Speech bythe Honorable Lucienne Robillard,President of the Treasury Board, andMember of Parliament for Westmount-Ville-Marie November 7th, 2003 Ladies and gentlemen, dear colleaguesYou can imagine what a great pleasure it is to be with all of you today. Not only do I have the pleasure of joiningthe Managers Development Seminar here in Laval, but, as Marc said, I am also delighted to be connected by satellite tothousands of public service employees across Canada. Thank you to the federal regional councils, the Canadian Centrefor Management Development, and Training and Development Canada for their hard work in making this event possible. FromIqaluit to St. John's, I understand that there are over 3,000 participants in today's event. So I want to say "Hello"to everyone! And thank you for taking the time to join us today.I am here to talk about history in the making. It is a privilege to stand in front of such a large group of publicservice employees. And it is even more significant that I have such wonderful news to share with you: Perhaps youalready know. On November 4th at 4:00 pm, Parliament passed the Public Service Modernization Act. And in afew minutes, we will have Royal Assent.This is a memorable moment for the public service. This Act is the biggest change in how we hire and manage publicservice employees in more than 35 years. And I am convinced that it will serve us well for the next generation of thepublic service and beyond.This is, of course, a historic moment for the public service, but let me share with you, it is also a very specialmoment for me, personally. There is one main reason why I decided one day to get into politics, an occupation that isvery stimulating, exciting but at times very thankless. I went into politics to change things in a lasting way and tomake a difference in the lives of the citizens of our country. You will thus understand why the passage of the PublicService Modernization Act brings me so much satisfaction.This legislation will make a difference in our ability to serve Canadians. And I am happy to be one of the peoplewho made it possible. It shows me that with a spirit of innovation and collaboration, we can turn a vision into areality. It has shown me that the Public Service of Canada can change and has the desire to change.The law: Success through team workAlthough the Prime Minister gave me the honour of being the champion of this initiative, this is in no way "my Act".It belongs to us all. It belongs to everyone who cares about the Public Service of Canada, and wants to see a proud andhonourable institution continue to serve with excellence. The Prime Minister ensured that the political will was therefor this modernization from the beginning, and I thank him for that. There are also several outstanding public serviceleaders who have helped me to make this Act a reality, and I want to thank them publicly todayI want to begin by thanking the former Clerk of the Privy Council, Mel Cappe. Mel was responsible for supporting thePrime Minister in creating the Task Force to Modernize Human Resources Management in April 2001. Mel then entrusted theguiding intent and the vision for change to the Task Force to develop the legislation before us today.I want also to thank a very special person, former deputy minister Ran Quail, who led the Task Force in taking thevision for change into the reality of law. Ran has been a strong advocate for good Human Resources management in thepublic service, and a champion for the human resources community. As such, he was the ideal leader to guide the TaskForce. Although Ran retired this summer - after 41 years in the public service - his integrity, vision, and hisdevotion to the public service and to public servants will be remembered for years to come.At the Task Force, Ran was extraordinarily well supported by Monique Boudrias, assistant deputy minister, and herteam of expert advisors. Their efforts to design and drive the initiative to its successful conclusion is a powerfulexample of leadership and team work at its best. I understand that Monique Boudrias and some of her team members fromthe Task Force are here with us today. I would like them to stand so we can recognize them. Monique, your team.I also want to extend my appreciation to Jim Judd, Secretary of the Treasury Board, and associate secretary JimLahey. Their significant contribution to the legislation has been immensely valuable, especially the daily support theyprovided me. Finally, I want to thank Alex Himelfarb, the current Clerk of the Privy Council, for his strong leadershipthroughout the legislative process. The exceptional contribution of these people to the improvement of the PublicService of Canada deserves to be recognized. In addition to the work of these public service leaders, I was deeply impressed by the leadership shown by thelegislators of our country. Their examination of the Bill and their thoughtful debate has demonstrated a deepcommitment to a public service that is vital and strong. Those of you who have followed the proceedings, know that theparliamentary debate surrounding the Bill was vigorous - though, I should add, largely non-partisan. Union leaders,academics, former and current public service executives all offered their knowledge and expertise during the committeehearings. In the end, I believe we have stronger legislation as a result.I would also like to thank those of you who contributed throughout the consultation process. When I went across thecountry in 2001, people were eager to make their views known. From deputy ministers to middle managers to frontlineworkers, you told us that staffing was too slow. That labour-management relations were too confrontational. Thataccountabilities were confusing. We took your concerns and used them as the framework for the drafting of this Act.So, we pause for a moment this week to celebrate the fruits of some very hard labours. But of course, questionsremain - most notably, where do we go from here? What is different? What are the expectations on HR professionals? Whatshould managers be doing differently? What can employees expect?What