A Strong

Foundation
R E P O RT O F T H E TA S K F O R C E O N P U B L I C S E R V I C E VA L U E S A N D E T H I C S
A STRONG FOUNDATION
Report of the Task Force
on Public Service
Values and Ethics

John C. Tait, Q.C.

Chair
T a b l e o f C o n t e n t s

Dedication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .iii

Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .vii

Foreword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .ix

1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1

Our Approach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1
An Honest Dialogue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3
Values and Ethics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4
Canadian Values . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

2. The Democratic Context and The Challenge of Accountability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7

Anonymity and Accountability in a System of Responsible Government . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7

New Organizational Forms and the Challenge of Accountability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13
Political and Public Service Values . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15
Democratic Values . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17

3. Employment and Values . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19

Downsizing and Values . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19

Downsizing and the Employment Contract . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21
A Professional Public Service . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23
Culture and Critical Mass . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23
Unity and Mobility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24
A Non-Partisan Public Service and the Merit Principle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26
The Values of Loyalty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27

4. Values Old and New . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29

The New Public Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29

Customers vs. Citizens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .31
Refreshing the Ideal of Service . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .32
The Values of Horizontality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .33
Managing Up and Managing Down . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .35
The Public Interest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .37

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 T a b l e o f C o n t e n t s

5. Ethical Challenges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .39

Some New Ethical Challenges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .39

Rules and Values . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .41
Reaffirming the Importance of Law . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .42
An Ethics Regime . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .43

6. Leadership in a Time of Change . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .45

A Fault Line in the Public Service . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .45

Leadership in the Public Service . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .46
Speaking Truth to Power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .47
The Leadership of People . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .49
Accountability for Leadership and Values . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .50
Encountering for Good . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .51

7. Conclusion: Principles of Public Service . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .53

Core Values for the Public Service . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .53

Values Under Pressure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .59
A Statement of Principles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .60
The Next Steps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .61
A Strong Foundation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .63

Annex 1: Principles of the Conflict of Interest and

Post-Employment Code for the Public Service . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .65

Annex 2: Components of an Ethics Regime . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .67

Annex 3: The UK Civil Service Code . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .69

List of Members: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .71

Bibliography: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .73

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D e d i c a t i o n

John Tait’s untimely death has left an enormous gap In 1994, when health problems obliged John to
in the life of the Canadian public service that will not be relinquish his role as Deputy Minister of Justice, he was
easy to fill. By his wisdom, example, and deep convictions appointed Senior Advisor to the Privy Council Office and
about public service, John had come almost to embody the Skelton-Clark Fellow at Queen’s University. He was also
spirit of public service itself. Publication of his landmark invited by the Canadian Centre for Management
report on public service values in a durable format is an Development to become Senior Fellow of CCMD and to
appropriate way to honour his memory and his legacy. It Chair a CCMD Study Team on Public Service Values and
may also help sustain the dialogue on public service values Ethics, composed of a number of current and former senior
that was his deepest wish. public servants as well as a representative of the academic
community. The choice of John to lead this important
John Tait’s brilliant and probing mind was evident work could not have been more appropriate. For this role,
early in his life, and was directed, almost from the start it was essential that the chair be someone spontaneously
toward his lifelong commitment to public service. perceived by the public service community as embodying
the very values that were the focus of its work, someone in
A graduate of Princeton University, John was whom there was no gap or disharmony between words and
awarded a Rhodes Scholarship to Oxford University, and actions. John Tait was the obvious choice. As a result,
then returned to Canada to study law at McGill University. when the Deputy Minister community decided, in the
He was called to the Quebec Bar in 1974, and almost spring of 1995, to establish a number of Deputy Minister
immediately chose to apply his love of the law to the Task Forces on key issues facing the public service, there
affairs of state and to the public good, joining the Privy was no need for us to create something new. It was a
Council Office, where he rose to become Assistant simple and natural matter for us to designate John and his
Secretary to the Cabinet for Legislation and House study team colleagues as our Deputy Minister Task Force on
Planning. He then joined the Department of Indian and Public Service Values and Ethics.
Northern Affairs, before moving to the Department of
Justice as Assistant Deputy Minister for Public Law in The report of the Task Force, entitled appropriately,
1983, a role that expressed his great and growing devotion A Strong Foundation, did not disappoint us. It was a
to the framework of Canadian public and constitutional classic and enduring exploration of public service values
law. Three years later he was appointed Deputy Solicitor and ethics that will remain a source of wisdom and
General of Canada, and, in 1988, he returned to the inspiration for many years to come.
Department of Justice as Deputy Minister of Justice and
Deputy Attorney General of Canada. I think that the enduring quality of the “Tait Report”
can be explained in part by its inductive approach. The
In his role as Deputy Minister of Justice, John Task Force did not set out to draft a statement of public
was deeply involved again in constitutional affairs, service values. It aimed instead to explore a range of
where he played an important role as legal advisor. problems or challenges facing the public service, and to
He also launched important reforms within the discover, through this exploration, the key public service
Department, including “Choices for the Future,” an values these challenges implied, or that emerged from
initiative designed to adapt the Department to modern them. The Task Force called this process “honest
realities and new collaborative ways of working, while dialogue,” and it gives to the report a quality of
building on its traditional core values. authenticity that could not have been achieved in any
other way. The Tait Report rings true to public servants
everywhere, and, as a result, the four families of values it
iii
 identifies in its conclusion are not clichés but, rather, If you seek John Tait’s monument, read on. If you
living truths. wish to honour his memory, take what you read and make
it come alive again by pursuing the same journey in your
Although the Task Force arrived at conclusions own way: by engaging yourself and your colleagues in an
about public service values and ethics, and although it ongoing dialogue about public service, and about the
recommended that these conclusions be incorporated in a values and ethics that provide the strong foundation for
“Statement of Principles” for the Public Service of Canada, this “great national institution,” in the concluding words
I think it is fair to say that John and his colleagues came of the Tait Report, “dedicated, as in the past, to the
to see that it is the journey that counts. They were so service of Canadians and their form of democratic
persuaded of the value of their own experience of “honest government.”
dialogue” that they wanted other public servants and
public service organizations to have the benefit of the
same experience. Hence they recommended broad and
deep discussion of public service values, a process of
dialogue through which public servants would identify Jocelyne Bourgon
problems and challenges in their own workplaces, and, President
through exploring these challenges, would be able both Canadian Centre for Management Development
to identify the actions needed to address them and also to January 2000
reacquaint themselves, through dialogue, with the public
service values that lie at their heart. In point of fact, I
believe John Tait came to view a capacity for “honest
dialogue” not just as something important to the ongoing
health of public service values, but also as defining the
very nature of modern public service leadership.

The dialogue on public service values continues.

We hope that republication of A Strong Foundation in an
enduring format will help to nourish it. That is what John
Tait would have wished. He was immensely and justifiably
proud of his report and the work of his Task Force. But he
cared much more deeply about how public service values
could be made to live in the hearts of public servants, and
in their lives.

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B i o g r a p h y

John C. Tait, Q.C. (1945-1999)

B.A. - Public & International Affairs,

Princeton University

M.A. - Philosophy, Politics and Economics

- Oxford University (Rhodes Scholar)

B.C.L. - Civil Law - McGill University,

Admitted to Quebec Bar in 1974

October 1994 - August 1999

Senior Advisor to the Privy Council Office

October 1996 - November 1998

Senior Advisor to the Privy Council Office
and Coordinator of Security and Intelligence

October 1994 - December 1996

Chair of the Task Force on Public Service
Values and Ethics, and
Senior Fellow, Canadian Centre for
Management Developement

October 1988 - 1994

Deputy Minister of Justice and Deputy
Attorney General of Canada

1986 - 1988
Deputy Solicitor General of Canada

1983 - 1986
Assistant Deputy Minister - Public Law,
Department of Justice

1981 - 1983
Assistant Deputy Minister - Corporate Policy,
Department of Indian and Northern Affairs

1978 - 1981
Assistant Secretary to the Cabinet - Legislation
& House Planning Secretariat, Privy Council Office

v
vi
P r e f a c e

During the course of 1995, Jocelyne Bourgon, Clerk of — Values and Ethics — to examine the
the Privy Council established nine Task Forces led by relationship between existing and
Deputy Ministers. The intent was to explore a variety of evolving values in the public service,
issues, identified in the wake of Program Review. and to consider ways to align values
with current challenges.
The nine Task Forces and their mandates were:
— A Planning Tool For Thinking About
— Service Delivery Models — to examine the Public Service — to identify long-term
service delivery issues from a citizen’s trends which influence the Public Service, and
point of view. develop a strategic planning tool.

— Overhead Services — to identify ways to The chairpersons of the individual Task Forces
improve management of overhead services on were given broad mandates and the freedom to choose
a government-wide level, with an emphasis on their approaches. Some conducted broad national
cost savings. consultations while others involved only key stakeholders.
In some instances, they produced formal reports and
— Federal Presence — to develop an ongoing recommendations. In others, the results are tools, such
database on federal presence across Canada, as the database on federal presence and the scenario
examine how that presence may change over kit to test options against various future scenarios.
time, and identify issues from a geographical Two Task Forces were integrated into broader exercises.
or regional perspective. The Task Force on Federal Presence Abroad flowed into
the Program Review II exercise at Foreign Affairs and
— Federal Presence Abroad — to report on International Trade and the work of the Task Force on
programs and Canadian government Policy Planning contributed to the preparation of the
representation outside Canada, and to Speech from the Throne.
determine how federal government
representation overseas could be made This discussion paper, produced by the Task Force on
more cost-effective. Values and Ethics, highlights the need for open dialogue
among public servants. The public service is going
— Strengthening Policy Capacity — to review through a period of stress highlighted by the need to
our current policy development capacity and to downsize by some 55,000 people over four years. In
recommend improvements. periods of change and stress, it is imperative for public
servants to feel free to discuss openly, and ultimately
— Policy Planning — to provide an assessment reaffirm, the values that will guide them into the future.
of the policy agenda to date, survey the This report is intended to encourage a wide-ranging
environment, and provide strategic advice on discussion on values and ethics in the public service over
key policy issues. the coming year. A summary version of the report and
other materials to assist in the discussion are also
— Managing Horizontal Policy Issues — to available from the Canadian Centre for Management
develop practical recommendations on the Development (CCMD). Over the next several months,
management of horizontal issues focusing on public servants in many departments and agencies will be
improved coherence, and improved collaboration. using this report, and material derived from it, to discuss
vii
 the values and ethical principles that will underpin public Finally, a new initiative called La Relève to improve
service renewal. human resource management within the Public Service will
comprise a wide range of initiatives at the individual,
Despite proceeding independently, the Task Forces departmental and corporate levels, all with the aim of
produced results and recommendations which reveal a high investing in people to build a modern and vibrant
degree of convergence on key conclusions. They all point institution for the future.
to a need for action on a number of fronts: horizontal
integration, partnerships, culture, service in the public The reports of the Task Forces are now available.
interest, policy capacity, client-focused service and human Together, they have produced concrete tools and
resource management. recommendations to improve service to the public and to
elected officials. Their results do not constitute and were
The Task Force findings also echo conclusions not intended to serve as a formal blueprint for public
emerging from other work in the Public Service during the service renewal. Rather, they are expected to make a
same period. Within departments, there have been a wide contribution to work already in progress toward getting
variety of initiatives underway to modernize service government right. Departments and agencies working in
delivery and the lessons learned are mutually reinforcing. partnership with central agencies will continue to work
toward implementing the Task Force recommendations and
There has also been considerable work across will build on the common learning acquired through the
departmental lines. In many instances, this work has been Task Force work to further the process of renewal.
undertaken by interdepartmental functional groups. For
example, the Council for Administrative Renewal has been
working on a variety of initiatives to streamline overhead December 1996
services. A Treasury Board Secretariat subcommittee has
been active in exploring how technology can facilitate the
clustering of services, even across jurisdictional lines,
based upon the life cycle needs of individuals and
businesses for services from their governments. The
Personnel Renewal Council has been working actively to
engage unions and managers corporately, on a national
basis, to renew our work environments and work
relationships. In other instances, the work has been
carried out by regional councils in developing initiatives to
share local services and to integrate program delivery.

The central agencies have also been working to

modernize systems and processes. For example, the
Treasury Board Secretariat has been leading the Quality
Services Initiative which has developed a wealth of
material to assist departments in improving the services
they provide.

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F o r e w o r d

The Study Team on Public Service Values and Ethics Senior Fellow and one of Canada’s best-known academic
was established by the Canadian Centre for Management authorities on public service values and ethics, agreed to
Development in the spring of 1995, as part of its ongoing serve as a member of the team. Its work was also
research program. supported by CCMD colleagues, including André Burelle,
Greg Fyffe and Arnold Zeman. I would like to thank all
The subject of the Study Team reflected the view of members of the team, each of whom brought unique
the leaders of CCMD that the time had come for a careful insights while contributing to a consensus approach that
exploration of some of the problems and issues that had enriched us all. The team also benefited from capable
arisen in many public servants’ minds about the principles support provided by Sylvie Chamberland, Micheline
underpinning public service, and about the ethic or ethics O’Shaughnessy, Roxanne Poirier, Lise Roberge,
of the public service itself. The Study Team was established Ginette Turcot-Ladouceur and Diane Wicks.
during Ole Ingstrup’s term as Principal of CCMD and
completed its work under his successor, Janet Smith. The I would like to express warm appreciation to them for
Study Team is grateful to both for their leadership and their important contribution to our work.
strong support.
I believe that I speak for all of us in saying that it was
In the Third Annual Report to the Prime Minister a privilege to have been given an opportunity to explore
on the Public Service of Canada, the Clerk of the Privy matters that are so central to the future of the public
Council, Jocelyne Bourgon1, stated: “The values of the service and so important to us individually as public
Public Service must be preserved. It is essential to servants. For the members of the Study Team, the process,
maintain a non-partisan and professional public service the discussion and the reflection were as important as the
governed by fairness, integrity and service to Canadians.” report we have produced. We are aware that the report
At the deputy minister’s retreat in May 1995, the subject of represents only the beginning of our own reflection, and
public service values was identified as one of several on an even smaller part of the journey of the public service as
which it was necessary to undertake work as part of an a whole.
agenda for change and renewal in the public service. As a
result, the Clerk of the Privy Council included the Study The importance of “walking the talk” runs through the
Team on Public Service Values and Ethics as one of the entire report. We are concerned about apparent and real
series of task forces led by deputy ministers looking at key disconnects between words and deeds. And yet we are
issues or challenges facing the public service. aware that the report might become part of the problem,
may be seen as more words, more pious hopes. In fact, in
I was asked to chair the Study Team, Ralph our consultation phase, we asked ourselves whether our
Heintzman agreed to serve as vice-chair and a number of report might be too naive or too idealistic and might lead
current and former senior public servants agreed to serve to another letdown. This is a risk we acknowledge. But our
as members. The public service members of the Study Team experience in the public service, and in our consultations
included: Margaret Amoroso, Ercel Baker, David Brown, and deliberations, makes us more optimistic.
Lorette Goulet, Alex Himelfarb, Martha Hynna,
Arthur Kroeger, Judith Moses and Georges Tsaï. What we hope to do is provide the basis for an open
Claude Bernier served as a member of the Study Team dialogue and contribute to the clarity of the discussion.
from May to June 1995 and Nicole Senécal served as a
member from November 1995 to May 1996. In addition, Serious discussion of values must inevitably address
Professor Kenneth Kernaghan of Brock University, a CCMD the gap between aspiration and reality. The easy answer
ix
1
In 1999, Madame Bourgon became president of the Canadian Centre for Management Development and has signed the dedication in this
edition of this publication.
 when confronted with the gap is to say we’ve set our This report has several audiences and purposes. It is a
aspirations too high, to turn away from our values. The report to the Clerk of the Privy Council, as the leader of
tougher approach is to ask how we can continue to close the public service. It is also a report to CCMD, reflecting
this gap, “to walk the talk,” to renew our values. It is our the initial starting point of this study. Through both of
values that pull us forward, that command us to improve, these, it is also a report to the public service itself. We
and a richer, fuller understanding of these values can only hope all three will find it useful, and that it may serve as a
help us to build on the finest traditions and aspirations of foundation on which other things can be built. As is stated
public service. in the conclusion, it is certainly not the end of a process.
It is only a step in a long process of renewal.
Times have been tough for the public service and will
remain so. Mistakes have been made, values at times
diminished. The Study Team was established because the John C. Tait
problems are real and the issues important. But members December 1996
of the Study Team believe in drawing on what is best in the
public service, and that it is important to aim high and, if
we miss the target, focus on how to do better. There is no
other way for the Public Service of Canada.

Even if there are no perfect answers, we believe that

there can still be good answers.

In fact, if there is to be an honest dialogue, there

must first be honesty with oneself. We have found a
tendency for public servants to say “I’m O.K., others are
not O.K.” Perhaps our greatest fear is that public servants
will read this report and believe that it is written for
someone else. It is important that the dialogue involve an
assessment of how each of us can and must improve.

x
 1. Introduction

The purpose of this report is to help the public Our Approach

service to rediscover and understand its basic values
and assist the public service to recommit to and act The public service has not lacked in recent years for
on those values in all its work. attention to values. In 1987, prior to PS 2000, Gaétan
Lussier led a deputy minister “Committee on Governing
“The purpose of this report is to help the public service to Values” for the public service. PS 2000 itself was an
rediscover and understand its basic values and assist the public attempt to clarify certain fundamental public service
service to recommit to and act on those values in all its work.” values and to state them formally and clearly in a
government White Paper. Other attempts have been
made to articulate public service-wide values: APEX, for
example, has developed a “Statement of Principles” for
Events, pressures and change have led to doubts, public service executives. Many, if not most, organizations
misunderstandings and even scepticism about values on in the public service have undertaken “mission and values”
the part of public servants throughout the public service. exercises over the past decade.
Some of these problems are natural at a time of change,
and yet a clear focus on values is critical to coping with All of these efforts — both within departments and
that change and is at the heart of the renewal of the agencies or across the public service — have been
public service. valuable. They all aim at important objectives. But one
result, unfortunately, has been to encourage a certain
This report is an attempt to look hard, openly and amount of cynicism and scepticism, about values in
honestly at the actions and concerns of public servants general, and formal values exercises in particular. Indeed
and to contribute to learning how to bring action and many public servants feel they have been “missioned” and
values into alignment. “valued” to death! Why such scepticism?
The kinds of concerns we reviewed are about the
accountability of public servants and their relationships to In our view, the scepticism has several sources.
ministers; about public service as a career; about tension Sometimes the values or principles were not rigorously
between traditional values and emerging directions; about thought through or adequately articulated in the first
apparently inconsistent demands on public servants; and place, and, when inherent contradictions became manifest,
about leadership in the public service. the validity of the original statement or position was cast
into doubt. Thus, for example, PS 2000 proclaimed —
This report is not intended to offer a comprehensive rightly — that people were the public service’s most
or definitive statement of public service values. It does important asset, and ought to be treated accordingly.
not provide a checklist or declaration of public service But it did not make the connection with the federal
values that could be implemented subsequently in a government’s fiscal situation, the measures that would be
straightforward manner as a simple test or a code. necessary to correct it, and the potential downsizing that
Although this could have been our objective, and we might result. None of this was incompatible with PS 2000’s
considered it as a possibility, we rejected it from the start original insight that people are important, but because the
for reasons we should like to explain immediately, because connection had not been made, a contradiction it
they were fundamental to our work, and hence to our appeared to be, and scepticism abounded.
report, and how we hope it will be used.

