Enduring,ephemeral and emerging issues in public administration in Canada: Trends in Canadian Public Administration over fifty years (1958–2007)

Abstract: This issue of Canadian Public Administration marks two landmarks. It is the 50th anniversary issue of the Journal, and it is the last issue to be published by the Institute of Public Administration of Canada. For this issue, we have not produced a “special issue” in the sense of commissioning particular articles. Instead, we have brought together a number of articles that were already in the “pipeline” but that the editors thought made a particular contribution to public administration in Canada. This introductory article, or editor's review, is a retrospective analysis of the content of the Journal. It would appear that while there has been a slight shift towards public policy and a greater concern with provincial and local administration, cpa has maintained an enduring interest in its core areas of administrative theory and political and legal institutions. The content is also compared with findings of the content of other journals and also other analyses of cpa . This review is followed by commentaries by former editors and associate editors on their experiences with the Journal.     

Community–based policing in Ontario: lessons from the Halton Regional Police Service

Abstract: Community policing represents a fundamental shift in police–services management and has replaced the military model as the dominant service–delivery model in Western countries. But this so–called “community policing” model has faced some fundamental problems in implementation, both internal and external. This article examines some of the more striking internal challenges faced by a Canadian example of community–based policing (cbp) – one that is base2 in a fairly “generic,” or unexceptional, crime region, the region of Halton in Ontario, where cbp has been implemented on a comprehensive basis over the past fifteen years. As one of the earliest regions to institute cbp in Canada, the history of the Halton organization can provide some valuable lessons as to “how” the implementation should work. Sommaire: La prestation communautaire des services policiers représente un change–ment fondamental dans la gestion de ces services, car elle a remplacé le modéle mili–taire en tant que schéma de fonctionnement de la police dans les pays occidentaux. Ce modéle communautaire « a cependant connu des problèmes fondamentaux lors de sa mise, en ?euvre, sur les plans tant interne qu'exteme. Cet article examine certains principaux défis internes auxquels doit faire face I'action policière communautaire canadienne, dans une région assez typique en ce qui concerne la criminalité, dire la région de Halton, en Ontario, où ces methodes d'application de la loi ont eté mises en oeuvre en détail au cours des 15 dernières annés. L'une des premières régions à adopter le système communautaire de prestation des services policiers au Canada, Halton permet de tirer certaines leqons très utiles sur la mise en oeuvre de ce système.     

The role of citizens in the “soft law” of select social policy areas in Canada and the European Union

This article compares the role of citizens in public reporting exercises of Canada's National Child Benefit and health care service delivery to that of the European Union's open method of coordination (OMC) for social protection and social inclusion. It finds that the institutional infrastructure providing for coordination across social policy areas and possible roles for non‐governmental actors in policy development is more extensive in the OMC than in the “new modes of governance” in Canada. However, there are obstacles to developing such infrastructure in Canada, given the different histories and political contexts of the European community and the functioning of federalism in Canada.     

The RCMP's “Mr. Big” sting operation: A case study in police independence,accountability and oversight

This paper analyses the RCMP's “Mr. Big” undercover investigation technique, which involves the use of undercover officers posing as high‐ranking members of a criminal organization. These officers befriend a target (the suspect) and promise the suspect that their leader (Mr. Big) can help the target in several ways; in exchange, the officers demand that the suspect truthfully reveal past criminal activity to establish credibility and protect the organization against surprises. There appears to be little interest on the part of state actors, other than the courts, in reducing police independence and providing more accountability and oversight for Mr. Big and other undercover operations. Yet, as parts of Canada's criminal justice system, such operations deserve scrutiny because of their cost and potential for wrongful convictions. This article calls for oversight of the police by several actors, including legislators providing guidelines for police investigations, closer judicial scrutiny and executive oversight of police operations, and improved police training.     