It Means - Implementation of the LawThese are all very valid questions. And I can tell you that there are answers to some of these questions, but notall of them. Because the Act is enabling, rather than prescriptive, it means that there is not a new set of rules totell you about. It means that we need to build the answers together. This is why change is not going to happenovernight.In many respects, this legislation is like building a house. We now have a solid foundation, but we need to buildupon it; we need floors, walls, wiring, rooms - in short we need to do all the other work necessary to make this housea home. There are institutions to be developed, policies to be written, and systems to be modified. More importantly,we have to ensure that our people at all levels and in all departments are ready to make the change. The fullimplementation of this Act will therefore be phased in over a period of almost two and a half years.Of course, we have been planning for the implementation for many months already. And when I say, "planning", I amnot talking about Treasury Board Secretariat officials sitting around a table in Ottawa talking amongst themselves.This Act is, and always has been, a collaborative process, in the broadest sense of the word. We all have a stake inimproving HR management and we all need to take ownership of the Public Service Modernization Act. I have made itcrystal clear to my officials at the Secretariat that departments and agencies are co-leaders of HR modernization andthat union involvement is a must.With this in mind, we have struck a committee of Deputy Ministers to provide guidance to the Treasury BoardSecretariat for the new policies and improved systems that will be necessary for implementation. A wide variety ofworking groups are already looking at various elements of the Bill. I expect in the coming months we will start seeingpilot projects taking shape in departments and agencies as we experiment and see what is possible under the newregime.Unions will also have a very important role to play. One of the key pillars of the Public Service Modernization Actis the desire to build more collaborative labour-management relations. In fact, the Act explicitly states, and I quote,that "effective labour management relations represent a cornerstone of good human resources management". It continueson to say that collaborative efforts [ ...] through communication and sustained dialogue improve the ability of thepublic service to serve and protect the public interest.It is in this spirit of collaborative effort that union leaders have been invited to work with the Deputy Ministers'committees in planning for implementation. I believe that this innovative model of collaboration and cooperation hasthe potential to become a best practice across Canada.This spirit of collaboration and cooperation can and should exist at all levels amongst employees, managers andbargaining agents. There will be many opportunities to co-develop and implement initiatives to address workplaceissues. An excellent example of this kind of collaboration already underway is the TBS/PSAC Joint Learning Program(JLP). This program was intended to design and deliver training to management and union members throughout the publicservice. Since the program began in 2002, the JLP has offered over 550 workshops across the country and has reachedmore than 12,000 participants. This is an excellent example of the kinds of partnerships that will support a betterworkplace envisioned by the legislation. In the end, implementing the Act will be a sizeable exercise in change management, focused not just on existing bestpractices but also on developing new systems and processes, as well as, I would say, new attitudes.I am confident that the Public Service of Canada can, as an institution, evolve to meet the challenges ahead. Thereare several elements that I think are going to contribute to making this possible.Elements of Success: Vision, Leadership, Accountability and LearningFirst, we have a clear vision. The Act provides that. It articulates where we need to go in order to improve the waywe manage our people.Second, we have the right leadership - at all levels. HR management reform needs leaders who are willing to roll uptheir sleeves and try something new. Leaders who will take responsible risk and who can inspire people to believe thatchange is possible.A third element that will be key to success is accountability. HR management reform must be guided by an overarchingcommitment to results and transparency. We have made considerable strides forward in this respect over the last fewyears, most recently with the introduction of a new Management Accountability Framework. These elements are key to our success in meeting the challenges that lie ahead. Another crucial area is learning -and here, too, we have seen notable success.For example, the Policy on Continuous Learning is in its first year of implementation. In this regard, I would liketo acknowledge the Heads of Learning Forum for their outstanding work in sharing tools and information to helpdepartments develop policy and provide consistent approaches to learning plans.A draft framework of core knowledge has also been developed. It will be connected to the work of the Treasury BoardSecretariat on the Management Accountability Framework.I was, and I am, very pleased with the horizontality of these initiatives. Management accountability, HRModernization, learning: these are not separate one-off initiatives. They are integrated parts of the framework forimproving the way the public service provides results for Canadians.Foundation for action: Values and EthicsOf course, at the core of that framework are the values that guide our collective work in the service to Canadians.At a time of considerable change, we must rededicate ourselves to the principles that have made the public service arespected institution: principles like honesty, professionalism and excellence. Our HR management reform initiativesare predicated on notions of empowerment and trust. But you cannot have true empowerment without a common