1
 Another source of scepticism is the distance between Another reason why values exercises have sometimes
declared intentions and lived reality. Despite all the public rung hollow or failed to deliver all their promise is that
discourse on values, some leaders and managers in the values discourse in the public service (and in other
public service did not appear to embody them in their organizations) has not been sufficiently clear and
conduct. They seemed to say one thing, and do another. forthright about conflicts between values. We are inclined
They did not, as the saying commonly went, “walk the to think that values conflicts arise only between our values
talk.” Seeing a gulf between words and deeds, many and their opposites. We are not sufficiently alive to what
public servants concluded the words were hollow, and the philosophers call the hierarchy of values, to the fact
closed their ears to them. Beautifully framed values that our values conflict not only with their opposites but
statements gathered dust on office walls, but they did not with each other. Even our most cherished values are
always live in people’s hearts, even the hearts of the very regularly in tension, and we are constantly having to
public servants who had drafted them in the first place. make trade-offs between them. This is true of our
personal life. It is equally true, perhaps especially true,
Part of the reason for this seems to us to arise from of public service and public administration whose very
the inherent problems of codes and rules. They have their essence lies in the balancing of conflicting values and
place. They are even essential at certain times and for purposes. Yet because we are not sufficiently conscious
certain purposes. But they are not enough. They work of or frank about this, we are sometimes inclined to think
when they capture what is already the strong conviction that some value or principle is being betrayed when it is
and broad practice of a community. They do not work well only being subordinated or accommodated, in a specific
circumstance, to some other important value.
“We do not learn about the good from abstractions but rather
from encountering it in real life, in the flesh and blood of a real A final reason why values exercises have often failed
community, and real people. Values are sustained by a community that to carry conviction in the past is our reluctance to be
believes in them and sees them acted out daily, in both concrete and candid about confusion. Most values exercises have been
symbolic actions. This points to the importance of leadership and of undertaken in circumstances of organizational renewal
role models.” where they were intended to instil hope and generate
enthusiasm. In this context there is always a strong
the other way around, when they are intended to make temptation to minimize difficulties, to overlook tensions
people behave in ways that they are not already inclined to or problems, to speak and act as if things were clearer or
behave, or in ways that they do not see broadly supported simpler than they really are. This kind of approach usually
in their community. We do not learn about the good from backfires, in the long run, because the problems are real:
abstractions but rather from encountering it in real life, in if it were otherwise, there would probably not have been
the flesh and blood of a real community, and real people. a concern about values or about renewal in the first place.
Values are sustained by a community that believes in them And people see the problems, they feel the tension, and
and sees them acted out daily, in both concrete and they are not fooled by the reassuring rhetoric. The attempt
symbolic actions. This points to the importance of to create premature certainty serves only to strengthen
leadership and of role models. But it also points to the the doubts, and the scepticism.
weakness of abstract principles that are not perceived to
be concretely embedded and embodied in a community For all these reasons, we did not think that the work
of practice. of this Study Team on Public Service Values and Ethics
should aim at, or begin by, defining a set of values for

2
 the public service. We decided to look first and above all Dialogue implies two things. First, exchange,
at the current issues and problems, the questions that are discussion, debate, the acknowledgement that there
are or can be more than one perspective on important
“we did not think that the work of this Study Team on Public Service issues, and that each of these may have something to
Values and Ethics should aim at, or begin by, defining a set of values contribute to a deeper or fuller understanding of reality.
for the public service.” Hence the conversation must be sustained long enough
for all important viewpoints to be heard and to educate
commonly raised or felt about the condition and role of each other, until that fuller understanding emerges. As
values in today’s public service. We thought we should
begin with what is on people’s minds, what worries and “If there is an image of how we wished our work to proceed and to be
concerns them, rather than by formulating what they perceived, it is the image of an honest dialogue.”
ought to think and do. We did not rule out the possibility
that some overall statement or summary of important this suggests, the second thing dialogue implies is that
values would emerge from our work. But we wanted it to truth, or the whole truth, is not known at the outset. It
come at the end, if it came at all. We wanted it to arise, in only emerges from the dialogue itself. Thus a dialogue
a concrete and convincing manner, from an examination of requires openness, patience, an ability to listen and
to absorb, a capacity to resist the rush to judgement,
“We thought we should begin with what is on people’s minds, what a willing suspension of belief.
worries and concerns them, rather than by formulating
what they ought to think and do.” An honest dialogue requires an ability to speak
forthrightly about difficult issues. This presents two
the real problems and issues as they present themselves to important challenges for a group such as ours. The
our colleagues in the public service today. By proceeding first is that many of the issues we wished to discuss
in this manner we hoped that our work would be, and
would appear to be, both more useful and more authentic. “truth, or the whole truth, is not known at the outset. It only emerges
from the dialogue itself.”
As a result of this approach we do not hesitate to
refer to specific public service values as we proceed in are complex and sensitive. There are good reasons why
this report. But we do so spontaneously, as we reflect on organizations, including organizations like the public
the nature of government. They are the values that come service, often shy away from them. They can be painful
naturally to mind as we think about public service and its and awkward to confront and they can open up questions
relationship to democracy, the values without which it is that may be difficult to handle. If we wish to pursue
not possible to think about public service at all. We collect an honest dialogue we have to be prepared for
them, as it were, as we go along, clustering them at the the consequences.
end of each chapter, and drawing these main threads
together in our conclusion. The second challenge arises from our specific
circumstance as a public service team. As public servants
An Honest Dialogue we must exercise prudence and discretion in keeping with
our professional status. It would not be appropriate to
If there is an image of how we wished our work to comment on the conduct of specific ministers or officials.
proceed and to be perceived, it is the image of an honest Our report must not only be about public service values,
dialogue. This image has two parts: dialogue and honesty.
3
 it must embody them also, including the public service a choice between right and wrong. One may be more
values of discretion, anonymity, impartiality, and loyalty. desirable than the other. One may arguably offer a better
chance of good government than another, but the choice
Respecting these values while pursuing an honest is not in and of itself an ethical one.
dialogue, and being seen to do so, is a delicate balancing
act. While we do not wish to proceed in a way that would In public service ethics, however, the issue or
be inconsistent with the very values we profess, nor do we potential for wrongdoing, whether legal or not, is front
wish to pass into history as yet another group unable to and centre. Ethical issues by their nature are issues of
come to grips with some fundamental issues facing our conscience, where one option is arguably wrong, or more
institution. We have not hesitated, therefore, to refer to wrong than another.
certain episodes that have been crucial in the recent
history of the public service and that have raised The Public Service of Canada continues to exhibit,
important issues of principle. To do otherwise would on the whole, a high standard of ethical behaviour. In a
have lent this discussion an air of unreality. But we have recent survey of the international business community by
chosen not to dwell on or dissect them. In this way we Transparency International, Canada was ranked among the
hope to have achieved both concreteness and discretion. top five countries in the world for honesty in government.
And we hope such an approach will further the honest Ethics will need attention on a continuing basis, in the
dialogue about important and difficult issues at which public service as in other institutions and professions,
our report aims. not because we are experiencing major problems, but
rather because ethical values are so important in the
Values and Ethics daily lives of public servants and because the pressures
on public servants raise new or deeper ethical issues, such
It may be helpful to say a brief word here about the as fair treatment for employees, or maintaining a focus on
relationship between values and ethics, as we conceived the public interest over personal career interests in a time
them for the purposes of our work. For us, values are of downsizing. Every day, in myriad ways, public servants
make decisions and take actions that affect the lives
“In this report, public service ethics are discussed as a sub-set of and interests of Canadians: they handle private and
public service values:” confidential information, provide help and service,
manage and account for public funds, answer calls
enduring beliefs that influence attitudes, actions, and the from people at risk. Because public servants hold such
choices we make. In this report, public service ethics are a significant public trust, ethical values must necessarily
discussed as a sub-set of public service values: they are have a heightened importance for them.
enduring beliefs that influence our attitudes and actions
as to what is right or wrong. “Ethical values” are public Ethical values are one of four families of public
service values in action, where choices have to be made service values we discovered in the course of our
between right and wrong, what the Auditor General, in work, as we point out in our conclusion. Together
his 1995 report, called “ethics in decision-making”. with democratic, professional and people values,
they constitute the core values of the public service.
A choice between values does not always involve a If, through a proper orientation of the full range of core
choice between right and wrong. For example, a choice public service values, we lay a strong foundation for public
between a partisan and a non-partisan public service, or service thought and conduct, we believe that public service
between a career and a non-career public service, is not ethics will be more readily maintained at a high standard.
4
For all these reasons, the focus of this report is on the the public trust that defines the mission of the public
ethos as well as on the ethics of public service. service. We also believe such societal values deserve
further attention and study, as shaping influences on
Canadian Values the culture of the Canadian public service. They are
something to which the Canadian Centre for Management
The Public Service of Canada exists and works Development might wish to give ongoing attention in its
within a specific context, the broad context of Canadian own research program; and we recommend that it do so.
society and its own universe of values. The Government of
Canada is not the government of just any country; it is the
government of this one: a federal country, a parliamentary
country, and a North American country, with its unique
historical experience that has given us the distinct society
of Québec, varied provincial and regional realities, two
official languages, a particular division of powers,
a Charter of Rights, a unique political culture, and a
special, evolving social contract. All of these features of
the Canadian polity imply a range of values that are deeply
Canadian — the values, for example, of peace, order and
good government.

These values are at the heart of what defines the roles

and responsibilities of the public trust of public servants.
To some extent, constitutional values have lost their lustre
as a result of failed attempts at constitutional change
where existing provisions have been criticized. But for
public servants, the Constitution is bedrock, and is
related to our role in serving ministers under law in
upholding the public interest. If we take the time to
consider the matter, we realize that our written and
unwritten Constitution defines much of what Canada
is all about — especially parliamentary democracy,
federalism and a Charter of Rights. For public servants,
this means that it is fundamental to respect the authority
of elected governments, the roles and responsibilities of
provincial governments and the rights and freedoms of
Canadians. These Canadian values are also core values
for the public service.

As it turned out, the Study Team did not explore these

values in depth. However, we did encounter them at many
stages in our work, as public servants do every day, and we
found that constitutional values form part of the terms of
5
6
2. The Democratic Context and
the Challenge of Accountability

Perhaps somewhat to our surprise, the issues to which We think that the analysis that underlies these
the Study Team ended up devoting the largest portion of anxieties is partly right, and partly wrong. It seems
its work - and to which we frequently returned - were the undeniable that some of the conventions or practices
issues which, taken together, might be called, succinctly, are evolving. But it should be kept in mind that
the issues of responsible government and the parliamentary government is an inherently evolutionary
accountability of public servants. form of government, continually adapting to meet new
circumstances, in contrast to more rigid, static and
There are at least two possible reasons that occur codified systems. And we do not see any reason, at
to us as to why these issues occupied such a large portion this point, why it could not or should not evolve in
of our time. First, these issues are a major source of the ways that are largely consistent with the vital or
concern that exists in the minds of public servants about essential principles of the past.
how the public service is changing. The second is that they
are the root bed underlying everything else: almost every As we explored the values related to accountability
other issue we examined led back, through some direct or and responsible government, three main issues captured
indirect route, to the principles of democratic life in a our attention: the conventions concerning public service
parliamentary system. It was altogether fitting, therefore, anonymity and public accountability for government
that we should have found ourselves returning time and actions; the accountability issues raised by new forms
again to these issues. of government organization; and the congruence between
the values of the government of the day and the senior
As to the first point, many public servants assume, public service. In this chapter we will address each of
rightly or wrongly, that the principles governing the these in turn.
relationships between themselves, ministers and
Parliament are shifting, but they do not yet understand Anonymity and Accountability in a System of
what the new principles are to be, and they assume that Responsible Government
these shifts may alter the “old deal” under which the
public service previously operated, in ways that remain Rightly or wrongly, many public servants appear to
as yet obscure. believe that public service had always been based on an
implicit bargain, understanding, or “deal.” On the one
There are two kinds of concern: 1) that the concepts hand (so the tacit theory holds), public servants were to
of ministerial responsibility and public servant anonymity give to the government of the day (and through it to the
are under threat and lightly treated, and that this is people of Canada) their professionalism, discretion,
undermining the foundations of public service; and
2) that these concepts are no longer appropriate and are “Rightly or wrongly, many public servants appear to believe that public
an obstacle to reform. These concerns take various forms: service had always been based on an implicit bargain, understanding,
“If I am encouraged to take creative risks and I fail, who or “deal”...”
will stand up for me?” “Will I be publicly blamed by my
superiors?” “The advice we give to our ministers doesn’t “...we think some aspects of these assumptions are flawed, at least
seem to matter.” “I am not sure what I contribute to from a technical point of view, though not in spirit.”
my department”. “I’m held responsible for circumstances
beyond my control.” neutrality, non-partisanship, impartiality, and loyalty.
On the other hand, public servants could supposedly
expect at least two things in return: anonymity and
7
 security of tenure. Anonymity meant that public servants to make public servants take responsibility for government
would not be publicly accountable or answerable for the actions or, increasingly, have invited them to comment on
actions of the government: this role was reserved for the government actions or policy in their personal capacity
ministers of the Crown, who, after all, held the authority rather than as officials accountable to a responsible
as elected officials. Security of tenure meant that public minister. To many, these various incidents and trends seem
service employment was not a temporary or passing thing, to undermine the doctrine of public service anonymity and
dependent on the lifetime of a government, but something ministerial responsibility, thus altering the ground rules of
that could normally be expected to endure through most the alleged “old deal.”
of a working career.
In keeping with the approach outlined in the
We do not mention these assumptions about the Introduction, we do not propose to dissect these various
“old deal” because we agree with them as stated. In fact, incidents here. We mention them only to demonstrate that
we think some aspects of these assumptions are flawed, at we are aware of them, and because they are among the
least from a technical point of view, though not in spirit. factors precipitating current discussion of values in the
We mention them because we think they are a source of public service.
much of the confusion and uncertainty that currently
prevails in the minds of many public servants about how As we reflected on the pressures and stresses on
the public service may be changing. Because anonymity the convention of public service anonymity and ministerial
and permanence were presumed to be the quid pro quo responsibility, we sought to understand what their sources
for many of the values of a professional public service, might be. It seemed to us important for public servants to
and because these two appear to be brought into question understand that ministers themselves often feel powerless
by recent developments, then all of the other values are or hamstrung by central agencies, by horizontal and
also put in doubt. consultation processes, or even by the public service itself.
They may not understand why they should have to defend
It therefore seemed to us essential to examine these or even explain actions of which they were unaware and
issues of anonymity and permanence in some depth. The with which they may disagree. Thus, in its extreme form,
first we explore here, and the second is the subject for the convention of public service anonymity and exclusive
the next chapter. ministerial responsibility may sometimes appear to
ministers to protect public servants at their expense.
The issue and principle of public service anonymity Initiatives to “empower” public servants, to give them
has been brought to the fore in the minds of many public greater discretion in matters of service delivery or
servants by several high profile events, and some consultation, might well enhance these feelings, unless
ongoing trends. One of the high profile events was the properly framed. Ministers may often feel they are being
so-called Al-Mashat case which, in the minds of many asked to take the consequences for a problem that has
public servants, suggested that individual public servants been caused by someone else.
could now be publicly identified and blamed for actions
that were potentially embarrassing to a government. The concern arises against a background where
In another instance, a deputy minister of Employment many believe that the concept of ministerial responsibility
and Immigration was subject to lengthy interrogation is outdated or just unreal. Ministers do not resign for
by a parliamentary committee and implicitly made to departmental errors, it is said, therefore the doctrine
bear responsibility for government action. In less dramatic is meaningless.
fashion, other parliamentary committees have also sought
8
 As the Study Team progressed in its work, we came to such as discipline, for problems that could have been
believe that many of the frustrations and concerns result avoided had the individual acted appropriately. All public
from unclear notions of what ministerial responsibility is, office holders are accountable to the courts because of
and how it relates to notions of accountability, the requirements of the rule of law. Ministers are also
answerability and blame. The concept has been blurred accountable to Parliament, while deputy ministers are
and confused, in large part, by partisan conflict that is accountable to ministers, not Parliament.
often preoccupied with blame. This is nowhere clearer
than where we find the frequent calls for resignations of “Answerability” is also often used as a synonym
ministers who are asked to accept blame in the highest for “accountability,” especially in relation to ministers’
degree for alleged errors of departmental officials. answerability to Parliament. The Study Team uses
“answerability” as a term to describe a key aspect of
We found that media, politicians and even academics accountability, the duty to inform and explain. Thus
use words such as responsibility and accountability to answerability does not include the personal consequences
mean different things — often to prove a specific point. that are a part of accountability. The concept of
While we recognize that we cannot resolve the profound answerability sometimes is also used in circumstances
controversies around these issues, we believe it is helpful where full and direct accountability is not an issue.
to make a few basic points about ministerial responsibility For example, public servants are answerable before
and public service accountability and to set out clearly how parliamentary committees, not accountable to them.
we ourselves propose to use these and related terms. Ministers are answerable to Parliament for independent
tribunals, not accountable for their decisions.
The term “responsibility” does not of course apply
only to ministers. Within the public sector, all office Public office holders are responsible for all that
holders have responsibilities that are defined by their occurs within their authority, but are not always subject
authority. They are responsible for carrying out their to personal consequences such as discipline or blame for
authority well, within the law and with respect for ethical problems that occur. The issue and degree of blame
values, and, should problems arise, they are responsible depend, among other things, on whether office holders
for correcting them and doing whatever is reasonable to were personally involved in activities, or should have been;
ensure that they do not reoccur. The term is most often that is, on a fair assessment of whether they could have
used in respect to the authority of ministers under a avoided the problem, or ought to have taken steps to
system of parliamentary government and to the duties correct it. So while there is always responsibility and
and obligations that come with this authority: accountability to reform, correct and avoid further
ministerial responsibility. problems under an office holder’s authority, this does
not necessarily or even usually involve questions of
In most circumstances, accountability can be blame or serious personal consequences.
thought of as enforcing or explaining responsibility. It is
often used as a synonym for “responsibility” because both Political realities mean that responsibility and
are defined by the office holder’s authority; they cover the accountability are often taken to imply that ministers
same ground. Accountability involves rendering an account are to blame when things go wrong. Indeed, to say “I am
to someone, such as Parliament or a superior, on how and responsible” often has the connotation of “I am to blame”.
how well one’s responsibilities are being met, on actions But in fairness, and in terms of common sense, ministers
taken to correct problems and to ensure they do not cannot and should not be blamed and certainly should not
reoccur. It also involves accepting personal consequences, be compelled to resign for all matters that go wrong which
9
 fall within their authority, irrespective of the importance have significantly qualified the principles of neutrality and
of the problem or the minister’s knowledge of or influence anonymity by permitting public servants to engage in
on it. In fact, the focus on “blame” can often distract us partisan politics, within clear limits and outside their work.
from larger issues of good government.
It is important to point out here that Canadian
Of course, the main difference between the officials already do, quite appropriately, appear before
accountability of ministers and that of public servants parliamentary bodies to explain their actions. There is
and executives in the private sector is that ministers nothing about this that is incompatible with responsible
are accountable to Parliament, a democratic but also government in a parliamentary system. On the contrary.
a partisan political body. Blame will continue to be Providing information and explanation to Parliament,
attributed and there will be ongoing pressure on the either from ministers or officials, is the very essence of
concept of ministerial responsibility. Unfortunately, responsible government. The limitation is that
confusing responsibility and blame, oversimplifying parliamentary bodies must not instruct officials —
the concept of ministerial responsibility or setting instructions come only from the minister; nor should
inappropriate thresholds for demands for resignation they attribute responsibility improperly, or ask them to
do damage to the democratic process. comment on government policies or actions in ways
that are incompatible with their relationship and
In these circumstances, it would not be surprising if accountability to the minister. Departmental public
ministers were occasionally tempted to escape from a rigid servants appear before parliamentary committees on
or extreme interpretation of ministerial responsibility by behalf of their ministers.
evading it altogether and seeking instead to shift the
burden to the public service. It should also be noted that the principles of
anonymity and ministerial responsibility do not mean
Regardless of the sources for the pressure on the an absence of sanctions for public service errors or
convention of anonymity, we think it is important to point misconduct. Sanctions can be and regularly are brought
out that it is not an absolute. Because of our Canadian to bear, just as they are in the private sector. In both the
political traditions we may be tempted to think of it as public and private sectors, however, such actions are
more absolute than it really is in parliamentary systems normally taken in private. In most cases, no
of government. In Britain, for example, there is the purpose is served, and much damage can be done,
longstanding tradition of the “accounting officer” which by public hangings.
makes permanent secretaries (deputy ministers) directly
and personally accountable to Parliament for financial Thus public service anonymity in a parliamentary
administration in their departments. In Canada, the system is a much more elastic concept than it first
concepts of public service anonymity and ministerial appears: there is clearly room for Canada to move and to
responsibility have been significantly qualified in places, qualify the principle of anonymity even further. It would
and doubtless could be further qualified. Canada was a be entirely possible for Parliament or for ministers to
pioneer, for example, in the development of the Crown delegate larger portions of their respective authorities
corporation and of “arms-length” agencies for the directly to non-elected officials. In the next section of
sensitive matters of regulation and of artistic and research his chapter, we examine some of these possibilities in
funding: the meaning of “arm’s length” is that ministers more detail.
do not have direct authority over decisions and therefore
are not responsible for them. More recently, legal decisions
10
 However, the evolution of Canadian practice in on by elected representatives, not by unelected officials.
this area needs to take sufficient account of Canadian Elected officials can and should work through and by
political culture. It was suggested to us that Canadian means of appointed officials, but it is the elected who
ministers traditionally involve themselves more often in should be, and who should be seen to be, in charge.
certain details of administrative decision-making than The officials, as Lord Balfour observed, should be on tap,
do ministers in most other parliamentary countries. not on top, and they are accountable to their ministers.
If this tradition continues, it is natural to expect ministers
to accept corresponding personal consequences for these Responsible government in a parliamentary
decisions. We also noted research showing that there is setting is nothing more, in the end, than this simple
greater turnover in the House of Commons than in most democratic principle. And the political accountability
other democratic legislatures and that this relative that accompanies responsibility works every day in a
instability of Canadian political life both reduces the quiet, positive way that an undue, sensational emphasis
capacity to build substantive expertise on public on scandals, errors or resignations overlooks. Ministerial
administration in the House, and may heighten its accountability involves the daily provision of information
partisan tone and outlook. These factors will also have and explanations, to Parliament and to the public, about
to be taken into account in considering any further the activities of the minister’s department, and conversely
qualifications of ministerial responsibility, and may a daily sensitization of the department to the views and
limit the room to manoeuvre. concerns of Parliament and the people. It involves
day-to-day direction to departments and the correction
For us, what is important in the conventions of of problems that may arise. The sensational approach to
ministerial responsibility and public service anonymity accountability largely ignores this positive dimension, and
is not so much the principle of anonymity itself as the perpetuates the confusion between accountability
democratic principle that lies behind it. In our view, and blameworthiness (or “culpability”). Accountability
the principle of public service anonymity serves two great and blame are not the same thing. A minister does not
purposes: it protects the neutrality or non-partisanship of have to accept blame for everything that happens within
public servants and their ability to give frank advice that his/her immediate authority. But he or she does have to
will be received in a spirit of trust; and it protects the accept responsibility (unless, of course, Parliament has
authority of ministers chosen through a democratic clearly lodged it elsewhere — in a Crown corporation, for
process. While it is often assumed that ministerial example), because the alternative is government by the
responsibility protects public servants by enabling them non-elected.
to avoid public accountability for their actions, the truth
is the opposite: the doctrine protects the authority of The principle of ministerial responsibility and
ministers. Awarding public servants more direct authority accountability in a parliamentary system is, then, an
and imposing more direct accountability to Parliament on expression of the democratic principle. However, as we
them necessarily detracts from ministerial authority. pointed out, its corollary of public service anonymity is
If Parliament, for example, were to hold public servants not an absolute. It has been significantly qualified both
more directly accountable, and to direct their future here and abroad, and could be qualified still further, as
actions, this would inevitably undercut the authority the practice of parliamentary government continues to
and responsibility of ministers. evolve. If and as it does so, an important question will
become not so much whether public servants are
The principle behind ministerial responsibility is the anonymous, but how they behave when they are in
democratic principle: that government should be carried the public eye, whether this behaviour is consistent
11
 with other public service values, including the principles service itself. In their own spheres, and at every level,
of responsible government itself. When and if public public servants also bear responsibility and should do so
servants take on more public roles it will be important with the same dignity and understanding we expect from
for their behaviour to express and convey appropriate ministers. To be held responsible for something is not
respect for the authority and responsibility of ministers. necessarily to be blamed for it. Often it is best simply
As public servants are thrust into more public consultation to accept, with dignity, that something falls within one’s
roles, for example, they should be seen as supporting sphere of responsibility, and to take the appropriate
ministers, not supplanting them. And it is important action. Nothing could be more dispiriting for the morale
that ministers accept their responsibility to ensure fair of the public service, or of some part of it, than the
treatment of public servants in public forums and do their spectacle of public service leaders publicly sidestepping
best to hold their public servants accountable to them in responsibility and shifting it instead to subordinates,
private unless circumstances make this impossible. at convenient moments. The public service is hungry for
simple, symbolic actions that embody values. Such
Similarly, public service visibility and responsibility actions need not be drastic or extreme. A simple gesture
should not detract from the other great purpose of the of accepting responsibility, especially in trying moments,
principle of public service anonymity: to protect the may well suffice.
neutrality of the public service and its ability to give
candid and frank advice that will also be perceived as The bottom line in our discussion thus far is that
loyal, trustworthy and discreet. It seems likely to us that some common assumptions about the “old deal” of public
there is a necessary connection among the values of
neutrality, discretion, loyalty, and candour, and that in “Responsible parliamentary government is a more flexible and
pushing on one, you may push on them all, in unexpected evolutionary form of government than we sometimes assume. It can
ways. Anonymity may prove to be connected to the ability accommodate new practices in the visibility and answerability of
and duty of a public service to speak truth to power, yet officials while preserving the essential features and benefits of
serve faithfully succeeding governments of differing responsible government and ministerial accountability.”
political views, and be trusted by them. Ministers are more
likely to welcome frank advice from public servants when service are not well grounded. Responsible parliamentary
they know they can count on the absolute discretion of government is a more flexible and evolutionary form
their officials. If so, this may impose potential limits on of government than we sometimes assume. It can
the degree to which the principle of anonymity can be accommodate new practices in the visibility and
discarded, or may suggest that it can be qualified more answerability of officials while preserving the essential
easily in some areas of government than in others: features and benefits of responsible government and
more easily in program delivery, for example, than ministerial accountability. We do not need to throw the
in policy development.
“it is just as important to emphasize the things that should be
In any new public roles public servants are asked to preserved and refurbished, as the things that are new.”
undertake, they will need to appreciate the points about
accountability and blameworthiness (or culpability) that baby out with the bathwater. An evolution of practice in
we have highlighted in this chapter. So far we have spoken one area, such as anonymity and answerability, may be
predominantly about ministerial responsibility and the acceptable or even desirable, as long as it does not
principles that shape its exercise. It is equally important threaten other related and fundamental public service
to remember that these same principles apply to the public values such as neutrality, impartiality, professionalism,
12
and loyalty to the government of the day. In this area, the agency model of organization and accountability may
as in others that we will examine, it is important not influence public service values, or how those same values
to panic about change, or to go from one extreme to should shape the design and implementation of such a
another. Though many things change, much endures. model. Indeed, for this reason, the ongoing experiments
In any discussion about public service values, it is just in organizational form have been one of the contributing
as important to emphasize the things that should be factors to the present widespread concern for, and
preserved and refurbished, as the things that are new. uncertainty about, the evolution of public service values.