改革和加强城乡社区警务工作研究

上世纪80年代以来在西方各国兴起的社区警务策略，是一种维护社会治安的新思维、新观念，体现了西方各国行政改革和新公共管理运动中所蕴涵的服务观念。文章从理念性指导的新视角出发，在对西方各国社区警务改革的实践历程及主要内容做出评介的基础上，尝试对我国“城乡社区警务”的实际运作情况进行分析，从而提出适用于我国社区警务战略的合理建议。     

香港“武力使用教官训练课程”对公安院校警务技战术教学的启示

香港警察被誉为亚洲"最优秀的警队",其高质量的警务实战训练在国际警坛上享有盛誉。为保持训练效果,香港警务处枪械训练科设置了为期42天的"武力使用教官课程班",目的在于培养素质高超的警务实战教官,为实战训练服务。与香港警方的武力使用训练课程相比较,内地公安院校的警务技战术教学仍存在较多需要改进的地方。应借鉴香港武力使用教官课程训练内容,提升公安院校警务技战术教学水平。     

Oversight and accountability for serious incidents in Canada: Who polices the police?

This study examines the agencies responsible for investigating when a member of the public is seriously injured, is killed or experiences other serious and potentially criminal actions at the hands of police officers in Canada. The article takes a comprehensive approach by examining all police oversight agencies that are responsible for responding to and investigating allegations of police criminality—eight organizations, across nine jurisdictions. The study integrates insights from public administration and police accountability literature and examines the structures and administration of the agencies. The study provides a critical assessment of the state of police oversight for serious incidents in Canada, it identifies agency outputs (including case substantiation), levels of independence, efforts at transparency, and considers the challenges in attempting to hold police accountable in Canada.     

中国共产党应对重大突发事件舆论风险的基本策略及经验启示

对重大突发事件舆论引导水平是衡量一个政党成熟与否的关键指标,也是检验一个政党治理能力的重要标志。回顾建党百年来党内外发生的对党的建设有重大影响的突发事件,可以看出:在建党百年来重大突发事件处置历程中,我党逐步形成了“内外有别”的舆论引导模式。对于党内突发事件的舆论引导主要分为两种:一是对于叛逃叛变类突发事件的舆论引导强调根据涉事对象身份的差异分别采用正面舆论交锋或维稳基础上的大规模舆论宣传两种策略;二是对于贪污腐败类突发舆论事件,我党则通过媒体及时向公众通报调查进程和相关人员处理结果,形成强大舆论震慑。对于党外突发事件的舆论引导:一是强调全域性舆论引导阵地的建设,二是强调重大突发事件舆论引导的及时性,三是在舆论引导中将“自我叙述”和“他人叙述”结合起来。     

Is there empirical evidence of a David E. carkut trend towards “managerialism”? A longitudinal study of six countries

Abstract: In the past decade, there has been a considerable amount written about the development of “managerialism” and the “new public management” (NPM) in the Western, primarily Westminster-type, democracies. There has even been some concern expressed that the trend towards managerialism, with its lack of emphasis on the acquisition of technical competence, may be undermining policy capacity and the career public service itself. This paper addresses the question of whether there has been a trend towards managerialism over time. Specifically, this paper looks at whether changes in three objective measures of “managerialism” - mobility, education, and management type - indicate a shift towards managerialism in the senior levels of selected departments in Australia, Britain, Canada, New Zealand, the United States and Mauritius, during the period between 1971 and 1991. There is little evidence of such a trend. There has been, however, a slight shift in the “management type” of senior bureaucrats towards administrative rather than towards technical expertise and an increase in the number of administratively managed departments. If there is a large scale shift towards managerialism, it must be manifested in improved management skills on the part of technical managers or in improved technical knowledge and skills on the part of administrative managers. Sommaire: Au cours de la dernière décennie, de nombreux auteurs ont examiné la montée du nouveau management public et des préoccupations de gestion dans les démocracies occidentales, surtout celles du type Westminster. Certains se sont dit inquiétés par la possibilité que cette tendance, qui met moins l'accent sur l'acquisition de compétences techniques, risque de miner la capacité de formuler des politiques et la Fonction publique de carrière. Dans cet article, on se demande si effectivement cette tendance s'est matérialisée au fil des années. Plus précisément, on y examine si l'évolution des trois mesures objectives du nouveau management public que sont la mobilité, la formation et le type de gestion, indique un changementaux niveaux supérieurs de certains ministères choisis, de 1971 à 1991, dans les pays suivants: Australie, Grande-Bretagne, Canada, Nouvelle-Zélande, États-Unis et l'lle Maurice. Selon l'auteur, une telle tendance ne semble pas avoir eu lieu. Cependant, il y a eu un léger glissement du «type de gestionnaire» supérieur vers la compétence administrative plutôt que technique, ainsi qu'une augmentation du nombre de ministères gérés suivant les principes du nouveau management public. Un déplacement massif vers ce dernier doit se manifester soit par de meilleures capacités de management chez les gestionnaires techniques, soit par de meilleures connaissances et aptitudes techniques chez les gestionnaires administratifs.     

