| Privy Council Office | speeches
The public service is a diverse institution and offers many career opportunities. Within the public service, we have strong networks of people from various spheres of work: communications, science, IT and data, legal and so forth. It is tremendously helpful, not just to you, but to the public service, that people who do regulatory work, do it together.
| Privy Council Office | speeches
Canada operates within the Westminster software of governance, which has evolved for over seven or eight centuries. This governance software includes the basic principles of the Crown’s powers, the Crown’s taking advice from the Executive, and the Executive being responsible and answerable to Parliament. Over time, this system has turned out to be quite adaptive.
| Privy Council Office | speeches
Back when I was the Deputy Champion for the Persons with Disabilities Community, as it was then called, I participated in events like this one today for many years. It is very important for me to be here today.
| Privy Council Office | statements
The Prime Minister delivered an apology to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and two spirit (LGBTQ2) Canadians, their loved ones, families, and communities.
| Privy Council Office | speeches
This event is about you. It is about you as individuals, as teams, and as an important institution, which has served Canadians for 150 years. I want you to take enormous pride in what you have accomplished.
| Privy Council Office | speeches
This is a moment of real accomplishment and it is important that we take time to celebrate. There are about 260,000 men and women who work in the Public Service of Canada right now. You add that up over the years, it is many Canadians and they do a great job but it is a very small percentage of those that get to executive positions. These are positions of leadership, of impact and of influence. It is a tremendous personal and professional accomplishment and I would encourage you to savour it and to share it with your family, friends and neighbours. I hope you will enjoy this evening and the fact that you have joined the leadership of the Public Service of Canada.
| Privy Council Office | speeches
The first thing I would like to do is reinforce this important message: “do not be a passenger”. Take charge of this experience, and “lean into it”, as the Prime Minister often says. Take charge of your own learning and development, and use this forum for networking. I know that the people that have gone through Executive Leadership Programs in the past have formed strong professional and personal bonds, and it is an opportunity to get to know some remarkable public servants and Canadians. Take full advantage of this opportunity.
| Privy Council Office | speeches
I have done a number of events this year, and one of the common themes has been Canada 150. It is this moment in the calendar, which gives us an opportunity to look back on where we have come from, to take a look at where we are, and think about where we want to go as a country. I had the great honour of accompanying the Prime Minister and others to Vimy for the centennial of that event, which was so formative in Canada’s history and identity. It is occasions such as these which encourage us to reflect and to think about where we are.
| Privy Council Office | speeches
So the obvious question is, what does a 60-year-old have to say to a bunch of young entrepreneurs – what does somebody from the public service have to say to a bunch of start-up entrepreneurs? It’s a good question.
| Privy Council Office | statements
There are only five days left to complete the 2017 Public Service Employee Survey (PSES). If you have not yet done so, please take some time to fill out the 2017 PSES before it is too late.