New Organizational Forms and the Challenge It was to understand and illuminate the impact
of Accountability on public service values that the Study Team explored the
issues of organizational form. It is not for the Study Team
In recent years, the conventions of accountability to comment on the appropriateness of the agency model
and anonymity have evolved most significantly in the itself. What we explored was the potential impact of the
area of program and service delivery. As we noted in agency model on public service values, and the design
the previous section, the links between the values of features of any potential agency model that would help
anonymity, discretion, candour, and trust seem to be to enhance or support important public service values,
strongest in the area of policy advice. Here the old as we understand them. Some of these design features,
conventions still seem to apply most strongly, though especially those related to employment, are considered
new approaches have been tried, notably in New Zealand. in the next chapter of this report. Here we are chiefly
concerned to explore the impact of the agency model
But, in the area of program and service delivery, on accountability and anonymity.
new organizational forms and new approaches to
accountability have been widely implemented, involving The first thing to observe is that the design of distinct
new forms of autonomy and greater public accountability agencies for the delivery of government programs need not
for public servants, especially in Britain and New Zealand. involve any fundamental changes to the principles of
In Canada, Special Operating Agencies were an initial, ministerial responsibility.
distant cousin of the British Executive Agencies. In the
recent federal budget, the Government of Canada As in Britain or New Zealand, ministers can retain
announced that it would establish four new agencies authority for both policy development and program
(parks, food inspection, revenue and securities) with delivery. However, in the case of program or service
perhaps greater autonomy and a more direct reporting delivery, the ministers could delegate, in a formal and
relationship to the minister, along the lines of the British public manner, certain of their authorities to the chief
or New Zealand models. If these precedents go well, they executives of the program agencies. The overall
could perhaps be extended to other areas. responsibilities and accountabilities of ministers would
remain the same: all that would change would be the
These experiments in organizational form have extent, the precision and the publicness of the delegation
been undertaken primarily for the purpose of raising the of authority to officials, together with the understandings
performance of public service organizations, to make them about performance and outputs the agencies were
more flexible, responsive, efficient and able to offer a expected to achieve. The chief executive would remain
higher quality of service to citizens. But inevitably accountable to the minister; the minister would remain
questions have arisen, both here and abroad, about how accountable to Parliament — but accountabilities would

13
 be held more publicly. Parliament would be better targets. This is important if ministers wish to stay close to
informed about the scope of manoeuvre available to specific program functions or when these functions have
the agency and the targets it was expected to achieve. an intrinsic governmental nature. This approach will help

Let us consider some Canadian precedents. Some “it seems to us more helpful to think of many or most planned and
public sector organizations (but not SOAs) have enjoyed potential program-delivery agencies not as a new kind of corporation,
special autonomy under statute, for example, because but rather as a new kind of department, an operational department”
they are involved in commercial or quasi-commercial
activities, acting more or less like a business (certain to ensure that ministers remain clearly responsible for the
Crown corporations) or because they are involved in activities of government, and that the accountability of
sensitive quasi-judicial activities or regulation, or in the officials is to the minister, not to Parliament or to
equally sensitive allocation of funds for artistic, cultural anyone else.
or research purposes. In these cases activities are
deliberately placed outside immediate political authority, Perhaps the closest analogy in the Canadian public
at “arms-length”. In Canadian experience, the statutes service to date for these new program-delivery agencies
define the authority of ministers, often in slightly is the cluster of agencies grouped under the Solicitor
different ways. Canadian experience offers a rich variety General, where program delivery is carried out by a series
of models which could be displayed on a continuum of distinct program agencies, under the authority of a
varying from full ministerial authority and responsibility minister. These agencies demonstrate that each such
to minimal ministerial involvement. What is important is agency can have quite specific and different design
that ministerial responsibility should be defined by features. For the new type of program delivery agencies,
whatever the minister’s authority is intended to be, and however, the Solicitor General model would need to be
that the institutional framework and statutory authority augmented by an explicit and public agreement about the
be aligned both with the purpose of the organization and powers and authorities that are delegated to the agency,
with a clear idea of the respective responsibilities of and about the program outputs and standards that are to
ministers and officials. be expected in return.

New program-delivery agencies need not be at If experience elsewhere is any guide, a great deal of
arms-length. Though some programs of government careful attention will need to be given to the content and
may well be found to have a quasi-commercial character, precision of the delegation instrument and performance
or some other specific feature, that requires the form of agreement. If this kind of attention is not given, then we
a Crown corporation, or even privatization, many or most can probably expect problems to arise. A chief executive
may remain straightforward government programs under who holds such a public delegation and performance
the authority and responsibility of a minister. agreement becomes perforce a public actor, even
though the overall accountability to the minister remains
For this reason, and in order to get the unchanged. Unless the agreement is very clear about both
accountabilities right, it seems to us more helpful the authorities delegated and the authorities retained by
to think of many or most planned and potential the minister — and unless the spirit animating the
program-delivery agencies not as a new kind of minister and her officials is appropriate — we can expect
corporation, but rather as a new kind of department, conflicts to occur. In the course of our work we reviewed
an operational department, with wider, more explicit, one case abroad in which a former chief executive is suing
and more public delegations of authority and performance a minister, mainly, it would seem, because of differences
14
 about what the agreement between them allowed. We were can be enhanced by some of the other design features of
also told about public disagreements between ministers any new agency model, and the human resource regime
and officials about who should do what. that accompanies it.

These are the kinds of public conflicts, contrary Political and Public Service Values
to sound public service values, that can arise where
public service anonymity is reduced, and where public Another dimension of responsible government about
servants become more visible public actors without the which we heard concerns expressed in the course of our
necessary safeguards of precise agreements and a solid work was the congruence of political and public service
background of well-nourished public service values. values. Interestingly, the two types of concerns we noted
In order to avoid them, both the values and the clear were diametrically opposed. On the one hand, some
agreements will be necessary, especially in Canada people, especially from outside government, have
where, as we noted, the political culture has traditionally expressed doubts about whether the public service,
allowed for closer involvement of ministers in certain especially the senior public service, is able to give loyal
details of administration than in many other parliamentary support to each succeeding government. If not, these
countries. voices suggest, there should be greater turnover in the
senior public service, so that each succeeding government
These are the risks, but, if they are successfully met, appoints its own senior officials, from whatever source
our study suggests that, contrary to some fears, there is they may be found, similar to the American system. On the
other hand, we also heard from people, particularly inside
“there is no necessary conflict between these new organizational the public service and at middle or lower levels, who
forms for service delivery and traditional public service values...” expressed concern that the senior public service sometimes
showed too much zeal in serving the government of the
“...these new arrangements will work best if the organizations day, failing at times to make clear the risks or drawbacks
involved are permeated by a strong public service culture.” of certain policy options, or to communicate fully the
concerns of those on the front line of delivery.
no necessary conflict between these new organizational
forms for service delivery and traditional public service On the first point we do not propose to comment in
values. In fact, we have looked at research that argues depth here. We will have something more to say on this
both political and public service accountability can be theme in the next chapter. At this stage we should like to
significantly strengthened by such arrangements, because make but two observations because they are crucial to
ministers gain the ability to be more explicit about what what follows in this report.
they expect from their departments, and to monitor more
precisely whether their expectations are being met. The first is that we are not aware of empirical
For public servants the notion of accountability becomes evidence that would support the proposition that a
more concrete, as they strive to meet the minister’s professional public service is unable or unwilling to
targets and goals. carry out faithfully the wishes and program of any duly
elected government, operating within the law and the
Our analysis also suggests that these new Constitution. On the contrary, it seems to us evident
arrangements will work best if the organizations that when a government knows what it wants to do, a
involved are permeated by a strong public service culture. professional public service is capable of delivering it.
Strengthening that culture, and the values that animate it, All of the major policy and program initiatives of the
15
 Canadian government over the past generation have public service in the service of democracy is to ensure that
been carried out with the advice and support of the ministers have the most complete information and analysis
Canadian public service, regardless of the political party possible before they take policy and program decisions.
in office. A public service that is capable of implementing This is sometimes called “speaking truth to power”.
a National Energy Policy for one government, and then Ministers should be fully aware of the major options of
dismantling it for the next, is clearly a public service able action and the potential consequences; and it is the duty
to serve faithfully the wishes of the Canadian people, as of a public service to ensure that they are, even in cases
expressed through the democratic process, and this should where ministers find unwelcome the analyses with which
be a source of pride not only for public servants but for they are presented. This is not an obstacle or hindrance
all Canadians. to democracy, it is one of its pillars. Once decisions are
taken, the role of a public service is to carry them out to
Our second observation is that a professional public the best of its ability, within the law and ethical values.
service is not only equipped to support the program of an And it will be all the more comfortable in doing so if it
elected government, but is the best available means to do has already performed its duty of ensuring that ministers
so. Many of us have observed regimes that cannot rely on are fully informed about the choices to be made in the
a professional senior public service imbued with a spirit first place.
of long-term service to the democratic process, and we do
not think the comparison is favourable to the alternative. We have no reason to believe that the senior public
It cannot be stated firmly enough, especially in a report service is not currently discharging its duty to speak truth
on public service values, that a professional public to power. But it is obvious that this part of its essential
service is an important national institution in the function is more welcome at some times and places than
service of democracy. others. It therefore seems important, in the context of a
study on public service values, to reaffirm clearly and
The second concern we heard from the middle and strongly that speaking truth to power is one of the chief
lower ranks of the public service itself contradicts, and duties of a public service dedicated to the support of the
to some degree refutes, the first. The perception of some, democratic process.
at these levels, is not that the senior public service is
unwilling to support faithfully the programs of succeeding At the same time it is equally crucial for public
governments, but that it may be too ready to do so, servants, at all levels, to understand that the chief public
at the expense of some public goods. This is an important service value is service to democracy, that there is none
concern to explore. It is one among several indications higher, and that, following professional advice and
that there is a divide within the public service based on democratic deliberation, faithful execution of democratic
how public servants view the involvement of ministers decisions is what a public service is for, not to substitute
in program areas: whether they view it as an intrusion for them some other definitions of the public good. Public
that is inimical to the public interest, or as the servants may lose sight of this essential point for many
xpression of democracy. reasons. For example, public servants may note the highly
partisan nature of politics, the immediacy of issues, the
It seems to us that several key challenges and responsiveness to shifts in public opinion, and the
insights emerge from this concern. We have already apparent emphasis on speedy action and media spin.
shown that the responsibility and authority of ministers
are based on democratic values. Ministers are legitimately But democratic politics is crucial to our system
in charge. But one of the roles and duties of a professional of government. It is not for public servants to judge
16
its implications, except when considering advice on how We have also discovered that the fundamental
to do better. Public servants must remember what they mission is often forgotten, and that public servants
are — delegates of their minister. And what system they often misunderstand their full responsibilities. It is
serve — a democratic system where elected officials have useful to remind ourselves of some basic points.
legitimacy to define the public interest. Once public
servants have done their best to advise, they must Canada’s form of democracy is responsible
accept the legitimate decisions of their ministers. parliamentary government, based on the collective and
individual responsibility of ministers to the elected House
The fact that democratic values are often forgotten of Commons, which, along with principles of federalism
poses a challenge of leadership and communication. and the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, provides a
crucial framework for public service roles, responsibilities
The communication challenge is twofold. Senior and values.
public servants need to reflect on how, and how well,
they are explaining political decisions, and the reasons The principles of responsible government work in a
for those decisions to those further down in public service quiet, positive way every day, maintaining ministerial
organizations. At the same time, they also need to authority over officials. In this sense, they are the
consider how, and how well, they are conveying to the cornerstone of democracy in a parliamentary system,
members of their department the way in which public protecting the authority of elected persons for the
servants’ views and analysis are being conveyed to conduct of government. The positive and pervasive force
ministers. The most senior public servants have a delicate for accountability and good government that they offer in
but essential balancing act to perform. They must the day-to-day operations of government is obscured by
represent faithfully and effectively to their employees, the exaggerated demands as to how they should work when
wishes, needs and choices of the government of the day so mistakes occur, and by undue emphasis on ministerial
that these may be met or carried out. At the same time, blame and resignation. While ministers are responsible to
they must represent, and be seen to represent, the values Parliament for the errors of administrative subordinates,
and contribution of public servants to ministers. The they do not, and should not, thereby accept personal
second is almost as important as the first, because it blame for these errors in all circumstances.
undermines morale and corrodes the values of public
service if it is not seen to be performed. In our view, the essential principles of responsible
government have stood up well to the test of experience,
Democratic Values and will serve as well tomorrow as they have in the past.
However parliamentary government is an inherently
Our review of the issues of responsible government evolutionary form of government, and we have noted
that emerged in our exploration of public service values some areas where evolution may occur without in any way
has led us to a heightened awareness and reassertion of threatening the whole edifice. We observed, for example,
what we will call the democratic values underlying public that there may be room for movement in the area of the
service. The Study Team has rediscovered that the most anonymity and visibility of public servants, especially
important defining factor for the role and values where new organizational forms lead ministers to delegate
of the public service is its democratic mission: helping portions of their authorities formally and publicly to
ministers, under law and the Constitution, to serve officials. As long as the proper channels of authority to
the common good. the minister are preserved, we believe the two great
purposes of public service anonymity — preserving public
17
 service neutrality and protecting the authority of ministers As the practices of responsible government evolve,
— can be fully accomplished. Such an evolution therefore or new roles and responsibilities for the public service
represents no inherent threat to responsible government. emerge, the risks of damage or of threats to the
In fact, the values associated with it could actually underlying values will be greatly reduced if government
strengthen democratic accountability. organizations are permeated by a strong public service
culture animated by respect for democracy and for the
Because of the evolving nature of parliamentary public good. The strengthening of such a culture and of
government, and because of the continuing confusion its related values is one of the matters considered in the
in the public mind about the distinctions between following chapter.
accountability and blamability, it might be useful at
this stage to develop a clear, concise statement of the
requirements of ministerial responsibility that is easily
comprehensible to ministers, public servants and the
public. Such a statement might fill several needs,
including the need for a better framework and more
adequate set of ground rules around the appearances of
public servants before parliamentary committees where
they are sometimes under pressure to respond in ways
that are incompatible with responsible government and
public service values. Public servants answer questions
in parliamentary committees; they are accountable
to ministers.

If the great principles of parliamentary democracy are

to be reaffirmed, the public service must also rededicate
itself to principles and practices that will help ministers to
shoulder their accountabilities more comfortably and more
effectively. We must ensure that ministers have all the
information that they require to make decisions in the
first place, and all possible assistance to shoulder the
responsibility of implementation.

Finally, the concerns of ministers and public

servants about ministerial responsibility and the role
of public servants touch on the deepest values of public
service in a parliamentary democracy — respect for the
authority of elected office holders, respect for the
Constitution, the rule of law, and the institutions of
Parliament and the courts. Not surprisingly, if these
values are thought to be changing, much else is
also in doubt.