ethicalorientation and a shared perception of what constitutes acceptable professional behaviour in managing resources.As you are no doubt aware, in June of this year we announced the Code of Public Service Values and Ethics.The Code sets out four interwoven families of values by which public servants should be guided in their work andprofessional conduct:democratic values of serving the public interest,professional values of serving with competence and impartiality,ethical values to uphold the public trust, andpersonal values of respect, fairness and courtesy.The values embedded in the Public Service Modernization Act directly mirror these values in the Code. We haveincluded two preambles in the Act that articulate what we are trying to accomplish with HR management reform. I wouldstrongly encourage you to read the preambles. There you will find stated the values of merit, non-partisanship,excellence, diversity, integrity, accountability, flexibility, fairness, respect and, last but not least, linguisticduality. This is the first time in legislation that we have stated the guiding values so explicitly. And we did itbecause we wanted to highlight the importance of values in guiding the conduct of public servants.In addition to embedding public service values in the Code and the Act, we have created a new Office of PublicService Values and Ethics. Among other things, it will work closely with deputy ministers and departments to ensure wehave in place the necessary management infrastructure and practices to support a strong culture of public servicevalues and ethics. The Office is also providing support to the new, independent Working Group on the Disclosure ofWrongdoing. I am looking forward to reading their report when it is completed early in the new year.Priorities: Creation of The Canada School of Public ServiceAs you can see, we have done a great deal of work. We have a solid foundation from which to move forward withimplementation. The challenge now is to ensure that people understand what is needed in the future, and have theknowledge and skills to tackle the challenges ahead. We need to spend time developing capacity throughout the publicservice. This will mean putting a special emphasis on learning as a tool to share information, to train and to generatenew ideas.Given the central role of learning in our change agenda, it is no surprise that a top priority in implementing theAct is the creation of the Canada School of Public Service.The Canada School of Public Service will consolidate the activities of three respected public service learninginstitutions:The Canadian Centre for Management Development, with its focus on executives and managers;Training and Development Canada, with its more general focus on employees; andLanguage Training Canada, which is responsible for providing second language training as an important part ofcareer development for public servants.By building on the expertise of its founding organizations, the Canada School of Public Service will be a powerfulleader in promoting a culture of continuous learning across the public service.I am pleased to announce that the School will be officially proclaimed on April 1, 2004. It will be guided by theenthusiastic leadership of Janice Cochrane, who is currently the President of the Canadian Centre for ManagementDevelopment. I am sure that Janice will want to build on the success of her predecessor. And I would like to take thisopportunity to thank Jocelyne Bourgon for her visionary leadership throughout her term at the CCMD.With the consolidation of these three institutions, the School will strive to be the "glue" that binds the publicservice together. It will serve all public servants, at all levels and across the country. It will help publicservants across Canada acquire a common body of knowledge and know-how in the areas of leadership development, publicadministration, public sector management, professional development, and language training.The School will not replace departmental learning responsibilities. Instead, the School will complement what is donein departments and agencies, which would retain responsibility for training that is mission-specific, technical andoperational. There is a lot of learning to be done. But learning is a part of who we are as a public service.ConclusionThat is why people like you are so important. People who come to a managers' development seminar or adistance-learning event. People who are willing to take risks, innovate, and to learn from others. In order to succeedwith the Public Service Modernization Act, and other initiatives in the public service, let me say that we needyou. We will succeed in our effort to build more effective government only with your activeengagement. You provide a vital connection between strategy and behavioural change at the departmental level.The Public Service Modernization Act is still only a piece of paper. It will take your courage and commitment tobreathe life into it, to make it live. It will take your ownership and stewardship to sustain it and make it what youneed and want it to be. You must make it your own. You are now the owner of the house. Today, I'm giving you the key tomake it your home.I want to conclude my remarks today with a very personal observation. I have noticed that in the Public Service ofCanada, we often do not take the time to really celebrate our accomplishments and say "thank you". The moment onechallenge is met, we move on to the next one. So today, let's make an exception. I want to take a moment to stop andacknowledge how far we've come. How well we've done. And how much we can accomplish...when we do it together: employees,unions and managers.I believe that you are very privileged to work in the Public Service of Canada. To have the fundamental mission ofmaking a difference in the lives of citizens across this country. Cherish this mission. Love your work. Share yourpassion. And try to persuade others to join the public service.Today, I want to express my deep gratitude to each and every one of you who helped me make this law a reality. Thankyou, everyone, thank you.
