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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:

Question period is but one of many of the Speaker's roles. We go behind the scenes for advice on the public service's reporting to Parliament.

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Intrastructure Redevelopment: P3s
Lindsey Parry
Public infrastructure  roads, bridges, ports, waste and water treatment systems, hospitals, schools and recreation centres that Canadians depend on  is considered by many to be among the most important responsibilities of government. Yet much of Canada's public infrastructure is now reaching the end of its life cycle and requires extensive and costly repairs, upgrades, extensions or expansions.
From Research to Results: Service Ratings Increase
Charles Vincent and Brian Marson
Dedicated readers of Canadian Government Executive will know well the innovative and collaborative work that governments across Canada have undertaken in recent years to improve the quality of public-sector service delivery. From Service Alberta, to 1-800-O-Canada, to Access Halton, Canadian governments at all levels are working to meet the needs and expectations of citizens.
Communications Training
Karen McCarthy
Seeing the value that strong communications advice could bring to development and implementation of good public policy, the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador began to develop an overall professional communications capacity. It created the Communications and Consultation Branch to provide strategic corporate communications advice to Cabinet and line departments, and to manage public opinion research activities, media monitoring, news distribution, web site management, major public consultations and other government-wide communications initiatives.

Learning and Innovation Seed Fund
Marcel Kabundi
The Minister for Treasury Board, the Hon. Lucienne Robillard, announced the Learning and Innovation Seed Fund (LISF) (www.innovation.ccmd-ccg.gc.ca) during the National leadership conference in February, 2003. The project will encourage public servants from across the country to bring forward new and creative ideas that will result in better services to Canadians.
Knowledge Management (Part II): Making It Happen
Melanie and Lieutenant-General George Macdonald
Part II of this series looks at the knowledge management framework itself. It responds to the following questions: What does a holistic, strategically- driven knowledge management framework look like? What must we systematically focus upon so that our collective knowledge can be leveraged towards the achievement of our mission and strategy? Full Story >>
Public Performance Reporting and Public Confidence
Michele Noble
In the wake of private sector scandals and public sector audit revelations there has been a renewed interest in questions of what information should be publicly reported, who gets to determine what is in the public's interest to know, and when they should expect to have access to such information. There is a re-examination of governance and accountability practice and standards, and is a reminder of the importance and impact of the way in which our organizations report publicly.
Professional Corrections: the impact of performance management
Paul Crookall
Corrections may seem like an odd place to look for an illustration of performance management. Correctional systems in several countries are breaking from the movie-reinforced stereotypes of schools of crime  to contributing to safer communities.
Speaker of the House
Paul Crookall
Televised Question Period has highlighted the role of Speaker of the House. Looking beyond the debate to the interface between parliamentarians and public servants. We talk with the Speaker Hon. Peter Miliken for the Federal perspective, then get the views from Hon. Gary Carr in Toronto, and Hon. Mildred Dover in Charlottetown. To round it out, CGE speaks with Don Carty, a man with a unique view  a Canadian who heads one of America's larger corporations, and has frequent dealings with both parliamentarians and public servants.
Army Learning
Regine Lecocq
Learning from experience, and transferring that knowledge through the organization is a key knowledge management product. The lessons must be effectively integrated into a learning process. The Army Learning Process enables us to benefit from previous operations, as well as those of other parts of the Armed Forces and our allies. The objective is to avoid potentially costly mistakes while emulating success and improving overall performance.
Circles Tell the Performance Story
Steve Montague, Gail Young, and Carolyn Montague
Public sector managers face increasing pressure from all sides to reduce costs, improve service levels, make progress towards the achievement of priority outcomes, and increase accountability. In order to accomplish these things, a strong vision of success is vital. It is important to articulate a clear vision.