18
3. Employment and Values

3. Em p l o y m e n t a n d v a l u e s

Many of the concerns about public service values we how it was done; and what it means. We will consider
heard and explored in the course of our work were related, the first here and the second in the following part of
in one way or another, to employment in the public this chapter.
service: the nature of it, and the processes related to it.
This is not surprising. Who should be employed in the Many public servants were shocked, and their faith
public service, and how, are questions that have always in public service values was shaken, both by the fact of
been at the heart of public administration, in Canada downsizing — that it was done at all — and by the way it
and elsewhere, and they are closely connected to values. was done. Many public servants believe that an implicit
Indeed, public service reform and the employment regime employment contract and the commitment to security of
it brought with it were explicitly designed, in the first tenure were breached by personnel reductions, and by the
decades of the century, to create a certain kind of public way they were carried out. Explicit union contracts were
service, with a certain kind of public service culture. At a overridden by legislation. Disrespect for public servants
time when values are again in question, it is only natural was read into many announcements or statements that
that employment issues should also come front and centre seemed to make them scapegoats, implying they were
once again. unproductive, bureaucratic and a major reason for the
problems of the debt and public distrust of government.
Some of the current uncertainties surrounding Some downsizing processes were perceived as punitive,
employment and values arise from matters we have already secretive, and capricious, in an environment where the
discussed, such as new organizational forms in the public main purpose was to cut, and there was little interest in
service. The greatest source of anxiety, however, has no enforcing rules or due process to protect people.
doubt been the recent, wide-scale experience of Ruthlessness, some public servants believe, was permitted,
downsizing. For almost fifty years, the public service or even rewarded at certain times. To them, it appears that
experience was largely one of growth. Several generations power counted for more than values and ethics, and a
of public servants had only intermittent or localized focus on short-term results crowded out concern for public
experience of lay-offs or downsizing. Naturally this kind of policy purposes and values.
experience created certain assumptions and expectations
about employment in the public service, assumptions that We heard some special concerns from junior managers
were brought into question by the more generalized who perceive an over-preoccupation with turf, institutional
downsizing of the 1990s. imperatives and hierarchy on the part of senior managers,
as well as a strong focus on personal survival at the
In this chapter we begin, then, by examining some of expense of the public interest.
the values issues raised by the experience of downsizing.
We then proceed to look at some of the employment issues The sense of betrayal was all the greater because the
raised by new organizational experiments in the public downsizing initiatives followed close on the heels of the
service. Finally we look at the issues of non-partisanship statements contained in the PS 2000 White Paper to the
and merit in a future public service. effect that people were the greatest asset of the public
service. Because the White Paper was not prescient enough
Downsizing and Values to connect such statements to the government’s fiscal
situation, and the consequences that might follow for the
The experience of downsizing has raised two separate public service, the contradiction appeared flagrant, and
questions that both bear on values in the public service: faith in public service values, or in the sincerity of senior
managers, was dealt a severe blow.
19
 As for the way in which downsizing has been carried service leaders did not uphold important public service
out, perception is almost as significant as reality itself. values in the midst of downsizing and were not held
In the difficult and stressful circumstances in which accountable, or were even rewarded for their behaviour,
downsizing decisions had to be made, it would certainly
not be surprising if levels of performance differed across “We will need to develop stronger and more transparent accountability
the public service. For what it is worth, our own perception regimes in which leaders are evaluated not just for organizational
is that some senior managers were more harsh, performance, but for whether their organizations are good places in
disparaging and insensitive in their approach to which to work, whether they nourish sound public service values and
downsizing, while others were more considerate, respectful a spirit of dedication to the public good.”
and caring. Downsizing is notoriously difficult to carry out
successfully and humanely, and a great deal of honest has very harmful consequences for public service values
misunderstanding can occur: employees sometimes generally. It is very important for the health of sound
believe, for example, that management knows more than it public service values that its leaders be — and be seen to
is telling, even when this is not so. But some departments be — accountable not just for results but for the way in
appear to us to have reduced the feelings of betrayal, hurt which those results are achieved. We will need to develop
and cynicism by being as honest, open, respectful and stronger and more transparent accountability regimes in
caring as possible: decent and fair in announcements and which leaders are evaluated not just for organizational
processes, allowing as much involvement as possible on performance, but for whether their organizations are
the part of those affected, and keeping to the fore an good places in which to work, whether they nourish sound
evolving mission clearly focused on the public interest. public service values and a spirit of dedication to the
public good.
For the purposes of our study the major issue is not
so much what occurred as what to make of it for the Accountability is but one part of a larger equation,
future. Does the fact that, in some instances, the public however. There is a further need to review all of the many
service has fallen short of its stated ideals suggest systems regulating and influencing people management in
that they were meaningless in the first place, and can the public service, to ensure that they are all aligned to
be conveniently discarded? We do not think so. support the kind of public service values we wish to
Appropriate aspirations are crucial. Where the actions promote. This is a large task, and a long-term one, but it
fall short, a judgement must be made and there must be a is very important for the future direction of public service
renewed effort to close the gap. But the ideal remains as values, including a modern and humane approach to the
valid as ever, an important benchmark from which actions management of people.
are to be judged, and a beacon drawing us forward.
Obviously training and development are one element
The fact is that PS 2000 was right about the in this larger scheme of systems. There is clearly an
importance of people, and the value that should be ongoing need, including at the very top levels of the
attached to them. If actions in the heat and stress of public service, for development experiences that help to
downsizing did not reflect this important value, then we make our leaders more aware of the techniques,
must take steps to do better in future, but not to abandon responsibilities and competencies of sound people
the goal. Restating the value alone will have a hollow ring, management. But training and development are only one
however, unless we have some notions of what to do about tool. They will surely fail unless they are aligned with and
it. The first area in which some work may be required is in supported by all the other systems and rewards that
the area of accountability. The perception that some public influence behaviour, including accountability regimes.
20
Downsizing and the Employment Contract public service itself. But in the final analysis, the size
of the public service, and the portion of the budget
Many public servants, as we noted, were dismayed not that can be devoted to it, are matters of public policy.
just by the way downsizing was carried out but even by the A democratically elected government has the legitimate
fact of downsizing — that it was done at all. The dismay right to decide how large or how small its public service
arises from an intuitive conviction that downsizing itself should be, and the public service has the role and duty
broke some kind of fundamental moral contract. We to assist in implementing this policy, as best may be.
observed in chapter 2 that many public servants appear to
believe that public service had hitherto been founded on This being the case, it is clearly the first — the non-
an implicit bargain or “deal”: in return for their discretion, partisan — dimension of security of tenure that is really
neutrality, professionalism and non-partisan loyalty to the fundamental for public service values, not lifetime
democratically elected government, public servants were employment. But because these two have been confused,
entitled (according to these assumptions) to expect two and because permanent or lifetime employment has also
things: anonymity and security of tenure. We examined the
issue of anonymity in chapter 2. In this chapter we explore “because these two have been confused, and because permanent
security of tenure and its relation to public service values. or lifetime employment has also been equated with the concept
of a “career” public service, a faulty chain of reasoning has
The first thing to observe is that security of tenure become commonplace.”
covers two potential notions that are often collapsed
but need to be distinguished. The first is protection from been equated with the concept of a “career” public service,
partisan dismissal. The second is permanent or lifetime a faulty chain of reasoning has become commonplace.
employment. The first is fundamental to the employment The reasoning proceeds as follows: downsizing breaks the
regime and values of the public service. The second is not. old deal that promised security; therefore permanence of
Indeed, public service employment has always been based employment is gone, and we can no longer plan for the
on the principle that employment continues only as long future on the basis of a career public service.
as, in the eyes of the government, there is work to
be done. We should observe immediately that the conclusion
is unfounded. It would be entirely possible to downsize the
There are several reasons why this principle has public service dramatically, yet still structure what remains
been obscured and the two potential notions implied by as a career public service, however defined. But for the
security of tenure have commonly been collapsed into one. moment it is important to see where the reasoning leads.
The long period of the public service expansion from the Assuming that downsizing means that the concept of a
1940s to the 1980s helped to reinforce the impression career public service must be discarded, many have set off
that security of tenure meant a guarantee of permanent in pursuit of an alternative principle on which to found the
employment. Furthermore, the government itself tacitly future employment regime in the public service.
endorsed such an interpretation through undertakings
such as the Workforce Adjustment Directive of 1991. Some have found such a principle in a concept
borrowed from the private sector, the concept of
We do not take these undertakings lightly. Indeed, “employability”. A stream of management literature
we think they represent a commitment that should be emerging from recent downsizing trends has argued that
honoured to the extent possible, and every effort should private sector corporations should henceforth operate on
be made to place displaced public servants within the the principle of employability rather than employment.
21
 For the employer, this means two things: one positive Even in the private sector the concept of
and one negative. The positive side of the employability “employability” offers a shaky basis for a future
principle is that employers have a responsibility to ensure employment regime. Its recognition of the employer’s
that employees have up-to-date skills that would help responsibility to help employees upgrade skills is positive,
them in their current work and in seeking future but its negative corollary radically underestimates the
employment. This is an entirely welcome addition importance of loyalty, commitment and identity to the
to the definition of corporate responsibility. The more performance of organizations, and even to the mental
negative side of the “employability” principle is that the health and wholeness of individuals. Predictably,
corporation no longer feels obliged to hold out the the pendulum is beginning to swing back, and a new
prospect of ongoing employment but only undertakes to current of management literature is beginning to
give employees the skills that will make them “employable” emerge that reaffirms the role and importance of
by someone else, when current work comes to an end. loyalty in organizations.

For employees, “employability” also has both positive For the public service, the negative side of
and negative implications. The positive side is that they “employability” and the vision of public service
are encouraged and supported to take responsibility for employment it supports are especially problematic,
maintaining their skills and knowledge at a high level, because the values of loyalty are at the very heart
both for current work and future employment. The more of what it means to be a public servant. The fundamental
negative side is that employees are encouraged to think value of public service is loyalty to the public interest or
of work as contingent, and discontinuous: they are also the public good. Public servants hold a public trust; they
encouraged not to invest precious psychic resources in are trustees for the interests of the citizens of Canada, as
commitment to, or identification with, any particular represented by their democratically elected government
organization, but rather to think of themselves as and as expressed in law and the Constitution. The structure
independent, autonomous individuals ready to apply their of public service values should motivate public servants,
skills wherever fate and the vagaries of the job market may above all, to give their primary loyalty to the public good
take them next. and to put it ahead of any private or individual self-
interest, as trustees are required to do. Anything that
Imported into the public sector, the principle of encourages public servants to do otherwise undermines
“employability” encourages its exponents to think of the the values which provide the foundation for public service.
public service as a much more porous institution, one
which mobile individuals enter and leave with greater ease The problem with the principle of “employability”
and frequency. Under this principle, the commitment of or with the accompanying vision of a more porous public
the public service is no longer to offer long-term service, in which employment is more contingent and
employment but rather, as one document put it, to help more short-term, is that it threatens to do just that.
public servants “retain or acquire skills which would enable In this new order of things public servants would
them to move in and out of government for employment necessarily be encouraged to use their current role to
purposes.” At the extreme, the “public service” becomes, advantage themselves and position themselves for future
in this kind of vision, a set of values, traditions and employment, as likely outside the public service as within
principles rather than a group of people or a set of it. The potential for conflicts of interest, both obvious
management systems and structures. and subtle, is thereby enormously increased.

22
 The employment regime in the public service should For that reason, a professional public service signifies
be designed instead to support and nourish the values and to us much more an attitude, outlook and level of
the culture of public service, especially the value of loyalty performance, than it does the full timespan of a career.
to the public good and to the public trust. In our view, A professional public service does not need to imply
this requires not necessarily a permanent public service, lifetime employment but it does imply, for the majority
but a professional one. of public servants, a sufficiently long apprenticeship to
acquire the skills and culture of professionalism and it
A Professional Public Service does imply the concept of critical mass.

The concept of a professional public service does Culture and Critical Mass
not include or require a guarantee of lifetime employment.
A government is quite within its democratic rights to A professional public service does not need to be,
determine the size of the public service or its role. and should not be, a closed shop. Other parts of society
This may require the displacement of public servants can be enriched by the skills and outlook of professional
from time to time. We believe every possible effort should public servants who choose to pursue their careers
be made to place affected public servants elsewhere in the elsewhere. Pension and other arrangements within the
public service. But circumstances may arise where this is public service should be designed to make this possible.
not possible. For this reason, the public service has a Similarly, the public service has been and should continue
corporate responsibility to assist employees to meet their to be enriched by the infusion of young people and new
personal responsibility to acquire and maintain the skills skills, perspectives and energy that are brought by persons
that will help them in the job market at times of from other professional backgrounds. This is true at all
employment transition. And, for the same reason, levels, including the most senior levels of the public
a professional public service should not be equated service. We have all seen new persons appointed to the
with permanence of employment. public service from the universities, business, politics,
journalism, law, other professions or other public services,
But neither is it consistent with the notion of who have gone on, in short order, to make a distinguished
employment as short-term and contingent. For us, contribution to public service and government.
a professional public service implies three things: a body
of knowledge, skills and expertise that those outside the None of this, in our eyes, is incompatible with a
profession are unlikely to possess; a set of values and professional public service. But in order for these new
attitudes that determine the culture of the profession; and arrivals to become themselves professionals, they need to
a set of standards for both of these. If these are indeed enter into a well-developed public service culture. This
important components of professionalism, it is obvious implies two things. First, that the instincts, competencies,
that one does not become a professional at will. Some values and standards of public service be well developed
length of time is normally required to gain the knowledge, and continually nourished. And, second, that these
skills, sensitivities and outlook the profession requires. values be embodied in a critical mass of persons. For us,
One does not become an engineer, an accountant, a doctor the notion that the public service of the future could be
or a lawyer without preparation: some significant portion a set of principles rather than a group of persons and the
of a life is usually devoted to acquiring the intellectual and systems that regulate them is implausible. Values cannot
moral capital needed to perform at a high level of be disembodied. It would be unrealistic to imagine that
professional competence. This need not be an entire one could have a lively culture of public service without
working lifetime. People do, happily, change their careers. a critical mass of persons who embody those values, who
23
 give them life, in whom they become a concrete reality mobility are for the sustenance of sound public
of action rather than an abstraction on a wall. service values.

The concept of critical mass is important here. There is no doubt in our minds that the public service
We do not think the values of public service are likely is many things, as well as one institution; this diversity is
to endure in a vigorous spirit unless there is a sufficient both a necessity and a strength. The public service has
proportion of public servants (certainly the majority) many varied tasks to perform, and each one spawns its
who have spent significant time acquiring the skills, own distinct organizational form, its own organizational
knowledge, reflexes and standards of public culture, and its own cluster of values related to the task
service — who are, in short, professionals. at hand. This is as it should be.

Increased mobility into and out of the public service There can also be little doubt that most public
has a valuable role to play in future, but is not the whole servants identify primarily with their own immediate
of that future nor an end in itself, as some visions — organization. This is perhaps less true at higher levels,
driven by an overreaction to the fact of downsizing, and a but, for most, identification with Environment, or Finance,
faulty chain of reasoning — have made it recently appear. or CIDA probably comes before identification with the
From the point of view of public service values, mobility public service as a whole. We do not expect this state of
into the public service will be most valuable if it takes affairs to change.
place within the setting of a vigorous public service
culture sustained by a critical mass of professionals. However we do think that, over and above the
From this point of view — the point of view of public values of individual public service organizations, there
service values — the concept of a professional public are overarching values (the ones we have been exploring
service may be a less rigid or time-bound concept than in this report) that belong to all public servants and that,
some have assumed; it does not include or require, for taken together, structure an overall culture of public
example, a guarantee of lifetime employment, but it is as service. A question for consideration, then, is whether
important for the future as for the past. And nothing in systems or policies that support unity and mobility within
the prospect of downsizing is inherently at odds with it. the public service help to sustain the overarching values
and culture.
Unity and Mobility
Our observation of experience both in the private
Movement into and out of the public service is only sector and in other public services suggests to us that
one dimension of mobility. The other is mobility within there are important links between values, and
the public service itself, and the related question as to organizational coherence or unity. In the private
what the public service is, what its boundaries and unity sector, major corporations, such as General Electric,
are or will be. have discovered that an emphasis on common values
is essential to overall corporate performance and unity,
It was pointed out to us that the majority of even though each of the component business units have
public servants pass their working careers within a single their own specific organizational cultures. In the public
organization. We also observed that the public service sector, the experience of the Australian public service is
embraces many distinct organizational cultures. It may also instructive. Senior Australian officials have indicated
then be asked whether the public service is one thing or to us that decentralizing policies, including those that
many, and how important the principles of unity and have made each Australian department a separate
24
 employer, have put at risk the unity and culture of the of public service, and that two solitudes of policy
public service and that some vigorous efforts are now development and program delivery not be encouraged
being made to reassert a unified culture of public service to develop, with differing outlooks and values.
through such things as common public service values and
common training and development experiences. In this regard we have been struck by the analysis
and recommendations of a recent review of the UK
We think that public service values can be enhanced Executive Agencies carried out for the British government
by critical mass, and by the sense that they are shared by Sylvie Trosa. In her report, she noted that the UK Next
Steps experiment is encountering the same difficulty
“the designers of any future employment regime should have experienced by all countries pursuing public sector reform
in mind the need to preserve and promote a common public service by the creation of autonomous program delivery agencies:
community with shared public service values, making possible a the growing gap between the new agencies and their
reasonable ease of movement within and between the various public parent departments. She recommended this problem be
service organizations that are directly accountable to ministers.” addressed by encouraging “a common culture between
departments and agencies” based on shared values and
and rooted in a common public service community. working experiences, including mobility between the two
From the point of view of public service values, therefore, worlds. “The gap in cultures will not be resolved by new
we suggest that the designers of any future employment rules,” she observed, “but only by a better common
regime should have in mind the need to preserve and understanding between people which can be achieved
promote a common public service community with shared through shared experiences such as mobility, networking
public service values, making possible a reasonable ease and training.”
of movement within and between the various public service
organizations that are directly accountable to ministers. These observations are strikingly similar to our own
Policies or systems that would lead to excessive comments above, and may have relevance for the design
fragmentation, or to a series of employment ghettoes, of similar agencies in Canada. We think the designers of
would not, in our view, support strong public service the employment regime for new program-delivery agencies
values and a broad public service culture. should have in mind the objective of encouraging a
common set of public service values shared by department
These same issues will arise in the design for any new and agency personnel alike. Like the Trosa report, we
program delivery agencies, enjoying a new independent believe a common culture will be encouraged through
existence separate from the policy function. It will be shared experiences made possible by mobility, networks
important to consider what kind of values should animate and common training experiences. This suggests, among
any new program agencies, how these values relate to other things, that any new employment regime should not
broader public service values, and what kind of links erect employment walls or barriers around the new
should be established between such agencies and other agencies but should instead encourage career movement
parts of the public service. back and forth between agency and department. In this
regard, we think it would be instructive to examine the
In our own discussions we have been unable to role played by the State Services Commission of New
identify any fundamental public service values which are Zealand, especially in the appointment and dismissal of
not equally important for program delivery agencies. In chief executives. By giving such authority to an
fact, it strikes us as highly desirable, even critical, that independent public service body, New Zealand has arguably
the staff of any new agencies share fully in the core values helped to mitigate the fragmentation and dilution of
25
 public service culture and values that might otherwise century, including the social programs that have, in a
accompany a decoupling of policy and operations together relatively short time, become integral to the Canadian
with a radical decentralization of functions and controls. identity. Prior to these initial public service reforms,
That is not to say New Zealand has been immune from appointments to the public service were made on the basis
these problems. But the continuing role of the State of political patronage and partisanship, a practice that
Services Commission, at least in this one area, has limited the professional competence of the public service,
probably helped to mitigate them. sapped public confidence in its integrity, and vitiated it as
an instrument of the public good. It was the establishment
A Non-Partisan Public Service and the Merit Principle of a non-partisan public service that overcame these
handicaps and made it possible to develop much of the
It may be that the attention given to new values has infrastructure of modern Canadian life.
simply distracted attention from some of the old ones. The
Study Team has reviewed research on values statements In our view, the non-partisan character of the
adopted by public service organizations in Canada. One public service is inextricably linked to other essential
thing that was pointed out to us is that the more recent
statements on values give a less prominent place than “In our view, the non-partisan character of the public service is
similar documents may once have done to the non- inextricably linked to other essential values such as loyalty, integrity,
partisan character of public service. impartiality, fairness, equity, professionalism and merit. We think it is
important, therefore, to reassert this principle as firmly as other public
We have not attempted to determine why this may service values.”
be so. It may be that the non-partisan character of public
administration is simply taken so much for granted that values such as loyalty, integrity, impartiality, fairness,
it no longer seems to require comment or emphasis. equity, professionalism and merit. We think it is important,
therefore, to reassert this principle as firmly as other
Whatever the case, we think that this relative lack public service values and to give close attention to the
of emphasis on the values of political neutrality is practices, institutions and conditions that enhance or
problematic, and contributes in some degree to the undermine it. It is not for the Study Team to propose the
present climate of uncertainty about the future. Especially specific institutional arrangements that will best operate
at a time when much of the discourse about public service to preserve it in future. Our role is to underline the
implies, rightly or wrongly, a more porous public service importance of this value and to urge that any future
in which employment is more short-term and contingent, employment regime in the public service be designed in
a simultaneous failure to emphasize or reinforce the non- a manner to safeguard and strengthen it. We do think it
partisan character of public service can encourage appropriate, however, to comment on the vital role that
assumptions or anxieties about a resurgence of partisan the Public Service Commission has traditionally played in
appointments in the public service. Canada in ensuring the non-partisan character of
appointments, especially initial appointments to the public
It is timely therefore to reassert neutrality as one of service. We think that this is a function that should not be
the fundamental values of the Canadian public service. The imperilled. It needs to be performed by an agency that can
non-partisan character of public administration was one of assure Parliament about the non-partisan character of
the most important achievements of public service reform appointments — especially initial appointments — and of
early in the century, and laid the foundation for many of the public service itself, and also provide assurance that
the highest achievements of Canadian life in the twentieth patronage appointments do not threaten its integrity and
26
professionalism. This assurance will be needed for any new shift in the public service appointment process to favour
program-delivery agencies that may be created as much as greater managerial discretion. We do not suggest this is
for the traditional integrated ministerial departments. a harmful trend in itself. But we do think that if it goes
We believe an audit role for such a parliamentary agency too far, without appropriate safeguards, it could
would be less effective than an ultimate veto power over undermine the institution it seeks to serve by creating the
initial appointments. appearance, if not the reality, of bureaucratic patronage.