Public choice: “Yes Minister” made it popular,but does winning the Nobel Prize make it true?

Abstract: This paper discusses the influence and validity of public choice economics, which uses the traditional methodology of self-interested utility-maximizing rational choice to explain the behaviour of voters, politicians and bureaucrats. Public choice authors view the democratic political system pessimistically, fearing that politicians, interest groups and bureaucrats will collude to expand government activity, which will benefit these three groups but harm the public at large. Thus, public choice writers are supporters of the conservative agenda of balanced budgets and reduced government spending. The article shows how the successful British television series “Yes Minister” draws much of its inspiration from the public choice model and how this is reflected in the behaviour of the key characters in the series. It is argued that the series has been effective at popularizing the model. Finally, the article critically reviews the recent Canadian public choice literature, and finds that it uses the marginal voter hypothesis tautologically, that many tests of the validity of the public choice model have been methodologically sloppy, and that public choice writers could have profited from an interview methodology in attempting to explain public policy outcomes. Sommaire: Cet article analyse l'influence de l‘école du “choix public” en économie laquelle utilise la méthode classique du choix rationnel fondé sur les intérêts personnels et la maximisation de l'utilité pour expliquer le comportement des électeurs, des politiciens et des bureaucrates. Les auteurs, tenants de cette école, sont pessimistes à l’égard du régime politique démocratique car ils craignent que les politiciens, les groupes d'intérêt et les bureaucrates se concertent pour accroître les activités gouvernementales à leur avantage mais au détriment du grand public. Ces auteurs favorisent donc un programme politique conservateur prônant l‘équilibre budgétaire et la réduction des dépenses gouvernementales. L'article montre comment le feuilleton télévisé britannique “Yes Minister”, qui connaît un vif succès dans le monde entier, s'inspire du modèle “du choix public” et comment le jeu des principaux personnages en est influencé. On affirme même que le feuilleton a contribuéà populariser ce modèle. L'auteur critique enfin les derniers ouvrages canadiens sur le choix public et estime qu'on utilise l'hypothèse de l’électeur marginal de manière tautologique et, par ailleurs, que de nombreux tests sur la validité du modèle du choix public laissent à désirer au niveau de la méthodologie. Les auteurs du choix public auraient eu intérêt à recourir à la méthode des entrevues pour expliquer les décisions gouvernementales.     

