and with the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat, her responsibilities include: the integrity of the whole process; the overall "architecture" of the procurement process and system; balancing the different stakeholders and their objectives; and improvement and reform of the process and system, including the development and use of new technologies such as the Electronic Supply Chain. CanGovExec spoke to her about current challenges and concerns, and her approaches and strategies.