Of course, it would do no good, in the long run, A public organization does not and cannot enjoy the
if political patronage were kept at bay while suspicions “flexibilities” of private sector organizations. It will always
of unofficial bureaucratic patronage blossomed. have to meet higher standards of transparency and due
The traditional appointment practices of the public process in order to allay any fears of favouritism, whether
service, those associated with the principle of “merit,”
have aimed at preventing the appearance or reality of “...continuing measures for the protection and monitoring of the
internal favouritism just as much as external. The result principles of merit will be needed, if public confidence in public
has been to spawn a system of appointment in the public institutions is to be maintained.”
service that is far more elaborate, time-consuming and
cumbersome than anything in the private sector. internal or external, in performing its duties under its
position of trust and in its use of public funds. For this
The cumbersome nature of the appointment system reason, continuing measures for the protection and
designed to protect the principle of merit has been one monitoring of the principles of merit will be needed,
of the chief sources of discontent and one of the primary if public confidence in public institutions is to be
motives for public service reform over the past decade. maintained. Protection for this merit principle could
One of the few significant changes brought about by the be made part of the accountability framework and
PS 2000 legislation was the new “deployment” provisions performance agreement with chief executives or
designed to introduce some new flexibilities into the deputy ministers. The important point to emphasize
appointment process. One of the chief motivations for here, however, is not so much specific potential
organizational experiments in the public service — from arrangements as the continuing importance of neutrality
SOAs to the new program-delivery agencies — has been and merit as values fundamental to maintaining
to escape from the “inflexibilities” of some core public confidence in the public service as a great Canadian
service management systems, such as contracting, institution serving the common good.
procurement and the appointment process.
The Values of Loyalty
We certainly sympathize with managers who seek
simplification and flexibility in personnel matters. Our exploration of the public service employment
There is clearly some kind of trade-off between due regime, its impact on values and vice versa, has led us to
processes which protect merit, equity, and neutrality on discover a fresh the values of loyalty, and their importance
the one hand, and speed or organizational responsiveness to the public service. Loyalty to the public interest, as
and performance on the other. However it is perhaps represented and interpreted by the democratically elected
appropriate for the Study Team to re-emphasize that government and expressed in law and the Constitution, is
there are important principles on both sides of this among the most fundamental values of public service, and
equation. We have heard from experts who observe that many other values (such as integrity, equity, fairness,
over the past two decades there has been a discernible impartiality and so on) are linked to it or draw their
27
 strength from it. Integrity, for example, is an important alternative forms of employment within the public service.
public service value — perhaps the most important — but Public servants therefore should maintain their skills
it is by no means unique or distinctive to the public relevant to public service requirements.
service. The meaning of integrity in the public service is
derived from, and finds its distinctive public service The reality and necessity of downsizing are not
character in, its relationship to the public trust and the inconsistent with the concept of a professional public
need to put the common good ahead of any private service. In our view such a public service is required to
interest or advantage. furnish the critical mass of persons who embody and
give life to public service values. The maintenance of a
But loyalty is a two-way street. It would be professional public service is not hostile to the infusion
implausible for the government, as employer, to expect of new blood from other backgrounds into all levels of the
this kind of loyalty to flourish if it were not capable of public service. It is the condition of success, for only then
will newcomers enter into a public service where values
“loyalty is a two-way street. It would be implausible for the are embedded and embodied within a community of
government, as employer, to expect this kind of loyalty to flourish practice. Where such a community exists and thrives,
if it were not capable of displaying some form of comparable change and mobility are not a threat or a dilution but
loyalty in reverse.” a needed enrichment.

displaying some form of comparable loyalty in reverse.

This reverse loyalty of the institution to its employees
can express itself through humane practices in the
management and leadership of people in the public
service, the kind that have sometimes (though not
generally) been absent in the public service management
of downsizing. In some cases, a simple display of respect
for public servants on the part of politicians would go a
very long way to reinforce the necessary sentiments of
loyalty in the public service.

The loyalty of the institution can also be displayed in

its interpretation of the employment contract. We observed
above that the conventional notion of the old public
service “deal” as a trade-off between certain values, on
the one hand, and permanence, on the other, was
technically flawed but not wrong in spirit. We are now in a
position to see what this might mean. While a professional
public service does not and cannot imply a guarantee of
life-time employment, it should normally be built on long-
term rather than short-term relationships. Hence public
servants should not be displaced lightly or casually but
every reasonable effort should, as a rule, be made to find

28
4. Values Old and New

In our conversations with public servants and in our satisfactory one, because the participants usually start
own discussions, we discovered that some of the current from quite different perspectives or vantage points.
unease about values in the public service arises from the
emergence of “new” values that have not been adequately Of course, to speak of the “new public management”
reconciled with the old. Thus the new and the old rub presumes that there was an “old public management.”
shoulders awkwardly, and sometimes uncomfortably, For our purposes, we will refer to this older approach
awaiting an adequate synthesis or reconciliation. to public management by its traditional name of “public
administration.” And it may be helpful to begin by laying
In the preceding paragraph we have put the word out the different perspectives that these two different
“new” in quotation marks, because these values are not lenses bring to bear on government.
as new as they sometimes appear, but merely some old
value in a new, contemporary dress. This creates two The traditional public administration perspective
additional problems. Some public servants do not on government views it, grosso modo, from the top down.
recognize the new value as one to which they are already It begins from the perspective of democratic and political
committed, and hence are sceptical about it; others do processes, and is interested in how these work themselves
recognize it, and are offended that its exponents fail to out or find expression in the administrative arm of
recognize the degree to which it is already acted upon. government. It pays particular attention therefore to
(Thus, in the regions, for example, many public servants decision-making processes, institutions, the senior public
on the front lines of service delivery think that Ottawa’s service and its interaction with ministers and Parliament,
recent discovery of “service” is a belated recognition of law and regulation, accountability, government
something to which they have been devoting themselves organization, public policy, and so on. It is not
for years.) surprising that in the universities, the academic field
of public administration emerged from, and remains
As Jocelyne Bourgon noted in the Third Annual Report closely connected to, political science.
on the Public Service of Canada, “Questions... arise about
whether existing values are in conflict with new ways of The “public management” perspective approaches
doing things.” government, grosso modo, from the opposite perspective,
from the bottom up. Public management, or the “new”
We think it is important to explore these questions public management, focuses much more on the actual
here and to shed some light upon them, because they quality of life and work in public organizations themselves,
are an important source of the current uncertainty. without reference necessarily to the political environment.
Acknowledging the uncertainty, and the reasons for Public management looks at public organizations qua
it, can be an important step forward. organizations, and seeks to understand or improve
features of organizational life such as leadership, strategic
The New Public Management management, organizational climate, service quality,
innovation, the measurement of outputs, performance
Much of the discussion we have heard or taken and “client satisfaction,” and so on. In the academic
part in assumes the form of a debate about the so-called world “public management” draws its inspiration rather
“new public management” and its relevance or value for more from specialists in management or even business
good government. This debate, whether it takes place administration than from political science.
between scholars or practitioners, is not always a very

29
 The public administration perspective reproaches These two perspectives can excite quite strong
public management for paying too little attention to emotions among public servants. Some are wholly
the whole democratic, parliamentary, political and public enthusiastic about the new values and new approaches
context, for treating public goods as if they were private, to public management; others believe, equally strongly,
for ignoring the complexities and trade-offs that are that the new outlook represents an intrusion of private
characteristic of the public sphere, and for downplaying sector perspectives and values, and reflects a drift away
the importance of due process, vertical accountability from the specific values of the public realm. Most public
and an ultimate reference to the public interest or the servants probably find themselves somewhere in between,
common good. open to the new but not always certain where they fit
with the old.
The public management perspective reproaches public
administration for neglecting the real life of organizations, We do not think it is helpful to minimize or smooth
for paying excess attention to due process while ignoring over the tension between these two perspectives. In fact
real outputs, for giving short shrift to the real users of we think it may be a healthy starting point for renewal
public services and the quality of their interactions with to recognize the tension for what it is, for two reasons
government, for having little or nothing to say about the already mentioned in our introduction. First, because
concrete tasks required to transform public organizations, it is more constructive to acknowledge confusion where
and so on. it exists. Second, because it is in the very nature of values
to conflict, and this conflict is something we must learn
Sometimes the debate between these two to understand and manage in a mature fashion. There are
perspectives rages openly. Sometimes the tension conflicts at times among the traditional values themselves,
or distinctions between them are merely implicit. among the new values, and, quite naturally, between
For example, we looked at research carried out by the new and the old. Learning to live with those
Kenneth Kernaghan on the values statements adopted tensions, and seeing them as dynamic rather than
in recent years by many public organizations in Canada. necessarily destructive, is part of learning to be a
His research compared the twenty most frequently cited responsible public servant, and a full human being.
new values with some of the more traditional values
normally captured in service-wide documents, and To suggest, then, that the new public management
identified some striking differences or discrepancies. and the old lead in two different directions is not to be
First of all, the new organizational values statements alarmist or negative, but to lay the groundwork for a
contained a range of values that did not appear in the necessary synthesis. The “public management” perspective,
more traditional statements: values such as service, with its emphasis on the “user,” “customer” or “client”
innovation, teamwork, quality and leadership. However as primary reference point, leads in an atomistic direction;
some of the traditional values, such as neutrality and the “public administration” perspective leads in a holistic
loyalty, did not even make it into the top twenty among direction. There is an undeniable tension between them,
the new organizational values. These two findings yet both are necessary. We can perhaps understand both
illustrate the degree and the rapidity with which a new the tension and the need by exploring one of the key
range of values has entered the public service, and the issues of vocabulary for the contemporary public
way in which they may have displaced or affected the service: the distinction between customers (or clients)
prominence of some older public service values. and citizens.

30
 Customers vs. Citizens preferences, or between “customer” accountability and
political accountability. Should service standards, for
In considering the important distinction between example, be customer-driven; or must they not be
customers and citizens, the Study Team was able to take established by broader criteria? Obviously the balance
advantage of research and analysis prepared for another between service standards and expenditure, for example,
draft CCMD report. This analysis pointed out to us some is one that only elected politicians can decide. And it is
only one of the many trade-offs that have to be made in
“...citizens are bearers of rights and duties in a framework of public life, and public service. Decisions about public
community,” (...) “Citizenship derives from membership in a wider services are shaped by the multiple objectives and
community of purpose, the democratic community to whose larger purposes that emerge from democratic debate and
interests the public service is dedicated.” decision-making. As the CCMD report observes, somebody’s
red tape might well be somebody else’s due process or
of the most important distinctions between the concept public purpose: bilingualism, gender equality, employment
of “customer” and the concept of citizens. We were equity, regional development, environmental protection,
reminded, for example, that citizens are bearers of rights and so on. Canadian values reflected in the Constitution,
and duties in a framework of community, and that such as federalism, human rights, and Aboriginal and
citizenship is not something isolated or purely individual. treaty rights, are fundamental for a public servant.
Citizenship derives from membership in a wider community
of purpose, the democratic community to whose larger This discussion helps reacquaint us forcefully with two
interests the public service is dedicated. important public service values or principles, the principles
of equity and balance. In every public service transaction
The concept of “customer” is quite different. or activity, the true public servant must be alive to issues
The customer, as customer, does not share common of equity and fairness to a degree that is rarely required
purposes with a wider community, but seeks instead of private sector managers. Because citizens in a
to maximize his or her own individual advantage. democracy are equal bearers of rights and duties, it is
If a customer is unsatisfied with a transaction, he or a principle of public service that they should be treated
she is free to abandon the relationship and is expected equitably by government, not randomly or with special
to do so. A citizen, by contrast, is expected instead to favour. It is the essence of private sector transactions to
work in concert with others, through democratic means, “make a deal,” but in the public service it rarely can be.
to alter the unsatisfactory state of affairs. The essence of public sector actions is usually
reasonableness and fairness.
From this we can see that the growing tendency to
substitute the vocabulary of “customers” or “clients” for The principle of equity normally pushes public
that of “citizens” is not an innocent one and could have service in the direction of consistency, standardization,
long-term consequences, both for public service values and due process, and so on. Emphasis on equity, due process
for the broader political culture. Citizenship aggregates; and consistency also has the important advantage of
the concept of “customer” disaggregates. The satisfaction protecting against favouritism, patronage (internal or
of individual customers may not necessarily add up to external) and corruption.
some overarching public good.
The principle of balance is also rooted in the realities
One way in which this problem is manifested is in of democratic life, and the play of democratic forces. The
the tension between “customer” preferences and political fact is that most public servants have not one but many
31
 “customers,” many of whom have very different and often Refreshing the Ideal of Service
contradictory purposes or interests. The interests of the
users of social services and taxpayers, the unemployed The ideal of service is one of the deepest sources
and entrepreneurs, developers and preservationists, of public service motivation. In the heart of most public
environmentalists and promoters, union officials and servants lies the conviction that service to the public,
employers, offenders and victims may well be different, to the public good, or to the public interest is what makes
but all are citizens and all have democratic rights and their profession like no other. It is why they chose it, for
duties that need be taken into account both in laws and the most part; and why they keep at it, with enthusiasm
policies, and in their administration. For this reason, and conviction, despite difficulties and frustrations along
the true role of public servants is not only to serve the way. Service to the public and to the public interest is
“customers” but also to balance the interests, and preserve the vision of the public service, and it is a creative,
the rights of “citizens.” It is the sum and balance of these essential and compelling vision. In our experience, the
interests, democratically determined, that may add up to cynicism, scepticism or discouragement one sometimes
something that could be called the public interest, or the encounters in the public service arises not from any wish
common good. to abandon the vision but rather from regret that we are
falling short of it. It is but the other side of a
Equity, balance, complexity, citizenship, democracy, disappointed but still hopeful idealism.
the public interest: these are some of the essential public
service concepts and values our discussion has highlighted The problem is that, in everyday life, it is not
so far in this chapter. And we have noted that they are in always easy to keep this ideal of service to the fore,
tension with the values of the marketplace implied in the perhaps especially in daily transactions with citizens.
language of “customer” or “client.” Unless we are fully The very complexity of government we discussed above,
aware of this tension, and its implications, public servants its many cross-cutting purposes and objectives, can lead
could be drawn unawares into a new set of assumptions to a preoccupation with process, with rules and
about public service, a new set of norms, and a new procedures, at the expense of service. It can lead to a
universe of values that are at odds with some of the preoccupation with inputs rather than outputs. The fact
fundamental requirements of democratic government. that so much of the business of government — especially
The Study Team therefore urges public servants to be of the federal government — is of a regulatory nature,
aware of these distinctions and to think carefully about involving the enforcement of duties, also helps to
the relationship between the new values and the old. obscure, in practice, the ideal of service.

A tension is not necessarily a bad thing, however. The great contribution that the vocabulary of
A tension can be something creative: a dynamic tension customers and clients imported from the private sector
and a necessary one. We think the tension between old has made to public administration has been to refresh
values and new, between public administration and the and reinvigorate the idea of service in the public sector.
“new public management” is a tension of this kind, with It has served to remind public servants that the people
risks, but also with significant benefits. We will explore they serve are not some abstraction but real flesh and
some of the risks in chapter 5. For the moment we want blood people with real needs and wants, citizens for whom
to dwell on the benefits, and on some of the new values the quality of their daily interactions with government can
that, properly understood, can enhance and reinvigorate either enhance or diminish their sense of citizenship. It is
the old. most useful in helping individual public servants focus on

32
how best to serve individual Canadians within the broader In all these ways the concepts of "customer" and
context of the public interest. "client," together with the broader range of concepts and
techniques associated with the "new public management,"
It may be curious that the terms of "client" and have greatly helped to strengthen public service
"customer" imported from the private sector should help competence, and public service values. They have given
to reinvigorate the value of service in a sector of which it new life to the meaning of service, and new practical
constitutes the essence, but nevertheless that is what has ways to carry it out that promise higher quality, value,
happened. Such is the prestige of private sector values in responsiveness and effectiveness to the citizens of Canada.
our time that a private sector vocabulary has been able to These "new" values of quality and service are gains for the
explain and inspire in a way that the traditional vocabulary public service, and, properly understood, they are largely
of public administration has lost some of its power to do. compatible with — indeed give new meaning to — more
traditional values.
That is why, in our view, public servants everywhere
have embraced this new language so eagerly, and why One of the chief things they teach us, as we shall
values such as "quality" and customer service have shot see in the next section, is how to work better together,
up to the top of lists of public service values, both here in pursuit of the genuine public interest.
and in the United States. Not because public servants
were jettisoning the old, but because the new concepts The Values of Horizontality
and language gave them a means to express, renew and
update values they had always held. The private sector Both the old values of professionalism, excellence
terms were a verbal device that helped public servants and accountability and the new values which emphasize
to rediscover their own values. real outputs and value for “customers” lead to a re-
examination of the obstacles that lie in the way of high
There is a risk in all of this, as we shall note quality public service: for citizen/customers at one end
below, but as long as public servants do not take the new of the public service process, or for citizen voters and
language literally, but see it as a metaphor, the concepts taxpayers, as mediated by Parliament and ministers,
of "customer" or "client" service help to strengthen public at the other end.
service in at least four ways: by encouraging public
managers to find out, with greater precision, what the In both cases, one of the principal challenges is to
recipients of their services really need or want, and how overcome the vertical stovepipes that divide government
they actually experience the interaction or transaction; somewhat artificially into separate domains either of
by encouraging them to measure more accurately the service delivery or of policy, and to knit them up again
nature of outputs and the degree to which the recipients in a holistic fashion that reflects the real life of real
value them; by encouraging them to see that they have people, and the connectedness of the real world.
"internal clients" too, either in their own organization or
elsewhere in the public service, whom it is their role to Both of these challenges of horizontality, in service
serve and assist rather than to control; and, finally, by delivery and in policy development, are the subject of
drawing attention to the many business processes which separate study and report by Deputy Minister Task Forces.
lie behind the delivery of services, and by encouraging They do not require lengthy comment here. Our main
managers to streamline and align them to yield a higher purpose is to underline that both challenges are rooted
level of public service, both to immediate recipients and in values — they emerge from the new values and
to the ultimate "customer," the people of Canada. reinforce the old — and that they will not be fully
33
 or even satisfactorily met without a further evolution results. Getting the balance right, in our time, will require
or strengthening of public service-wide values. an effort to diminish some of the more negative features
of departmentalism, while ensuring that horizontality
As far as service delivery is concerned, truly does not itself become a source of bureaucracy,
integrated delivery will require an altogether new order complexity and delay.
of integrative competence at the front line of service
delivery, and an altogether new mindset behind it, one The negative dimensions of departmentalism have
that is truly capable of visioning government from the two related sources — an internal, top-down perspective
perspective of the citizen, and reconceiving the way and a preoccupation with turf. Within departments,
we do things to meet the needs of real people. one may learn to be careful not to exceed one’s formal
responsibilities, to respect the responsibilities of others
Ultimately a truly integrated and horizontal form and to be very careful when dealing in another’s
of service delivery may also lead back, indirectly, to an boundaries. Especially at higher levels, discussions
integrated and horizontal approach to policy. For there tend to be constrained and highly civil, often without
is only so much that can be done at the front line if the the real collegiality that allows open debate and exchange.
policies themselves do not work together. From this point
of view, the two challenges perhaps converge, and in The growing recognition that public service processes
any event, the values of horizontality are required in must break down this traditional parochialism and turf
both cases. preoccupation has resulted in various interdepartmental
mechanisms and constant review of the role of central
It should be noted that some of the barriers as well agencies. But, within a climate of values where the
as the incentives to horizontality proceed from two distinct protection of “turf” and of departmental authority is
but important dimensions of accountability. The individual still a prominent part of public service culture, these
accountability of ministers pushes toward clarity, may result in little more than compiling or collating
disentanglement and unfettered, timely action. departmental input, occasional trade-offs and ad hoc
Ministers and their senior officials are appropriately “integrated” packaging. Too often in the past, success
held accountable for short-term action and results within in the policy process, for example, has been implicitly
their areas of individual responsibility. At the same time, defined as getting a policy through the process with
however, ministers are also collectively responsible within the fewest concessions possible.
a parliamentary system. This collective accountability
pushes in the direction of coherent, coordinated True horizontality will require culture change — and
government action to serve a public interest that a broad-based dialogue on the values that impede and
cannot be neatly divided into the separate compartments those that would nurture a new approach. Horizontality
of individual portfolios but presents itself instead as will flourish in a public service that attaches high value
complex, multi-dimensional, interrelated and to a “whole of government approach,” an outlook
interdependent. Public servants have a necessary role to that attaches adequate importance to the collective
play in supporting both dimensions of accountability: the responsibility of ministers, oriented to the broad
individual accountability of ministers and the collective public interest.
accountability of the ministry. Good government requires
an appropriate balance between these contrasting but A “whole of government approach” argues that
equally important dimensions of democratic accountability, policy development does not start with a department
between short-term action and longer-term coherent but with the public interest. It implies that defining policy
34
issues and priorities is, itself, a collaborative effort that reduced. As control is shared, information and resources
requires more time and attention than it currently must also be shared. In a partnership, knowledge and
receives. It implies that each department must human and financial resources are held by departments
internalize government-wide objectives - Charter values, in public trust; they are not “owned” by departments.
federal/provincial strategy, fiscal objectives, and priorities
and directions of the government of the day. It implies In partnership, risk, credit and blame are also shared.
that each department has the responsibility to integrate Partnership requires that the search for individual credit
departmental and corporate objectives, and to work with be sublimated. It also requires the willingness to take the
other departments to integrate interdepartmental risks and accept the uncertainty implicit in giving up some
objectives. It also requires departments to rise above degree of control. Partnership is not a shield from
formal mandates and fit their lines of action together accountability — it requires that each partner accept
to develop broad policy solutions. accountability for its contribution and for the whole.
Accountability in a true partnership is, in this sense,
Taken to its fullest, horizontality will require public enhanced — but partnership cannot flourish where the
servants to change, in fundamental ways, how they think negative accountability of individual blame and finger
about and do policy. It will require them to work with pointing prevails.
other levels of government to define issues collaboratively
and integrate objectives and, within the flexible framework If a “whole of government approach” and
of the Constitution and with respect for jurisdiction, to “partnership” are important “horizontal” values for
align federal actions with those of the provinces and the future, then, we will need to come to a fuller
territories to serve the public interest. And, it will require understanding across the public service about what
us to find more effective and realistic ways of engaging this means for how we do our work and for the value
interested Canadians at the early stages and throughout. we currently attach to control, ownership, individual
credit, individual blame and certainty.
A “whole of government approach” requires public
servants to look outward to the public interest, to view The most senior public servants have a special role
formal mandates as means to achieve larger ends, and to to play in helping ministers work collaboratively, making
keep the focus on these larger ends. And perhaps most of government-wide priorities and objectives part of the
all, it requires a commitment to partnership and teamwork. departmental teamwork, empowering their departments
to develop policy options before policy outcomes are
Words like “teamwork” and “partnership” have approved and to engage in real policy debate. Given
a long history in public service and are in danger of resistance, perhaps the major challenge for the most
becoming irritating clichés. This is not because they are senior public servants will be to lead by example.
not of fundamental importance; it is rather because we
have been more successful in increasing our use of these Managing Up and Managing Down
terms than we have in practising them. Partnership can
be very threatening. It puts at risk many of the values Just as the “new” values of service, of customer
|of a culture of turf. In a partnership, each brings focus, and an outside-in perspective on government
something specific — authorities, abilities, expertise, help us to see more clearly the need for a “whole of
resources — and each loses some degree of control. government” approach, for a spirit of partnership, and
In a partnership, control of information, control of for the horizontal values that break down traditional
resources and, most important, control of outcome are departmental stovepipes, other values and concepts
35
 associated with the new public management should of the political context and democratic imperatives of
also help us to appreciate anew our obligations and government. The gain can be a greater attention to the
responsibilities for the proper stewardship of the quality of organizational life and performance, including
people entrusted to our care. the quality of people management.

