The quiet crisis and the emergence of La Relève: A study of crisis perception and executive leadership within the Canadian federal public service, 1997–2002

Abstract: In 1997, then‐clerk of the Privy Council Jocelyne Bourgon reported to Prime Minister Jean Chrétien that a “quiet crisis” existed within the ranks of the federal public service. After years of restraint, privatization, deregulation, downsizing, pay freezes, salary cutbacks, hiring moratoriums and staff reductions, the clerk reported that the members of the public service were suffering from a crisis of identity and purpose. To address this problem, the Privy Council Office launched La Relève, a program of crisis management designed to resolve the immediate tensions faced by the public service and to promote the renewal and rejuvenation of the public service at the beginning of the 21st century as it dealt with a variety of mega‐trends affecting public‐service delivery. La Relève marked the beginning of a decade of close attention to human resource management within the federal public service. But was there actually a crisis within the federal government in 1997? Using in‐depth interviews with a wide variety of senior public‐service insiders, this article explores three schools of thought found in Ottawa respecting “the crisis” and assesses the use of crisis management in this case for framing public‐sector modernization policy. Sommaire: En 1997, Jocelyne Bourgon, alors greffière du Conseil privé, signalait au Premier ministre Jean Chrétien qu'il existait une «crise silencieuse» au sein de la fonction publique fédérale. Après des années de restriction, de privatisation, de déréglementation, de compression d'effectifs, de gel des salaires, de réductions de salaires, de suspension du recrutement et de réductions d'effectifs, la greffière signalait que les membres de la fonction publique souffraient d'une crise d'identité et de raison d'être. Pour s'attaquer à ce problème, le Bureau du Conseil privé a lancé La Relève, programme de gestion de crise conçu pour résoudre les tensions immédiates auxquelles faisait face la fonction publique et pour promouvoir le renouveau et le rajeunissement de cette dernière au début du XXI^e siècle alors qu'elle subissait diverses tendances majeures qui exerçaient une influence sur la prestation des services publics. La Relève a marqué le début d'une décennie au cours de laquelle on a porté une grande attention à la gestion des ressources humaines au sein de la fonction publique fédérale. Mais est‐ce qu'une crise régnait véritablement au sein du gouvernement fédéral en 1997? Grâce à des entrevues approfondies avec une grande variété de hauts fonctionnaires, le présent article examine trois écoles de pensée prévalant à Ottawa au sujet de «la crise», et évalue l'utilisation de la gestion de crise dans ce cas pour formuler une politique de modernisation du secteur public.     

Implementing Community obligations in the realms of intellectual property

Legal context. The various Acts of Parliament governing UK intellectualproperty law have been significantly amended to give effectto Community law. This article discusses the powers used bythe Secretary of State to implement Community obligations andthe Court of Appeal's recent clarification of the scope of thosepowers. Key points. This article describes the concerns expressed bysome commentators on the scope of the powers under the EuropeanCommunities Act 1972 and the key cases on that scope, includingOakley v Animal. The article uses the implementation of performers'moral rights as an example of where going beyond strict Communityobligations is necessary. Practical significance. The article will be useful to anyoneconsidering the validity of the changes made to domestic law,including amendments to primary legislation, to implement Directivesor other Community obligations.     

A minister as an agent of policy change: the case of unemployment insurance in the seventies