Provincial agendas,local responses: the “common sense” restructuring of Ontario's municipal governments

Abstract: This article explores the application of the so-called “common sense” agenda of the Ontario government to the municipal sector in selected communities. By examining a range of restructuring proposals considered and/or adopted during 1995–97 in six municipalities in southern Ontario the study addresses two objectives. First, it delineates the manner in which the term “rationalize” has been understood by the province and the municipalities. Evidence suggests that the drive to “restructure” has evolved into a fairly simplistic strategy: amalgamate and eliminate units of municipal government and reduce the number of municipal councillors and staff. Second, it analyses the government's promise to “sit down with the municipalities” in this process. The Harris government, in fact, implemented a far-reaching conceptual agenda but forced municipalities to design the specific responses to it. Since 1995, municipalities large and small in all comers of the province have struggled -some in good faith, some with reluctance - to find ways to develop a local response to the province's restructuring agenda, all the while fearing that a failure to acquiesce would invite an imposed solution. Sommaire: Dans cet article, on explore I'application du «programme du bon sens» du gouvemement de l'Ontario au secteur municipal dans certaines communautés choisies. L'étude, qui examine toute une gamme de propositions de restructuration considérées ou adoptées en 1995–1997 dans six municipalités du Sud de l'Ontario, vise deux objectifs. On y définit tout d'abord la manière dont la province et les municipalités ont interprété le mot «rationaliser». I1 semblerait que l'effort de »restructuration° ait menéà une stratégie passablement simpliste: fusionner et éliminer des unités du gouvernement municipal et réduire le nombre de conseillers et de personnel municipaux. Deuxièmement, on analyse la promesse faite par le gouvemement s'asseoir autour de la table avec les municipalité« dans le cadre de ce processus. En réalité, le gouvernement Harris a mis en oeuvre un agenda conceptuel de très grande envergure mais il a forcé les municipalités à lui trouver des réponses spéci-fiques. Depuis 1995, les municipalités petites et grandes de tous les coins de la province s'efforcent, certaines de bonne foi mais d'autres avec récalcitrance, de formuler une réponse locale au programme restructurateur de la province, tout en craignant que, si elles manquent de s'y conformer, elles risquent de se faire imposer une solution.     

Auditing citizen engagement in heritage planning: The views of citizens

Abstract: Drawing the citizen back into public fora has become the issue of the day in democratic countries around the globe. On the political stage, there is growing alarm over a perceived “democratic deficit,” which has inspired a variety of innovative means of engaging citizens in public policy decisions. This plethora of engagement mechanisms invites the question of how citizens evaluate these engagement opportunities, a question that reveals a decided lacuna of studies regarding citizen assessments of these various mechanisms. This study is a report from the citizen participants on the merits of a Nova Scotia model of citizen engagement in policy development. It examines a citizen task force organized by Voluntary Planning, which conducted a citizen consultation process to create policy recommendations for heritage preservation in Nova Scotia, using its distinctive technique of citizen engagement. This study is the first evaluation of the Nova Scotia process from the perspective of citizen participants conducted to date. It concludes that the process used is highly regarded and enhances the legitimacy of such mechanisms as the “voice of the people” for citizens themselves and government decision-makers.     