Once again, there is nothing fundamentally We do not wish to lose the skills and values of
new in this. Decency has always been decency. Civility “managing up,” of serving and being accountable to
has always been civility. Each of us can recall public the political process. They are central to the mission
service leaders who were for us models of humane of the public service. But even this role will not be fully
leadership. Nevertheless there is an inherent dynamic accomplished unless we gain a new appreciation of, and
in responsible parliamentary government which can competence in, the skills and values of managing down.
work against sound management unless it is balanced In point of fact, we are already well advanced along this
by a correspondingly strong conviction about the road. Much of the energy invested in public service
importance and value of people. renewal over the past decade has been devoted to this
side of the public service. Public service managers have
Ministers in our parliamentary system are responsible been learning to use the whole range of techniques and
to Parliament, and their departments are daily engaged in approaches from the manager’s tool box, whatever their
helping them discharge those responsibilities. This upward origin. Public servants have learned about the
focus on ministers and their needs or purposes is management of change, about the characteristics
altogether fitting and praiseworthy: it is an essential of well-performing organizations, about the techniques
element of our democratic system of government. But it of continuous improvement and continuous learning,
has its side-effects. One of them is a preoccupation with about the use of performance measurement tools,
managing up. about understanding and measuring customer needs
and satisfaction, and so on. Above all, they have learned
Many senior public servants have made their careers about the importance of leadership and the management
because of their skills in managing up. They have been of people. They have learned that public organizations,
valued and promoted because they were adept at providing like private ones, must not only strive for high
superiors with what they needed, in a timely fashion, to organizational performance but must also aim to be good
serve ministers and the political process. These skills are places in which to live and work, and that the first is
highly to be valued in a democratic government. But if ultimately dependent on the second.
they are nourished in excess, to the exclusion of other
important values, they can obscure the importance of The values of managing down have come, then,
“managing down.” to take their place beside the values of managing up.
At times they may even have seemed, in some people’s
This is where the perspective of the new public eyes, to have displaced them. At other times, and to other
management and its associated values can be most people, they may seem little more than empty words, the
helpful. We noted at the start of this chapter that public service slipping easily back, as through a natural
traditional public administration views government reflex, into its natural mode of managing up.
from the top down, emphasizing the democratic process
and all that serves it. The “new public management” The result is that, while much progress has been
perspective views government, instead, from the bottom made, there is a persisting unease about the mix. From the
up. The cost of this approach can be a undue neglect perspective of public service values, the greatest need is to
36
set public servants’ minds at ease, and to demonstrate, as (and of private ones, too) such as stovepipes and turf.
we have been attempting to do in this chapter, that there They help to make citizens and their interests not just an
is a potential and necessary synthesis between the two abstract ideal, but something real and concrete that can
perspectives: that public servants need to retain or be served and enhanced in day-to-day transactions. They
develop the skills and values of managing up, while they help sensitize senior public servants to the realities of
simultaneously nourish the values of managing down, or service that are encountered by regional staff and others
vice versa. In order to achieve this synthesis, the time has who serve individual Canadians every day. They help us to
come to reassert the public context of what we do. see government from the outside-in, and to see how its
processes and policies could be aligned to serve more
The Public Interest authentically the public good to which, as public servants,
we are committed. Similarly the new culture of
Our exploration of new and old values in the public performance indicators and measurement can help to
service — the “new” values of public management and the give a more positive and practical orientation to
“old” values of what we have chosen to call public traditional public service values such as accountability,
administration — has brought us to a renewed awareness hitherto focused largely on process rather than results.
of the importance of concepts such as the public interest
or the public good, and their related values (such as equity We believe, then, that a synthesis of old and
and balance), for public service. The notion of the public new values is both possible and necessary, and that
interest is a touchstone of motivation for public servants. together they will help to create an even stronger
It is for the public service what justice and liberty are for culture of public service, not necessarily a new culture
the legal profession, or what healing and mercy are for the but one which has rediscovered itself and gained
medical profession. As research by James L. Perry and thereby new life and strength.
others has suggested, the desire to serve the public
interest is one of the normative foundations for public We would offer, however, three words of caution.
employment, and any approach to public service that The first is that, as we have already observed, it is of
treats it, or appears to treat it, as if it were the same as the nature of values to conflict. Every human action or
private enterprise risks undermining not only the structure
of motivation for public service but, more important, its “We need to develop a new maturity in our perception and
capacity to serve democratic government in an ethical understanding of competing values so that we may see them as
and accountable manner. complementary rather than contradictory.”

We believe that the “new” values such as quality decision requires a choice between values, and in each
service and a customer orientation that have been given situation some value or values may predominate over
prominence by the new public management can contribute others. This is the nature of life, and we should learn
enormously to good government, because they help to to be cautious about thinking that some value has been
refresh and reinvigorate something that is very old. betrayed or rejected just because, in some concrete
As we observed, the ideal of service is one of the deepest situation — especially in the complex world of government,
and most powerful values motivating public servants. where the balance of competing interests is a defining
The usefulness of the new values and perspectives lies characteristic — it has been subordinated to some other
in their capacity to reawaken this ideal and to give it a value. We need to develop a new maturity in our
practical orientation, including methods to overcome or perception and understanding of competing values
mitigate the negative dimensions of public bureaucracies so that we may see them as complementary rather than
37
 contradictory. For example, the new public management private sector concepts in our time, it has helped to give
with its emphasis on “customers” makes the user the an emotional charge and a practical orientation to an
primary reference, whereas public administration with instinct that was already deeply rooted in the public
its emphasis on political accountability gives primacy to service, but which the traditional vocabulary of public
ministers, to Parliament, and to the electorate. There is, administration was apparently unable to invoke. This is
as we noticed, a real tension between these perspectives, all to the good, and no one, least of all ourselves, would
but properly understood and framed within the context of want to turn the clock back, or to give up the progress this
the public interest and of democratic values, the tension new perspective has allowed us to make.
can be a helpful and creative one. We would note that
some values are more important than others; the rule However, it is important to remember public servants
of law, for example, is primary for a public service and serve “customers” or “clients” who are also “citizens,” with
integrity must never be compromised. But neither is all the dimensions of rights, duties and shared purposes
inconsistent with the new public management if the law that are bound up in the notion of democratic citizenship.
and the objectives are well aligned. If we were to mistake the image for the substance, or
allow the metaphor of customers to supplant or obscure
A second caution has to do with excessive hope or the reality of citizens, we should diminish the whole
confidence being invested in only one dimension of public concept of democratic government, and the public service
service, or of public service values. Once again, it is a values that support it. From the point of view of these
question of balance. To those for whom the new values values, it is most important for the future that we learn
of service and customer responsiveness have been to use and take advantage of private sector terms without
particularly meaningful, it may sometimes have appeared being captured by them, or allowing them to supplant the
that they were everything. We think the pursuit of higher key concepts or principles that underlie public service.
quality customer service is a noble and worthy goal,
to be pursued for its own sake, but we do not think it is It is because democratic government serves
everything. From the point of view of public service values, ultimately the citizens of Canada, with all that citizenship
it is important to remember that government is much more implies, that the notion of the public interest can have
than service to individual clients. It is also about public any content at all, or that the public service can find,
purpose and national goals, about the administration in its pursuit, a true vocation.
of law, about social ordering, about the reconciliation
of competing purposes and interests, about peace, order
and good government. It is this larger constellation of
concepts and purposes, from which public service values
in their totality must flow, that is captured in the concept
of the public interest.

A final caution has to do with vocabulary. Much of

the vocabulary of the new public management has been
imported into the public service from elsewhere, and it
has both its useful and its less useful overtones. We have
already commented that the vocabulary of “customer”
and “client” has helped to revitalize the understanding
of service in the public sector. Because of the prestige of
38
5. Ethical Challenges

In the course of our work, we have come face to individual clients. They have indicated to us the need for
face with what appear to us some important new ethical guidance about how service-oriented, market-driven public
challenges arising from some of the emerging values and service organizations can treat all their clients equitably
new circumstances of the public service. when they are each other’s competitors. How does a
service-oriented, market-driven public service factor in
Some New Ethical Challenges the public interest when dealing with its client base?
How can the paramountcy of the public interest be
In our conversations with public servants we were maintained over private gain?
made aware of some of the new ethical challenges that
public servants are encountering as a result of new These are not issues for economic or industry-related
conditions in public service organizations, new ways public service organizations alone. Officers working at the
of working, and new public purposes. front lines in social departments have also told us that
they are being asked to exercise greater judgement and
We were made aware, for example, of some of the individual discretion in making program decisions and
pressures some public servants are experiencing, both decisions on individual cases. Yet they do not always feel
consciously and unconsciously, on the front lines of they have an adequate framework of values, ethics and
service delivery. Consider, for example, a hypothetical accountability to make such decisions. They are feeling
case of a public service officer whose role it is to provide vulnerable and exposed.
advice and business intelligence to private business.
Taking seriously the value of high quality service to the Similarly in a period of decentralization and
customer/citizen, the public servant throws herself eagerly delegation of authorities, the door for abuses in
into the task and, as the work proceeds, begins to identify staffing, in contracting and in partnerships may be
more and more closely with the enterprise concerned. opened unless proper safeguards are taken. In their
Along the way, some quite subtle things can occur. absence, fertile ground could be created for accusations
First of all, other firms in competition with the first may of bureaucratic patronage and favouritism, accusations
consider, rightly or wrongly, that they are being put at a which can only reduce the legitimacy and credibility
disadvantage by public services paid for equally by their of the public service as an instrument of public good.
own tax dollars. Perhaps more seriously, a subtle Recently in Ontario, for example, controversy arose when
transformation may begin to occur in the mind of the the Opposition in the legislature demanded the details of
public servant herself. As she becomes more valuable to a partnership agreement between a provincial ministry
and more knowledgeable about the client firm, she may and a business firm, which had used the Freedom of
become a target for recruitment, and may even begin to Information Act to keep the information secret.
consider offers of employment. At what point does her Other firms that had competed for involvement in the
judgement begin to become clouded? At what point do partnership alleged that the process of selection had
the public service principles of equity and impartiality been unfair and that conflict of interest had occurred.
begin to be compromised? At what point does a conflict
of interest begin to emerge? These are among some of the new ethical dilemmas
that are being created by new cultures and new approaches
Federal officials have indicated to us that situations in the public service, and we are not at present well
like these are beginning to arise as public service equipped to handle them. The greatest difficulties arise
organizations move from providing basic information in that broad grey area that exists between behaviour that
to counselling and involvement in decision-making for is clearly forbidden and behaviour that is clearly honest or
39
 ethical. Within this grey area, there is a wide continuum These and other principles included in the existing
ranging from abuses or conflicts that are real, through service-wide codes provide a sound framework for
those that are potential, to those that are apparent. One addressing some of the new ethical dilemmas mentioned
of the reasons why codes of conduct and appropriate above, but, in our view, they need to be supplemented by
ethical rules are important is precisely to address the several new initiatives. One is the need for each
difficulties created by this grey area: to reassure the department and agency to develop its own ethical
public; and to protect public office holders themselves. guidelines, specifically tailored to meet the particular
challenges and circumstances they encounter.
We have reviewed the existing Conflict of Interest The authority to adopt such supplementary guidelines
and Post-Employment Codes (for the core public service already exists but is seldom used. It needs to be used
much more actively in future to give employees guidance
“We have reviewed the existing Conflict of Interest and Post- about how to act in many new and delicate situations
Employment Codes (for the core public service and the wider public and the confidence that in doing so they will have the
sector) and find they are basically sound.” support of their organizations. This need will become all
the greater as the public service experiments with new
and the wider public sector) and find they are basically forms of service delivery organizations and approaches.
sound. The nine principles of the public service code are
printed in full in an annex to this report. They include Another need is a more developed capability on the
such important ethical principles for public servants part of central agencies, for example the Treasury Board,
as these: to guide and counsel both individual public servants and
organizational leaders, as they attempt to navigate safely
• employees shall perform their official duties through some of the new ethical shoals.
and arrange their private affairs in such a
manner that confidence and trust in the A third need is for better training and
integrity, objectivity and impartiality of information about the existing Conflict of Interest
government are conserved and enhanced; and Post-Employment Codes. The existing guidelines
are sound, but they are not well known or well understood,
• employees have an obligation to act in as the Auditor General’s research demonstrated. Public
a manner that will bear the closest public servants need a better understanding of the current
scrutiny, an obligation that is not fully framework, and of how to apply it in all the new situations
discharged by simply acting within the law; that arise in a public service culture oriented toward
enhanced “client” service, partnerships and flexibility.
• employees shall not step out of their official
roles to assist private entities or persons in their In our view, these initiatives should be undertaken
dealings with government where this would result within the framework of a broader ethics regime, both for
in preferential treatment to any person; and the public service as a whole and for individual public
service organizations, as discussed below.
• if a conflict does arise between the private
interests of an employee and the official duties
and responsibilities of that employee, the conflict
shall be resolved in favour of the public interest.

40
Rules and Values values in the written Constitution, others promote the
collective responsibility of ministers. One of the themes of
One of the features of life that complicates ethical our report is the need for balance and synthesis, and this
decision-making in the evolving public service is the need for balance applies as much to the twin imperatives
changing balance between such things as values, rules of empowerment and control as to other things.
and results. At times in the past, public administration has
been overly preoccupied with rules and with administrative From our conversations with public servants,
process, not paying sufficient attention to actual it appears to us that there is still work to do to get
outcomes, and results that matter for citizens. One of this balance right, and the synthesis clear. We spoke to
the valuable results of public service reform and renewal public servants who told us that in their daily work they
has been a heightened awareness of the importance of are experiencing the tension between these orientations,
concrete results and outcomes from public services, and between the emphasis on results and the emphasis on
the pursuit of new management approaches that can help rules. They are pulled in one direction by the
to achieve them. With this in view, public organizations “entrepreneurial” outlook with its emphasis on innovation,
have been attempting to reduce the burden of rules and risk-taking and results before process. They are pulled in
of bureaucratic process. In their place, public service another direction by the traditional public service culture
organizations have sought to rely much more on with its emphasis on prudence and probity, on due
discretion, judgement, flexibility, and local adaptability. process, on political accountability, and on the primacy
To guide judgement, organizations have sought to of law and regulation. Some public servants told us that,
replace an exclusively rules-based approach to public under pressure to achieve results, they find themselves
administration with one that relies more for guidance tempted daily to ignore or to get around some rule or
on a framework of values. other that may appear arbitrary, or that may be seen to
inhibit quality service. If they were to succumb to these
These new approaches have many benefits. pressures on a grand scale, the door could be opened for
They encourage innovation, initiative and imagination. public service behaviour that is not only unethical but
They help to make organizations more flexible, efficient even, possibly, illegal.
and responsive. They deepen motivation by giving people
appropriate freedom of action, and responsibility for We do not think this tension is yet great enough to
their decisions. cause genuine concern. But we do think some continuing
attention needs to be given to establishing a proper
Empowerment carries with it a larger burden of balance in public service values and language between
responsibility than simple rule-following. Empowerment these two important values. It is important that public
asks employees to care about what they do, how they servants internalize the values and policy purposes that
are doing it, and, most important, the results they are most rules are intended to protect so that rules can
achieving for Canadians. It is no longer enough to have enhance rather than undermine performance. It is
followed some rule or complied with a procedure. important that rules be written to focus on their
substantive purpose and not to be overly bureaucratic.
All of these gains are important. But it is also
important not to lose sight of the important role that One way to establish the balance may be to ensure
some rules will always play in public administration, that the growing and creative emphasis on empowerment
as means to ensure democratic will and to preserve the is enriched by and retains many of the important concepts
legitimacy of government. For example, some rules reflect that were associated with the traditional public service
41
 concept of delegation. Delegation is specific and concrete. A simple fact about public service organizations
A delegation of authority is a specific act of conferral of a is that they are public. This is a fact so simple and so
defined range of authority to act, with conditions attached obvious that it would scarcely seem worth stating were
to it. Delegation also implies accountability. Viewed from it not so easily overlooked, or so crucial for understanding
this angle, empowerment demands even more rigorous what we do. A public organization is not a private one.
accountability: accountability for values and results, as That means it has different roles, different rules, and
well as simple compliance with rules or procedures. different requirements that cannot be overcome, as
Because power or authority is delegated to someone by long as it remains part of the public service. For example,
someone else, there is an implied obligation on the part the Charter of Rights and Freedoms applies only to
of the recipient to render a faithful account of the use governments. The courts superintend the actions of
of that power to the authority by whom it was granted. governments, which can exercise only authority provided
by law and must do so reasonably, within the division of
These are important concepts. They help to powers and respect for individual and collective rights.
encourage respect for political authority and to remind
public servants of the “public” context within which they One of the defining features of public service
do their work. They also help to nourish a reverence for organizations, especially in Canada, is that they are
Canadian values, the rule of law, due process, and the established under law and have as one of their chief roles
integrity and impartiality that are essential when the the administration and upholding of the laws of Canada.
rights, duties and public purposes of Canadian citizens In order to do this well, the public service and individual
are in question. public servants should be animated by an unshakable
conviction about the importance and primacy of law, and
As this suggests, another way to ensure the kind of about the need to uphold it with integrity, impartiality
creative synthesis between old and new that can provide and judgement. Because so many public servants are
a strong foundation for ethical behaviour in the public engaged, one way or another, in acts of what might be
service is to reaffirm the primacy and authority of law. called discretionary justice, they must possess a due sense
of the solemnity and exigencies of this role. Public
Reaffirming the Importance of Law servants carry out functions that bear upon the rights,
duties and public purposes of Canadians. A role such as
One of the side-effects of a decade or so of otherwise this, that touches upon the most fundamental attributes
desirable managerial reform has been a tendency to of citizenship in organized society, can only be carried out
neglect the importance of law as a foundation for public with legitimacy, fairness, and equity within a framework
administration. Public management’s inclination to view of law and respect for due process.
public organizations from the ground up, or to regard
them simply as organizations comparable to other Process and procedure are not merely some
organizations, has contributed to obscure the broad bureaucratic whim adopted to frustrate the needs and
political and legal context in which public administration wishes of ordinary people. They serve two essential
is carried on. purposes in public organizations. One is to ensure that
the rights of citizens are respected fully, fairly and
We think it is therefore timely, perhaps even urgent, equitably. The second is to protect the reputation and
to reaffirm the importance of this broad framework, legitimacy of the organization itself. We observed in
including the primacy of law, especially the Constitution. chapter 3 that the publicness of public organizations
requires of them a degree of transparency, accountability
42
and due process above and beyond that of other To help achieve this necessary synthesis, we believe
organizations. Because they are responsible for public it may now be time for the public service as a whole, and
funds, and because equitable respect for the rights of for individual organizations within the public service, to
citizens is in question, public organizations must accept develop for themselves a fully elaborated ethics regime.
a range of controls, rules, procedure formalities and
guarantees greater than that which is required for private An Ethics Regime
organizations, in order to demonstrate that no element of
favouritism or partiality entered into the judgement, but An ethics regime, as we define it, is not a single
only the requirements of the public interest. initiative but rather a comprehensive series of initiatives,
mutually supporting and complementing one another.
Of course, all of us have encountered situations Although the Study Team did not review all possible
where the rules and procedures were excessive or made elements in detail, we have set out the potential
little sense. Challenging unnecessary or harmful rules and components of such a regime in Appendix 2 to this
procedures is essential to good government. Very often report. The appendix is reproduced from a research
we find that processes, procedures or even rules are not report prepared for this Study Team by Kenneth Kernaghan
necessary at all, and are simply barnacles on the ship of and published separately by CCMD. [Kenneth Kernaghan,
state: the gradual accretions of time and unexamined The Ethics Era in Canadian Public Administration (Ottawa:
habits. One of the chief duties of responsible public Canadian Centre for Management Development, 1996).]
servants is to challenge and eliminate such impediments
to good administration where they can be found. An ethics regime would include initiatives or
measures that should be adopted at a public service-wide
Applying rules also requires an appropriate act level; it would also provide for comparable steps to be
of judgement on the part of public servants. Some rules taken at the level of each public service organization,
are more solemn than others. Some apply more readily to either to adapt service-wide approaches to local needs
one circumstance than another. Making judgements about or to supplement them with additional measures needed
them is an essential part of any public servant’s legitimate to suit individual circumstances.
role. But judgements of this kind will be the more reliable
if they are made within a culture where bureaucratic values An ethics regime might include a public service code
are not depreciated and which affirms such things as the or statement of values. This is something which we wish
primacy of law, the Constitution, regulation and due to consider in our conclusion, after we have explored the
process as essential pillars of public administration. vital importance of leadership in the public service.
Adapting Kant’s Categorical Imperative, Donald P. Warwick
has provided some good advice to public servants: “Seek One element of an ethics regime to which we wish
exceptions to established procedures only when you would to give particular importance is the establishment within
grant the same right to others in comparable public service organizations of suitable recourse
circumstances.” Applying this maxim wisely may be one mechanisms, counsellors, or ombudsmen for public
of the keys to sound and ethical public administration in servants who may feel that they or others are in potential
future. Doing so will be easier in a public service culture conflicts of interest or other ethical difficulties, or who
with deep convictions about the role of law, and all that may feel that they are under pressure or have been asked
flows from law, as a foundation of public administration, to perform actions that are unethical or contrary to public
and of the good society. service values and to the public interest. One refrain that

43
 we have heard from public servants is that there is no Committee observes. “There is greater interchange
point in asking them to uphold public service values or to between sectors. There are more short-term contracts...
maintain high ethical standards in public service, if we do It cannot be assumed that everyone in the public service
not give them the tools to do so. One of the essential tools will assimilate a public service culture unless they are
they will require is some accessible person to whom they told what is expected of them and the message is
can turn, in confidence, to seek advice and guidance, to systematically enforced.”
express concern about instructions given, or to report a
serious breach of public service ethics. Such a function We think the Nolan Committee’s warning is
must have sufficient seniority, independence and authority timely, and should be heeded before or in parallel
to carry out the duties effectively and to protect the with significant organizational reform in the Canadian
identity and positions of those who have recourse to it. public service. It also points to other needs and to the
There must be means, consistent with public service importance, in particular, of communication, leadership
values, for public servants to express concern about and training. We return to both of these themes in the
actions that are potentially illegal, unethical or next two chapters.
inconsistent with public service values, and to have
those concerns acted upon in a fair and impartial manner.
From our own conversations with public servants, we know
that unless some practical recourse mechanisms are
created, many of them will consider all the talk about
values and ethics in the public service as so much hot air.