Abstract. A relationship of mutual dependence characterizes the interaction of cabinet ministers and senior public servants in the public management process. Public servants tend to be prominent in the administrative aspects of public management while ministers tend to dominate the policy-making aspects. Ministers are greatly dependent on the technical expertise of public servants in order to succeed within the routine or administrative domain of public management. However, two essential functions, surveillance and legitimation, are the main responsibilities of ministers, not of public servants, during the innovative or policy-making phase of public management. Furthermore, an effective performance of these two functions may enable a minister to become a major agent of policy change or policy reform. This thesis is supported by an analysis of the development of unemployment insurance in the 1970s. Bryce Mackasey, the minister responsible for introducing a new scheme of unemployment insurance in 1971, carried out surveillance and legitimation functions so effectively that he became a major agent of policy reform. Once his successors, Robert Andras and Bud Cullen, began to routinize the program, their surveillance and legitimation skills became increasingly unnecessary and inconspicuous. At the same time, public servant activity in the public management process began to grow more noticeable. Sommaire. Une relation de dépendance mutuelle caractérise l'interaction des ministres du Cabinet et des fonctionnaires d'échelon supérieur dans le processus de gestion publique. Les fonctionnaires ont tendance â jouer un rôle important dans les aspects administratifs de gestion publique tandis que les ministres ont tendance à en dominer les aspects d'élaboration de politiques. Les ministres comptent beaucoup sur l'expertise technique des fonctionnaires lorsqu'ils ont affaire à des questions de routine ou d'ordre purement administratif. Cependant, la surveillance et la légitimation sont deux fonctions essentielles qui constituent les principales responsabilités des ministres et non des fonctionnaires pendant la phase d'innovation ou d'élaboration de politiques de gestion publique. De plus, un ministre qui exerce ces dew fonctions avec efficacité a de grandes chances de devenir. un important agent de changement ou de réforme politique.     

Curzon, Lloyd George and the control of British foreign policy, 1919-22: A reassessment

This article reappraises the complex relationship between Lord Curzon and Lloyd George in the years between the former's appointment as Foreign Secretary and the latter's fall from office as Prime Minister in 1922. It argues that the widely held view that Lloyd George held Curzon in contempt and marginalized him in the conduct of foreign affairs is not accurate. Their relationship is presented as being one of mutual respect and significant levels of cooperation. The article thus questions the extent to which the Foreign Office suffered an 'eclipse' in this period.     

'Dedicating' Copyright to the Public Domain

This article explores whether authors can dedicate their copyright to the public domain. Such dedications are becoming increasingly relevant as authors now see the expansion of the public domain as value in itself. This is facilitated by organisations providing pro forma documents for dedicating works to the public domain. However, there has been no real consideration of what, if any, legal effect a dedication to the public might have. This article suggests that such dedications are no more than copyright licences which, in English and US law at least, can be revoked at will. This means that users of such works must rely on estoppel alone to enforce any dedication to the public domain.     

Public policy: creativity and bureaucracy

Abstract. The development and implementation of a government policy by a single ministry is a greater stimulus to creativity than a collective and inter-ministerial approach. Starting from the principle that creation is an individual act which emanates neither from administrative structures, nor from committees, nor from manuals of instructions, the author affirms that the conditions which favour creativity in a public or other administration are precisely those which awaken and increase the creative impulse of the human mind. In the individual method, the ministry alone formulates the policies which are within its competence. The other ministries affected by them are asked for their views and the possible constraints which may result, but only on a consultative basis. This method has obvious advantages for the ministry in question. The author suggests, inter alia, that the ministry be allowed to retain 50 per cent of any economies realized through greater efficiency in the execution of its policies. On the other hand, if civil servants misread ministerial intentions or ignore constraints imposed by other policies, they should pay the price, which may, in the final analysis, involve the dismissal of the minister or his principal policy advisor. In the collective method, the policy is not worked out by the immediately responsible ministry but rather by a committee including all the interested ministries. The dynamics of such an approach are very different from the individual method. Being more prudent and bureaucratic, it stalemates individual creativity and is prejudicial to innovative thinking. The constraints and the various interests are so well represented within the committee that they tend to dominate the debate and cause the ministry in charge to be on the defensive. In an endless discussion, the other ministries are hoisted with their own petard of counter-arguments, and the proposing ministry cannot put forward the positive advantages of the new policy. The resulting loss of time and energy is harmful to creativity. At the level of policy execution too, the author favours the individual approach which is both efficient and economical. The ministry in charge of the policy is far better placed to determine its implementation within the constraints which delineate its scope. Here, too, the author reaches the conclusion that creativity is better served than in the collective approach.