Balancing police budgets and decision making: an experiment in disentanglement

Abstract: In examining the relationship between municipal and provincial government authority over policing in Ontario, this article explores a specific project which has generated a substantial amount of interest, and controversy, around the issue of control of municipal police budgets. It will further scrutinize the process undertaken by the Expert Panel on Municipal Police Services Budgets in developing and advancing its recommendations as an interesting and instructive innovation in government decision making. The article will summarize and elaborate on the work of the Expert Panel, formed in March 1992, as the first enterprise in the disentanglement process embarked on by the Ontario provincial government, in partnership with the Association of Municipalities of Ontario, to review and rationalize a wide spectrum of provincial/local relationships with an aim to achieve greater efficiency, effectiveness, and client service. The issue of financial control over municipal police services is one of considerable importance in Ontario to both the municipal sector and the policing community. By considering the work of the Expert Panel as an exercise in disentanglement, within the context of the “vigilant problem-solving approach” formulated by Irving Jnnis, this article attempts to provide specific insight and guidance to other practitioners in the realm of public policy making, as well as to capture the processes and proceedings of this particular undertaking. Sommaire: Cet article examine le rapport entre les autorités provinciales et municipales qui exercent le contrôle de la police en Ontario; il s'intéresse à un projet particulier qui a suscité discussion et controverse en ce qui concerne le contrôle des budgets municipaux de police. Il examine par ailleurs le processus entrepris par le groupe d'experts en matière de budgets municipaux de services policiers pour formuler ses recommandations, processus qui constitue une innovation intéressante et instructive pour la prise de décisions gouvernementales. L'article résume et analyse le travail du groupe d'experts mis sur pied en mars 1992, première étape du processus de démêlement des rôles entrepris par le gouvernement de l'Ontario, en partenariat avec l'Association des municipalités de l'Ontario, afin d'examiner et de rationaliser une vaste gamme de relations provinciales-locales pour augmenter l'efficacité et améliorer le service à la clientèle. La question du contrôle financier des services policiers municipaux revêt beaucoup d'importance en Ontario, tant pour le secteur municipal que pour la collectivité policière. En considérant le travail du groupe d'experts comme étant un exercice de démêlement des rôles, dans le contexte de “ l'approche vigilante de résolution de problèmes ” formulée par Irving Janis, cet article essaie d'offrir aux autres praticiens de la prise de décisions publiques à la fois des explications et des façons de faire, tout en cernant les processus et méthodes de cet effort particulier.     

Explaining the resurgence of Métis rights: Making the most of “windows of opportunity”

Characterized as “Canada's forgotten people” since their defeat in the 1885 Battle of Batoche, the Métis have recently re‐emerged on Canada's policy agenda. How did the Métis, once vilified as traitors of Confederation, come to re‐position themselves as a rights‐bearing Aboriginal group in the Canadian federation? In this article, we apply John Kingdon's (1995) multiple streams model to help explain the resurgence of Métis rights on Canada's contemporary policy agenda. We argue that the changing legal and political landscape that surrounded Canada's crisis of unity provided a window of opportunity that allowed Métis policy entrepreneurs to bring the issue of Métis rights onto Canada's policy agenda.     

“Of secretaries to princes”

Abstract: An enduring issue of public administration is the ability of our political leadership to implement an agenda and to master events. This question has acquired new urgency in Canada and the United States with the publicity given to personnel problems in the offices of the prime minister and leader of the opposition, and with the role of the White House staff in the Iran-Contra affair. Using examples drawn from the author's past position as principal secretary to Prime Minister Trudeau, the article argues that: (a) it is possible to prevent the urgent from overwhelming the important but only if a strategic plan is adopted; (b) to implement such a strategic plan it is necessary to have a highly competent, partisan personal staff; but (c) we are in danger in Canada of blurring the lines between a partisan Prime Minister's Office and our tradition of a neutral public service. Such a blurring will impede the attempt to develop a strategic prime ministership. Sommaire: Nos chefs politiques peuvent-ils mettre en oeuvre un programme politi-que et exercer un contrôe sur les événements? Cette question, qui revient constamment en administration publique, a pris une acuité particulière au Canada et aux ÉtatsUnis depuis la publicité qui a été donnée aux problèes de personnel dans le cabinet du premier ministre et dans les bureaux du chef de l'opposition, et au rôle qu'a joué le personnel de la Maison Blanche dans le scandale de l'Irangate. Utilisant des exemples tirés de son expérience alors qu'il était secrétaire principal auprès du premier ministre Trudeau, l'auteur soutient: (a) qu'on peut éviter de faire passer les questions urgentes avant les questions importantes si on adopte un plan stratégique; (b) qu'il est nécessaire pour mettre en oeuvre ce plan stratégique de s'entourer d'un personnel compétent et partisan, mais (c) qu'au Canada, nous courons le risque que la ligne de démarcation entre un cabinet du Premier ministre nécessairement partisan et une Fonction publique neutre, comme le veut la tradition, soit floue. La confusion qui en découlerait nuirait au développement de fonctions stratégiques au bureau du premier ministre.     