We wish to underline that the time is right for the

adoption of a comprehensive ethics regime in the public
service precisely because we stand on the brink of
significant experiments with new organizational forms,
and especially the creation of new agencies for the
delivery of programs and services. We know from the
experience of Britain and New Zealand, for example, that
problems can be avoided if sufficient attention is given to
the issues of values and ethics before substantial reforms
have been carried out. In the UK, the Nolan Committee on
Standards in Public Life has noted that the British
organizational reforms of the 1980s, including the
establishment of Executive Agencies, were undertaken
with an eye primarily on issues of efficiency and
effectiveness, without much attention to questions of
standards of conduct. However the reforms have greatly
increased the need to safeguard ethical behaviours.
Decentralization and contracting out have varied the
format for organizations giving public service, the

44
6. Leadership in a Time of Change

Throughout our discussions among ourselves and sufficiently motivated by concerns for values and
with other public servants, the theme of leadership ethics, client needs, for the public interest, or for
emerged with great force. There are at least two reasons employee welfare.
that occur to us as to why leadership proved to be so
important. The first is that, in considering the merits Another source of this fault line appears to be
of codifying or formalizing public service values, the confusion about accountability, and the tension
we were led to consider the relative importance of rules between customer accountability and political
and role models. The second is that, in our conversations accountability. Those closest to the front lines of
especially with middle-level and lower-level public accountability feel their primary accountability to
servants, we were made aware of a significant fault citizen/customers while those farther up may feel
line in the public service that needs to be addressed, primary accountability to citizen voters and taxpayers,
and that can only be addressed through leadership, as mediated by the political process.
especially, though not exclusively, at senior levels.
Those close to the front lines of service delivery also
It might be noted in passing that we emphasize perceive that evolving policy and program approaches are
the term leadership in this chapter because we are here delegating greater discretion and judgement to them, but
concerned primarily with values related to people. It has without an adequate values framework to guide them, and
been said that an individual manages things, but leads without confidence that, in the crunch, they will receive
people. From the point of view of “people values,” support and backing from superiors.
therefore, the calibre and quality of leadership in the
public service becomes a matter of primary importance. Many public servants do not feel that they are
adequately involved in or connected to the decision-
A Fault Line in the Public Service making processes in their organizations, or that they
have an opportunity to input to ongoing policy
As we noted in chapter 2, our dialogue with public development. As a result, they feel more like tools than
servants revealed to us a certain divide between levels in collaborators. They do not experience an atmosphere of
the public service, perhaps especially where public service trust or of open dialogue in their organizations. At the
values are concerned. Many at the middle and lower levels same time that some people are greatly overworked,
of the public service to whom we spoke or from whom we others feel that they are underutilized in the key
heard do not feel well connected to the senior levels, and processes of their organizations.
they are not sure whether they necessarily share the same
values as those at higher levels. One thing that surprised us was to discover that these
feelings are not confined to the lowest levels of the public
These feelings appear to have a variety of sources. service. Sometimes the fault line can occur at the highest
One source, as we mentioned, is the perception that senior levels. Even ADMs and DGs, whom others perceive as the
managers do not “walk the talk,” that they say one thing, departmental leaders, also sometimes express the
but do another. This perception may have been formed conviction that they have no influence over the course
most recently in the experience of downsizing but reflects of events, or do not have a full opportunity to contribute.
a more general judgement about people management
and leadership in the departments. Senior managers are We do not want to exaggerate the significance of
frequently perceived as self-serving, overly concerned these impressions. They are based on no scientific data,
about personal survival and turf protection, and not but merely on our conversations and exchanges with public
45
 servants over the past year. They are enough, however, to This being the case, it may be time for some clear talk
suggest to us that, from the point of view of public service about the constraints on public service leadership, and the
values, there is an important leadership challenge for the limits to which leadership styles at the most senior levels
public service, a challenge that can be expressed in two of the public service can actually evolve. In particular,
contrasting ways. On the one hand, we do not think that we would perhaps do well to acknowledge frankly that,
the climate for a renewal of public service values will be because of the structure of political authority and
promising as long as this divide persists. And, on the accountability, there will always be a substantive
other hand, the existence of the fault line itself indicates element of top-down leadership in the public service.
a values problem or challenge for the public service: an Being candid about this may be more healthy, in the
insufficient valuing of people in the public service, and end, than persisting in a vague twilight in which
a need for greater value to be attached to leadership unavoidable management practices, including a
and people management. reasonable dose of top-down direction, are seen by
employees as somehow illegitimate or problematic
Leadership in the Public Service because occasionally at odds with more participative
and consultative processes.
It needs to be observed immediately however that
leadership in the public service is an extremely difficult Even if these top-down imperatives of public service
and challenging role. It is especially difficult in a time leadership were more fully acknowledged, as perhaps they
of downsizing and cut-backs, when leaders must so often should be, the importance and the challenge of public
be the bearers of unwelcome tidings. But the difficulty is service leadership would remain, however. Indeed, it would
much greater and more permanent than this. It is caused be revealed as more crucial than ever. One way to express
by two complexities: the complexity of issues and the this challenge is the way we did earlier in this report: as a
complexity of roles. The complexity of issues results from balance between managing up and managing down. In
the multiple, competing interests and customer needs we both these roles — in serving the democratic process and
referred to earlier in our report. The complexity of roles in assuming responsibility for people and outcomes —
derives from the multiple relationships and public service leaders, at all levels, have both a duty and
accountabilities a senior public servant must sustain. an opportunity to embody public service values. The duty
The first role of a deputy minister, for example, is to and the opportunity do not occur only at the top. The
support and sustain the minister under the law. Yet at privilege and the obligations of public service leadership
the same time, the deputy is expected to manage the are to be found throughout the public service, regardless
department, oversee a growing family of related of levels. One of the errors into which we too easily fall is
organizations in the minister’s portfolio, maintain links to assume that leadership must come only from the top,
with the central agencies, collaborate horizontally with and to wait for that leadership to manifest itself, rather
other deputies, maintain ongoing relations and than anticipate it, and meet it half way. For example, top
consultations with departmental “stakeholders,” all the leaders have an obligation to communicate, but others
while coping with daily “crises” and emergencies. In these in the organization have an equal obligation to inform
circumstances it should not be surprising if the urgent themselves. Leaders at other levels cannot simply wait
often drives out the important, and the concern for for others more senior to act, or think that criticizing
employee involvement and participation is sacrificed superiors is a sufficient substitute for leadership of their
on the altar of getting the job done. own. Wherever we find ourselves in the public service,
and at whatever levels, we enjoy the deep privileges
of public service — the opportunity to serve and help our
46
country — and the obligations of leadership and initiative action, and should all efforts fail, to take the matter to
that go with them. We do not have to, and should not, higher authority, such as consultation with the Clerk of
wait for signals from others before undertaking the great the Privy Council.
tasks of public service leadership: exercising imagination,
creativity and vigilance for the public good, and caring for This role of public servants, which falls to deputy
the people entrusted to our charge. If the opportunities ministers, is one that a former deputy, Al Johnson, has
and responsibilities of leadership were better understood called the “public trust” role, and it is one that is not
at all levels in the public service, the fault line we spoke sufficiently understood or, in recent years, appreciated.
of earlier would no doubt be greatly diminished. Yet it is one that is vital for good government in a
parliamentary system and an essential platform for the
But if the duties and opportunities of public values, ethics and morale of a professional public service.
service leadership present themselves at all levels, it It is essential that the role and reality of this public trust
remains true that they are greatest at the most senior function be perceived and appreciated at all levels of the
levels, and the failure to meet them has there its most democratic chain of accountability, both above and below.
fateful consequences, effects that are felt, like ripples
on a lake, to the outmost edges of the public service. Below, it is important that public servants at all
levels have the confidence that ministers are receiving
Speaking Truth to Power information and advice that makes them fully informed
about the potential range of actions, and about the
In supporting the democratic process, public consequences of each. One of the growing challenges
servants have a dual role to play. One side of this role for public servants is to balance upward accountability
is to carry out faithfully the program and policies of the to the political process with downward or outward
government of the day. The other is to provide ministers “accountability” to citizens, “customers” and stakeholders.
with a full range of analysis and advice that will help them It is clear that in striking the balance between the two,
to take the best possible decisions for the public good. political accountability must be paramount. Any other
As we point out below, this dual role is played not just conclusion would undermine the principles of democratic
at the top of departments but at all levels in the public government. But public servants will be able to uphold
service, wherever there are employees and supervisors. this paramountcy with heightened conviction, if they are
confident that ministers are fully informed about options,
This dual role may sometimes involve telling ministers, needs, and consequences prior to any decisions on
in confidence, things they do not necessarily wish to hear. directions or initiatives. For this reason, one of the
Such a duty may arise for either of two reasons. One is important tasks of leadership for senior public servants
that in the normal course of events, it is the role of the is to communicate downward, through words, symbols
public servant to inform ministers, as fully and accurately and gestures how they are managing their upward
as possible, about the consequences of certain policy accountabilities, how advice and options are presented
options, including, where necessary, warning about the to ministers in a full, responsible and balanced manner.
negative or harmful consequences of actions or initiatives
ministers propose to take. The other circumstance in If the need is great below, so also is the need above.
which this duty may arise is both very rare and far more It is equally important for the political level to make clear
grave. If a minister proposes to take an action that would its understanding of the principles of responsible
potentially be unethical, illegal, or unconstitutional, a government, and the role that it expects the public service
senior public servant has a duty to advise against such to play within this framework. Over the past decade
47
 or so, the public service may occasionally have gained Relieved and reassured, the deputy put aside all
the impression that some ministers preferred a more thought of resignation and rededicated himself to his
instrumental view of parliamentary government in which role, with confidence and enthusiasm.
it was the role of public servants merely to execute rather
than to advise, to encourage rather than to warn, to carry For us this story is emblematic of the kind of
out rather than to present balanced perspectives, to be relationship and mutual confidence that should occur
loyal in a narrow sense rather than the broader one of between ministers and professional public servants in a
loyalty to the public interest. As we noted earlier, some system of responsible, parliamentary government, but
voices have even called for the end of a professional public also the renewed confidence and vigour that can occur
service and the establishment of a “spoils” system in which when the fundamental principles that underlie these
the senior public service would change with every relationships are recognized and reaffirmed. For that
incoming government. reason, as we explain further in the next chapter, we
believe the time may have come for an appropriate public
The kind of political signal now required may perhaps statement about these relationships that can serve as a
be illustrated by an anecdote, apparently a true one. Once solid foundation and source of nourishment for public
a deputy minister grew discouraged about his relationship service values.
with a new minister. Every time the minister presented him
with a new idea or proposal, the deputy would point out But these same principles and relationships should
all the pitfalls and potential problems of the proposed not obtain only at the top: they apply equally at all levels
course of action. The minister listened very patiently to in a professional public service. Speaking truth to power —
the advice, but frequently determined to carry on with the as long as it is accompanied by a duty of faithful execution
proposed action regardless, and asked the deputy to carry once decisions have been taken — is not something
it out. After this had been going on for some time, the
deputy grew downcast. This isn’t working out, he told “Speaking truth to power — as long as it is accompanied by a
himself. The minister and I are not on the same duty of faithful execution once decisions have been taken — is
wavelength. I am too critical of the minister’s ideas, not something important for deputies and ministers alone.”
and I’m just becoming a source of frustration, a roadblock
to the minister. important for deputies and ministers alone. It is just as
relevant or precious between employees and supervisors,
Growing despondent, the deputy began seriously to at the level of middle managers, directors, directors
think about resignation. However one day he ran into an general, and ADMs. Public servants owe their supervisors
acquaintance who had recently spoken with the minister not just their loyalty but their best professional
about his experience in government. The minister’s version judgement. Where this is discouraged or inhibited, the
was very different. Let me tell you about my excellent professionalism and the values of the public service suffer.
deputy, the minister had said. Every time I have an idea or So does good government.
a proposal, I can count on him and the department to give
a thorough review and point out all the possible problems Some people have suggested to us that over the
that could arise if I decide to go ahead. They give me past two decades the climate of support for honest
everything I need to think clearly about the way ahead. discussion and dialogue within the public service itself
But then, when I have made my decision, they carry it has deteriorated, and that public servants are not as
out like professionals, as if it were their own. As a minister ready as once they may have been to put forth honest
I couldn’t be more fortunate. views or engage in critical debate for fear of being seen
48
to be “offside” or untrustworthy. If there were any truth There are many reasons why the quality of people
in this assessment, it should be a matter of worry for the leadership in the public service might have been under
public service whose contribution to good government pressure in recent years. The stresses on public
depends on the wealth and vigour of its intellectual and organizations are the same as those experienced by
moral capital, as much as on its powers of execution. There organizations in other sectors, but with an added overlay
has been much talk about the importance and potential of of complexity. Declining resources mean that increasing
organizational learning. But as another CCMD report has numbers of people, especially at senior levels, carry heavy
pointed out, the essence of organizational learning is the and increasing workloads. Urgency and time pressures
pursuit and cultivation of truth in organizations. Where increase the stress. The urgent drives out the important,
this value is not cultivated, organizations fall into a and the care for and leadership of people falls low on the
myriad of difficulties and eventually falter. In public list of priorities, just when it should be at the top.
organizations the importance of honest dialogue and
exchange leading to clarification and insight is all the The truth is that the very pressures on the senior
greater because so much more is at stake. levels which threaten to leave them overworked are a
signal about the importance of collegial leadership, about
Whether or not there has been any decline in the the need to involve employees in a new collaborative style
welcome afforded to vigorous debate within the public of work, in which leadership is shared at all levels
service, we think the time may be appropriate to reaffirm throughout the organization. Leadership that engages
that speaking truth to power is a public service value to be employees and other leaders, throughout the organization,
cultivated not just at the top of the public service, but has its own special requirements and expertise. For this
throughout. Creating and nourishing a climate that reason, there should be a continuing emphasis on people
encourages dialogue and the constructive expression management and leadership training at all levels of the
of honest views is one of the many important dimensions public service, but especially at the executive and senior
of the leadership of people in the public service today. management levels. It will be especially important to help
senior managers to understand how these skills can and
The Leadership of People should be exercised in a public service environment, with
its strong elements of vertical accountability and direction,
If we care about the role and condition of values in and how they can be integrated into and accommodate the
the public service, the quality of people leadership should pressures of an increasingly hectic and demanding
be a matter of central concern for a host of sound reasons. worklife. Leadership skills can no longer be learned or
For one thing, it is through leadership, above all, that conceived on their own but must be set instead in the
values are transmitted, nourished and reinforced, as we framework of organizational tasks for senior leaders,
will observe again below. For another thing, the quality with a demonstration of how such skills can contribute
of people leadership in the public service is an important to their accomplishment.
touchstone for the general ethical tone or health of the
institution more generally. It seems to us improbable that Obviously one of the important tasks of public
a public service in which the concern for people were low service leadership is communication, conveying clearly to
would be a public service with a lively sense of the members of an organization what its aims and agenda
responsibility for other things, or a broader sense are to be. But communication is a two-edged sword. It can
of obligation. lay bare, if only by omission, what the true priorities and
values are. It is therefore essential that the values of the
organization be sound and authentically rooted in the
49
 organization, if successful leadership and communication The second danger, which is a corollary of the first,
are to occur. and the one that concerns us most here, is that things
that are difficult to measure may be neglected, while
In our view, the fundamental conviction about things that are easier to measure will enjoy exaggerated
people that should prevail in the public service is that importance. Values, leadership and good people
people are not to be treated as instrumentalities, as tools management are among those things that are not yet
or as means to an end, but as something to be valued in sufficiently valued, on the excuse that they are difficult
and for themselves. If we believe this, then the challenge to measure. Nevertheless it will be vital for the future that
will be not solely one of communication but of ensuring accountability regimes be appropriately balanced and pay
that this value is reflected in actions, policies, procedures, as much attention to leadership and values as to other
structures and in all the details of organizational life. elements of management. It will be necessary, therefore,
In chapter 3 we suggested that it was time to review all to develop appropriate measures of leadership skills.
of the many systems, policies and processes of the public Fortunately some of those are already available. 360
service to ensure that they are aligned to support a sound degree feedback instruments, upward feedback, and
public service culture and values. Obviously one of the key
values that aligned systems and policies should convey is “360 degree feedback instruments, upward feedback, and
the conviction that people are important in and for organizational climate surveys are among the methodologies
themselves. And one of the chief means for anchoring that should now be used routinely at the highest levels to ensure that
this value in the public service and in its systems will adequate measures of leadership and people skills are included in
be adequate measures of accountability. future accountability regimes for the top level of the public service.”

Accountability for Leadership and Values organizational climate surveys are among the
methodologies that should now be used routinely at
One of the chief benefits of new management the highest levels to ensure that adequate measures
techniques and values that have been introduced to the of leadership and people skills are included in future
public service in the last decade or so has been the accountability regimes for the top level of the public
emphasis on measurement and performance indicators. service.
We think this is a real step forward for public management
and offers promise of greater clarity, more realism and These measures and accountability systems will
concreteness, better reporting and accountability. have little impact, however, unless they are seen to have
Measurement has its pitfalls and dangers, however, an effect on decisions about appointments, promotions
as well as its benefits. and reward. As we noted in chapter 3, there is a
perception that some senior managers have not been
The first, well-known danger is that you get what held accountable for their leadership of people, and have
you measure. If measurements are attached to some facets even been rewarded for practices that were inconsistent
of public service work then those are the things that will with deeper public service values, as they are presented
get attention, often at the expense of other, equally or in this report. If these perceptions held any truth, they
more important dimensions of work. If a standard is set would be profoundly destructive of public service values.
that phones must be answered after three rings, then they
probably will be, but possibly at the expense of taking Values, after all, are conveyed and supported most
the necessary time, and being genuinely helpful to effectively not by words but by deeds. All the fine words in
individual callers. the world about the value of people have no weight beside
50
gestures or actions that suggest the opposite. The living the routine goodness exemplified by many people in our
example of a human being is of far greater weight, in the various communities. We learn about the good not from
end, than any declaration to which it gives the lie. abstractions but from encountering it in real life,
embodied in real persons. We are inspired to live in
Encountering the Good certain ways and to hold certain values by exceptional
role models, and we are sustained in doing so by a
At the beginning of this chapter we observed that critical mass of other persons who think and act in the
the theme of leadership had emerged with great force in same way. When the models falter or when the critical
our work, partly because it had suggested to us the mass withers, no amount of rules or regulation will hold
possible existence of a growing fault line between the back the tide. We see this in countries where endless
senior public service and other levels, and partly because, decrees and regulations are broadly ignored because
in considering the merits of codifying or formalizing public they are not rooted in a public culture and reflect no
service values, we had been led to consider the relative public consensus about the good. We see it in reverse in
importance of rules and role models. It is this second other communities where formal rules and standards have
theme we wish to underline here at the conclusion of this been dismantled, yet people continue to observe them in
chapter and before proceeding to some of the their daily lives because they believe them essential to a
recommendations in our conclusion. good society.

There is a great temptation to think that rules, Reflecting on how we come to govern our own
codes or regulations are the appropriate response to conduct helps us to situate the relative importance
any problem or need. In many cases such a response of leadership and role models in relation to codes and
may be quite wrong, or woefully inadequate. We think principles. We think the latter have their place. But we
such a response would be especially inadequate in the do not think they provide an answer by themselves.
case of public service values and ethics. Of far greater importance in the sum of things is the
quality of leadership in the public service and the calibre
To understand why this is so, it may be helpful to of role models we are able to offer. This is true at all levels
reflect on how we come to internalize values, and make of the public service but it is especially true at the most
them a true well-spring of conduct, in the first place, senior levels.
Whether as children or as adult professionals we do not
absorb or learn to have values primarily through rules: In deputy ministers and others at that level, public
we do so through people, through rewards for obedience servants need to be able to see examples of who they
and discipline for disobedience, and through example. themselves might aspire to be: not in the sense that all
The rules come afterward. They codify and summarize aspire to reach the same level. Many do not. But wherever
what we already know or believe. They serve as a handy and at whatever level we find ourselves we should be able
checklist. But they do not motivate in and of themselves, to translate into our own lives and professional conduct
or they do so only at second hand, because we are the values and principles we see exemplified at the
already internally disposed to respect them. top levels.

