The Politics of Public Management: The HRDC Audit of Grants and Contributions

2004 ◽  
Vol 37 (4) ◽  
pp. 1022-1023
Author(s):  
Bryan Evans
Keyword(s):  
Public Administration ◽  
Federal Government ◽  
Public Management ◽  
Internal Audit ◽  
Senior Manager ◽  
Institute Of Public Administration ◽  
Reporting Practices ◽  
University Of Toronto ◽  
The Media

The Politics of Public Management: The HRDC Audit of Grants and Contributions, David A. Good, The Institute of Public Administration of Canada Series in Public Management and Governance; Toronto, University of Toronto Press, 2003, pp. 240The literature in public administration in some ways suffers from not having more practitioners reflecting, writing and analyzing their experiences. Thus David Good's book analyzing the HRDC's so-called “billion dollar boondoggle” is a welcome contribution. His background as both a senior manager/executive within the Federal government and his academic credentials—a doctorate in policy and administration sets him apart—as a practitioner-academic. Good possesses the senior public manager's mind for detail and this book provides a clear account of the ebbing and flowing of events, beginning with the January 2000 release of HRDC's internal audit that implied a loss of a billion dollars, to the Auditor General's report of October that same year which, while critical of monitoring and reporting practices, concluded that only $85,000 was unaccounted for. The media and the opposition, at this point quickly lost interest.

Mobility and Service Innovation

2020 ◽  
pp. 34-48
Author(s):  
Jeffrey Roy
Keyword(s):  
Public Administration ◽  
Federal Government ◽  
Public Management ◽  
New Public Management ◽  
Service Innovation ◽  
Value Management ◽  
Mobile Service ◽  
New Public ◽  
Government Of Canada ◽  
Primary Focus

This article examines the Canadian public sector's efforts to devise mobile service capacities predicated upon efficiency, engagement, and innovation, and how such capacities are intertwined with both the advent of Gov 2.0 and the inertia of traditional public administration. The author's primary focus is on the federal government (Government of Canada), with some additional consideration of provincial governments and inter-governmental dynamics as appropriate. Through three typologies of public sector governance (traditional public administration, new public management, and public value management), the author seeks to better understand these aforementioned tensions – and formulate fresh insights into how governments can pursue the leveraging of mobility as a basis for not only more efficient service delivery but also wider opportunities for public engagement and service innovation.

Executive Styles in Canada: Cabinet Structures and Leadership Practices in Canadian Government

2006 ◽  
Vol 39 (1) ◽  
pp. 183-184
Author(s):  
Geoff Martin
Keyword(s):  
Federal Government ◽  
Leadership Practices ◽  
Prime Minister ◽  
House Of Commons ◽  
Institute Of Public Administration ◽  
Canadian Government ◽  
University Of Toronto ◽  
Minority Government ◽  
Canadian Provinces ◽  
Provincial Politics

Executive Styles in Canada: Cabinet Structures and Leadership Practices in Canadian Government, Luc Bernier, Keith Brownsey and Michael Howlett, eds., Toronto: University of Toronto Press, for The Institute of Public Administration of Canada, 2005, pp. xiii, 282.Executive Styles in Canada is a welcome addition to the literature on Canadian political leadership and provincial politics, essentially raising the question of the power of the premier, central agencies, and executive council in each of the Canadian provinces. To this end the editors have organized the book in 13 chapters. The book begins with a survey of the whole debate over “court government” raised by Donald Savoie, and the development model of Canadian cabinets advanced by Stefan Dupré and Christopher Dunn. The second chapter is given over to Savoie to make his case with respect to the federal government. His argument, by now familiar, is that by the 1990s the real power in the federal government is in the hands of the “prime minister and a small group of carefully selected courtiers” (17). Executive dominance of the legislature in the Westminster model has given way to even greater centralization. Power flows not from ministers, but from the prime minister. While Savoie does not address the seeming anomaly of the Paul Martin minority government of 2004–05, in which the House of Commons and even the opposition parties suddenly became relevant again, one gets the sense that he would argue that this is a temporary development rather than a more durable departure from the direction of the last 30 years.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document