The state of talent management in Canada's public sector

For more than a decade, senior officials from across Canada's public sector have identified the capacity to “recruit and retain highly‐trained, qualified staff” as central to public service renewal and success in the 21^st century. And yet, despite the consensus behind this priority, students of Canadian public administration know little about the strategies and programs that are in place to attract, recruit, retain and transition key public servants in this country. This article tries to address this gap by describing talent management, one approach to getting “the right people in the right place at the right time” currently in use in British Columbia, Canada, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, Ontario and Saskatchewan. The article concludes with some observations about the present and future of talent management in Canada's public sector.     

αLe phénomèna bureaucratique et le Canada français: une réponse au professeur Bakvis

Abstract. In the spring of 1978 Canadian Public Administration published an article entitled “French Canada and the ‘bureaucratic phenomenon’”. The author, Herman Bakvis, suggested that Michel Crozier's model of bureaucratic behaviour be used to study the bureaucratic behaviour of French Canadians, since the French and French Canadians appear to share important cultural traits. In his analysis of the federal public service, Bakvis overestimates the influence Prime Minister Trudeau had on the operations of the federal bureaucracy. “French Canada and the ‘Bureaucratic Phenomenon’” is historically wrong when it suggests that a link exists between France, French Canada, feudalism and the bureaucratic behaviour described by Crozier. The reverse is true: observations by de Tocqueville indicate that French centralization and feudalism are historically opposing forces.     

Profiling a problem in Canadian police leadership: the Kingston Police data collection project

Abstract: Following a series of events that highlighted the need for action on the part of the Kingston Police to address perceptions of racially‐biased policing, a data collection project was inaugurated with the assistance of a criminologist from the Centre of Criminology, University of Toronto, to specifically quantify the racial and/or ethnic origin of all individuals stopped by Kingston Police officers in “non‐casual” situations. This article traces the “precipitating events” that led to this project, the definitions relevant to racially‐biased policing, racial profiling, and bias‐free policing, as well as providing some background on current research and practice in these areas in Great Britain and the United States. There is a consideration of the context within the Kingston Police data collection project operated, including previous commissions of inquiry in Ontario that made recommendations in support of such practices, and recent testimony before the Senate Special Committee on the Antiterrorism Act which involved an examination of matters pertaining to racial profiling. The article challenges Canadian police leaders to consider the value of replicating the Kingston Police data collection and offers some insights derived from being the first police service in Canada to undertake such an initiative. Sommaire: À la suite d'une série d‘événements qui ont souligné le besoin d'agir de la part de la police de Kingston pour répondre aux perceptions de préjugés fondés sur une politique d'inégalité raciale, un projet de collecte de données a été inauguré avec l'assistance d'un criminologiste du Centre de criminologie de l'Université de Toronto pour évaluer avec précision l'origine raciale ou ethnique de toutes les personnes arrêtées par les agents de la police de Kingston dans des situations “non occasionnelles”. Cet article retrace les événements qui ont “précipité ce projet, les définitions pertinentes aux préjugés racistes dans les forces de police, le profilage racial, les services de police impartiaux, et il fournit aussi des informations de base sur la recherche et la pratique actuelles dans ces domaines en Grande‐Bretagne et aux États‐Unis. L'article étudie également le contexte dans lequel le projet de collecte de données de la police de Kingston a fonctionné, y compris les commissions d'enquête menées précédemment en Ontario présentant des recommandations en faveur de telles pratiques, et les témoignages déposés récemment devant le Comité spécial du Sénat sur la Loi contre le terrorisme qui ont comporté un examen des questions pertinentes au profilage racial. L'article met les leaders de la police canadienne au défi d'examiner si cela vaut la peine de reproduire la collecte de données de la police de Kingston et présente aussi des réflexions sur cette initiative qui fut une première dans les services de police au Canada.