We learn to hold and to live values because we If deputy heads and ADMs attach high value to the
see others do so: either exemplary role models such as people of their organization, treating them with dignity
parents, teachers, or outstanding colleagues; or simply and civility, sharing with them all appropriate information

51
 and involving them actively in the life of the organization, For us this means at least three things. Public service
then others, at other levels, are likely to do the same. leaders at all levels, but especially at senior levels, should
If senior officials embody the public service values of be selected not just for effectiveness but also for the
loyalty, neutrality, devotion to the democratic process degree to which they exemplify and can symbolize the
and to the public interest, the chances are others will do highest public service values. Second, in the process of
the same. If the top public servants display a commitment evaluation, reward, and promotion, an assessment of the
to horizontality and partnership, a neglect of turf and of degree to which a leader exhibits public service values and
turf protection, then this conduct will radiate naturally models them for others should have an important role to
through their organizations. If top public servants play, and should carry weight. Third, in all the activities
exemplify a balanced life, respecting both work and that influence or shape the culture and conversation of the
family, then these values will be widely imitated. If the higher public service — whether training and development
leaders of organizations show that they are prepared to programs, DM retreats, ADM updates, executive networks,
be publicly answerable for the actions of their employees Treasury Board communications, departmental retreats —
and do not seek to shift responsibility or to point fingers the theme of public service values should occupy an
at subordinates, then public servants will learn, by important place, and should be continually reinforced.
example, how to conduct themselves responsibly and
with dignity. The public servants we listened to thirst for leadership
and for symbolic gestures that speak to and embody
Of course all of this can be said equally well in strong, well-rooted public service values. The cynicism or
reverse. And in this way we can understand more clearly scepticism we encountered was usually but a thin veneer, a
the great harm that is done to public service values by mask for a disappointed idealism that longs for a vision to
those who have not learned to “walk the talk.” It is not which it can give its pent-up, heartfelt response.
just that such behaviour creates disappointment and
cynicism, a loss of faith or conviction about the values or
principles expressed in the “talk.” It is much worse. It is
the lesson that callousness, bullying or shortcuts pay, that
favouritism is rewarded, that turf protection succeeds, or
that self-interest is a higher value than the public interest.

For all these reasons, we believe that nothing is more

important for the future of public service values than the
quality of leadership at the top levels of the public service.
We believe that other initiatives are unlikely to have much
sustained impact unless the leadership offered at these
levels embodies, expresses and sustains the most
important public service values. We also believe, of course,
that if senior leadership contradicts or belies espoused
values, such values will wither or be sustained only with
the greatest difficulty.

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7. Conclusion: Principles of Public Service

7. Conclusion: principles of public ser vice

As we stated in the Introduction to this report, the lenses or perspectives, through which or from which one
Study Team did not set out to draft a list or a declaration can observe and describe the universe of public service
of public service values. We wished instead to explore values.
some of the most important problems or issues for
public service values at this time, as they emerged from Democratic Values
our own discussions and from our conversations with
other public servants. The first lens through which we can view public
service values is the most important of all and the one
That is what we have done. The most important that provides the foundation for all the rest. It is the lens
current issues we encountered turned out to be: the of what we call the democratic values. We rediscovered
evolving practice of accountability in a parliamentary that the most important defining factor for the role and
democracy; the relationship between employment and
values; the dynamic tension and ongoing reconciliation “We rediscovered that the most important defining factor for the role
between old values and new ones; the new ethical and values of the public service of Canada is its democratic mission
dilemmas associated with a service culture and and public trust: helping ministers, under law and the Constitution, to
empowerment; and the challenge of leadership and people serve the common good.”
management in a time of change. We have explored each
of these themes in turn, teasing out as best we could the values of the public service of Canada is its democratic
questions and problems associated with each, or common mission and public trust: helping ministers, under law
to more than one. and the Constitution, to serve the common good. Public
service values largely derive from and are shaped by the
As we proceeded, however, we found that certain role of the public service, as a Canadian institution, in
values emerged spontaneously from our reflections. supporting Canada’s unique brand of parliamentary
They are the values that come naturally to mind as one democracy. Our core values are shaped by an
thinks about public service, the values without which understanding that authority in a parliamentary
it is not possible to speak of public service at all. It democracy rests with elected officeholders who are
may now be possible to review some of these values, accountable to Parliament.
and to cluster them in four “families.”
The concept of accountability is fundamental
Core Values for the Public Service to the parliamentary form of democratic government.
Accountability is the partner of authority; it distinguishes
As we explored the problems outlined in this report, legitimate authority from raw power, as it requires all
the public service values that emerged seemed to us to those in authority to render an account of how they
take their place within four categories. We call them exercise their authority, of how well they are doing and
democratic values, professional values, ethical values, of what they are doing to correct problems and make
and people values. Together these four clusters appear to things better. Both ministers and officials must accept
us to constitute a set of core values for the public service. the personal consequences when some problem has
These families of values are not fully distinct, but largely occurred because they acted inappropriately or failed
overlap or repeat each other. In this sense, the four to act appropriately. The system depends on mutual
clusters are not so much distinct categories but rather understanding of the authorities and accountabilities
of each. Ministers are accountable to Parliament, public

53
 servants are directly or indirectly accountable to ministers. and public officials act within a web of law and procedures
This relationship between elected officials and public which serve to secure the authority of ministers, and to
servants is the foundation of public service values. preserve the integrity, reputation and legitimacy of the
It defines our responsibilities to provide to ministers the public service as an important national institution in
best possible information and frank and comprehensive support of democratic government.
advice and, then, to carry out faithfully and professionally
their decisions. This is how Canadian public servants serve the public
interest, and it is precisely service in the public interest
To be effective, public servants must be as loyal that motivates and ties together the diverse elements of
in implementation as they are fearless in their advice. this institution. The notion of the public interest is a
Loyalty to the public interest, as represented and touchstone of motivation for public servants. It is for the
interpreted by the democratically elected government public service what justice and liberty are for the legal
and expressed in law and the Constitution, is one of the profession, or what healing and mercy are for the medical
most fundamental values of public service, and many other profession. The desire to serve the public interest is one of
values (such as integrity, equity, fairness, impartiality the “normative foundations” for public employment, and
and so on) are linked to it or draw their strength from it. any approach to public service that treats it as if it were
Public servants hold a public trust; they are trustees for the same as private enterprise risks undermining not only
the interests of the citizens of Canada, as represented by the structure of motivation for public service but, more
the democratically elected government and expressed in important, its capacity to serve democratic government in
law and the Constitution. What public servants do and say an ethical and accountable manner. The pursuit of the
matters to the lives of Canadians and the future of Canada. public interest over personal interest is both the reward
It is, therefore, crucial that public servants understand the and the price of public service.
Canadian system of government, the nature of responsible
government, of relations in a federal state, and of the role Since Canada enjoys a parliamentary form of
of the state, and its limits, in a liberal democracy. democracy, the principles of responsible government
What most distinguishes the Canadian public service from form the soil from which public service values grow.
other organizations is that all our actions are shaped by Accountability to ministers — and through them to the
the requirements of Canada’s democracy. Canadian public citizens of Canada — the rule of law, and loyalty to the
servants must, in all their actions, respect ministerial public interest are among the key democratic values that
responsibility, human rights and freedoms, the principles underpin public service. As pressures increase, as constant
of federalism, and the rule of law. change confuses, and as public servants come under
greater public scrutiny, it becomes even more important
The public service should be animated by an to revitalize these core democratic values as the
unshakable conviction about the importance and the foundation of all other public service values.
primacy of law, and especially the law of the Constitution,
and about the need to uphold it with integrity, impartiality Professional Values
and judgement. Functions that bear upon the rights,
duties and public purposes of Canadian citizens can Closely related to these fundamental democratic
only be carried out with legitimacy and equity within a values are what might be called the “professional values”
framework of law and due process. Among the important of the public service. The family of professional values
public service values to be preserved and reinforced, includes such things as excellence, professional
therefore, is a heightened awareness that both ministers competence, continuous improvement, merit,
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effectiveness, economy, frankness, objectivity and of government” approach and a focus on important aspects
impartiality in advice, speaking truth to power, balancing of the public interest.
complexity, and fidelity to the public trust. “New” or
emerging professional values might include “quality,” A healthy climate for understanding service requires
innovation, initiative, creativity, resourcefulness, service a clarified understanding of the important concept of
to clients/citizens, horizontality, partnership, networking citizenship, and an ability to distinguish citizens, voters
and teamwork, but often these are but a new way of and taxpayers and “customers.” Of course a public service
expressing old values in a new form, or new means to serves all of these. But citizens are bearers of rights and
achieve traditional ends. duties in a framework of community. Citizenship
aggregates; the concept of “customer” disaggregates.
As with many professions, the public service has been The satisfaction of individual “customers” may not add
undergoing a long and often difficult period of renewal. up to an overarching public good. For this reason, as we
Over a number of years, public service has been redefining noted, political accountability must always come higher in
itself, trying to equip itself to serve changing public the public service hierarchy of values than “customer” or
interests, shifting its emphasis from rules and process stakeholder accountability. The true role of public
to principles and results. To provide service more servants is not just to serve “customers” but also to
responsive to clients, and policies more responsive balance the interests and preserve the rights of “citizens.”
to citizens, it has tried to become more “horizontal” It is the sum and balance of these interests, democratically
in its work. The public service has become more service- determined, that may add up to something that could be
oriented, adaptable, flexible and open, less hierarchical called the public interest.
and insular. The values of service, partnership, teamwork,
empowerment, flexibility have already had a salutary From the point of view of public service values,
effect on public service — and have challenged the therefore, it is important to remember that government
preoccupation with turf or rule nit-picking that have is much more than “customer” service. It is also about
sometimes inhibited the pursuit of excellence. Canadian values, public purpose and national goals, about
the administration of law, about social ordering, about
The ideal of service to the public is one of the compliance and regulation, about the reconciliation of
deepest sources of public service motivation. In everyday competing purposes and interests, about peace, order
life, however, the many cross-cutting objectives of and good government. It is this larger constellation of
government can lead to a preoccupation with process, concepts and purposes, from which public service values
rules and procedures, at the expense of service. The great in their totality must flow, that is captured in the concept
contribution of new public management approaches with of the public interest.
their emphasis on “customers” or “clients” is that they
help to reinvigorate the idea of service in the public The structure of public service values should motivate
sector, in at least four ways: by encouraging managers public servants, above all, to give their primary loyalty to
to find out what recipients of their services really need the public good and to put it ahead of any private or
or want; by encouraging them to measure outputs and individual self-interest, as trustees are required to do.
the degree to which recipients value them; by encouraging But loyalty is a two-way street. This kind of loyalty is
recognition of “internal clients”; and by encouraging most likely to flourish within a professional public service,
managers to streamline or align the business processes built on long-term rather than short-term relationships.
that support service delivery. An emphasis on outputs The reality of downsizing does not contradict this need.
and service also encourages “horizontality” and a “whole Whatever its future size may be, or how it is organized,
55
 a professional public service is required to furnish the One of the most fundamental values of the public
critical mass of persons who embody and give life to service is the value of integrity. Integrity is not unique
public service values. to the public service. Every profession requires integrity.
The distinctive form that integrity assumes in the public
In a time of change, public servants must be service is the ability to hold a public trust and to put the
careful to maintain the balance, to remember the special common good ahead of any private interest or advantage.
role — and public trust — of a professional public service. Integrity in the public service also imposes on public
Our authority to act is delegated. We are accountable — servants, at all levels, a commitment to the truth and
and not only for what we achieve but how we achieve it. therefore, an obligation to speak truth to power: to
Our information must be accurate, our advice objective, provide ministers and other superiors with a full range
our service even-handed. Accuracy, objectivity, fairness, of analysis and advice that will help them to take the best
balance are also part of our professional ethic. There are possible decisions for the public good. This may sometimes
no doubt too many rules, too many procedures which involve telling them, in confidence, things they do not
serve no clear public purpose, and public servants must necessarily wish to hear. Integrity is also closely linked to
continue to challenge these rules, eliminating unnecessary people values: integrity is the key ingredient of trust upon
procedures, barriers to change. But even as they challenge which public service leadership and renewal must depend.
the rules, public servants must recognize that the rule of
law protects Canadians from arbitrariness at the hands People Values
of officials. And, as we move to more empowerment to
individual public servants and more authority to public A final lens through which to view public service
service agencies, clarity about authorities, obligations, values is the family of values related to people. These are
performance measures and, above all, values becomes closely related to ethical values since concern for others
increasingly important. is likely to be accompanied by high standards of integrity,
fairness, and trustworthiness in other things. The family of
Renewal of the public service does not mean “people values” includes, in its turn, several sub-clusters
choosing between the “new” and the “traditional” values of its own. It includes existential values, the values one
of professionalism but rather requires us, in some can be or live, such as courage, moderation, decency,
instances, to find the appropriate balance between them. reasonableness, balance, responsibility, humanity. It also
includes the values one can show or offer to others such
Ethical Values as respect, concern, civility, tolerance, patience,
benevolence, reciprocity, courtesy, receptivity, openness,
A third family of values we encountered might fairness and caring. People values may show themselves
be called ethical values. These include such values as in specific approaches to leadership and management
integrity, honesty, impartiality, taking responsibility and that include a high concern for participation, involvement,
being accountable, probity, prudence, fairness, equity, collegiality, consultation and communication. Finally they
objectivity, disinterestedness, selflessness, should show themselves in respect for Canadian values
trustworthiness, discretion, respect for law and due such as respect for diversity, respect for official languages
process, and the careful stewardship of public resources. or respect for other collective or individual rights. People
These ethical values are not different from those found values, like ethical values, are not unique to the public
in other sectors or parts of society. But they take their service but take their distinctive quality from their
distinctive coloration from the intersection with intersection with democratic and professional values.
democratic and professional values.
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The public service should display the same values of information they need on the other, pursuing
courtesy, of caring, and of concern to its employees departmental interests while maintaining a government-
that it aspires to offer to other citizens of Canada. wide perspective. Public service leaders are being asked to
break new ground and to encourage a more open and
Running through all of our discussions was a creative climate. Inevitably this will often mean learning
recognition that much is asked of public servants. from error. But public servants are being called upon to
While downsizing, job insecurity and pay freezes are accept a higher level of public accountability in an
by no means unique to the public sector, public environment often unforgiving of error. While in the past,
servants have had to manage these challenges in the the consequences of error were private, outside of public
face of considerable public debate and, often, criticism. view, this is now less often the case. And, just as the
Too little has been said publicly about the importance burden of accountability is greatest for public service
of the public service to Canada and Canadians, about the leaders, so too is their obligation to exemplify all of the
excellence of our public service, about the dedication and values of public service, democratic values, professional
hard work of its members, about the challenges they values, ethical values, and, not least, people values — that
face. Too often, downsizing was implemented without is, leadership must, above all else, exemplify respect for
sufficient respect for those affected or displaced or for the institution of public service in a parliamentary
those who remain. democracy, and for the people who comprise it.

All organizations depend for their success on the Nothing is more important to the nourishment of
ability to attract and develop people who can work public service values than the quality of leadership in the
together, with shared values and toward a common goal. public service. First, it is only through leadership that the
In the public service, an institution based on relationships people values of the public service can be put into action,
of trust, “people values” — respect for the dignity and and these play an important role in triggering the wider
recognition of the worth of individuals — take on added range of public service values. Those who are treated with
importance. Just as public servants must, in all of their respect, concern, fairness, civility and integrity are more
interactions, be seen to be fair and even handed and must likely to display these values in their own conduct, across
demonstrate a respect for those they serve, public servants the whole range of public service functions, than those
must feel that they too are treated fairly and with respect. who are not. Second, as this implies, public servants like
A professional public service requires a critical mass of other people are inspired much more by concrete examples
dedicated, career public servants who share public service than by abstract principles. Principles that are
values, new recruits who bring fresh ideas and energy, a contradicted by experience or by the conduct of those in
human resources regime which is fair, transparent, based authority may be worse than useless: they undermine trust
on merit, promotes continuous learning and improvement, and may spawn a corrosive cynicism about values, or about
holds people accountable, recognizes excellence, admits public service itself. In order to ensure that leaders model
errors and celebrates success. public service values, including people values, the public
service needs to establish adequate forms of accountability
Leadership in the public service faces unique for the full range of public service values. It needs to
challenges. Public service leaders are often the bridge ensure, and to make clear through actions, that public
between elected office holders and other public servants, service values have a prominent role to play in processes
carrying messages in both directions, balancing competing of selection, appointment, evaluation, promotion and
and diverse pressures, maintaining confidences on the one reward. In the long run, no other single factor is likely
hand while trying to ensure that public servants have the
57
 to have more impact on the quality and condition of The future of the public service will be determined
public service values. in large measure by the level of trust it will be able to
sustain in its mission as an important public institution.
*** In our view a high level of trust can only be sustained,
both inside and outside the service, through a consistent
These four overlapping families of democratic, attention to public service values. This will be even more
professional, ethical, and people values appear to us to true as public servants come to hold their accountabilities
constitute a set of core values for the entire public sector. in more public ways.

While they may be reflected in different ways in Democratic, professional, ethical and people values
different places and at different times, they seem to us the are fundamental and should be a unifying force for the
values that define the very nature of public service. If we public service. But the emphasis and balance among them,
and the way they are applied or expressed, may vary from
“these core values, rooted in the democratic mission of government, institution to institution. Common public service values are
are the bedrock, the solid foundation on which renewal can take place quite compatible with a variety, perhaps a growing variety,
and on which a stronger public service can be built.” of public service sub-cultures, as new departmental or
agency forms are created. Prudence and probity, for
are right, then every public sector organization and example, are universal public service values, but they will
every type of organization — traditional departments or no doubt express themselves in different ways depending
new agencies — should respect them and be accountable on the public service challenge to be met. As Christopher
for them. In fact, in a time of change, these core values, Pollitt has observed in another CCMD research report:
rooted in the democratic mission of government, are the
bedrock, the solid foundation on which renewal can take “Democratic, professional, ethical and people values are fundamental
place and on which a stronger public service can be built. and should be a unifying force for the public service. But the emphasis
and balance among them, and the way they are applied or expressed,
Core values should not be identified or confused may vary from institution to institution. Common public service values
with specific policies or mechanisms for their protection. are quite compatible with a variety, perhaps a growing variety, of
Policies can and must change; the core values should public service sub-cultures”
not. In times of change, however, they may need to be
clarified, reaffirmed, or expressed in new ways. Too “I do not want an entrepreneur looking after my state
often in the past the rules of public administration have pension (or my aged grandparent), but neither do I want
assumed greater importance than the values they were a cautious bureaucrat driving the fire engine or giving
meant to represent. As it comes to rely somewhat less on pump-priming grants to inventors. The problem is not one
centralized rules and regulations in future, the public of how to apply a magic set of management techniques
service will need to have a deepened and reawakened right across the public sector, it is much more a question
understanding of the values and purposes that lie behind of seeking, in each separate case, a match of function,
them. For parts of government established or designed form, and culture. A less rousing sermon, no doubt, but
expressly to enjoy greater flexibility and delegation than a more useful one.”
in the past, such understanding and integration will be
especially important.

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Values under Pressure trends like globalization which increase the pace of change
and the pressure on institutions, and that unsettle
Democratic values, professional values, ethical values established ways of doing things. The public service is also
and people values may well be the core values of the affected by broad changes in social values, including a
public service, as we suggest, but it is also clear to us that broad scepticism about values themselves and a growing
these values are under pressure from many directions. One acceptance of relativism. A world in which there are fewer
of those sources is the sheer stress of overwork. and fewer absolutes is a world in which it is harder to
nourish organizational values, including the values of
Many public servants are trying to cope with issues of citizenship, governance and public service.
increasing complexity, issues moving at increasing velocity
that allow them less and less time for action. They are The growing scepticism about authority in general has
under pressure to downsize, reorganize, and, at the same a special impact on public service values as a result of the
time, increase performance with reduced resources. The declining legitimacy of government. The public service is
demands of ministers and citizens are growing, as are constantly assaulted by external criticism and denigration
those of employees. There are also growing (and welcome) that undermine its confidence and sap morale. A high
demands from the centre of government to participate in proportion of the public believes that the public service is
corporate and horizontal activities. inward-looking, self-serving and wasteful, and we have
found that many public servants share the same basic
Lack of time causes many problems. Mistakes can diagnosis. Confidence in the public service’s own values
be made simply due to fatigue or to the pace of events: and principles is further eroded by the soaring prestige
less time means less consultation, less involvement in of market models and of private sector values. The rapid
decisions, and less explanation. As decisions must be penetration of public administration by a business
made quickly, they are often made in a top-down manner, vocabulary and by private sector management techniques
based on hierarchy, and employees end up feeling less like reflects an authentic pursuit of improvement; but it also
valued collaborators and moral actors than as resources to expresses a desperate attempt to regain legitimacy by
be used, ignored and discarded. draping the public service in the borrowed clothes of
the market and of private enterprise.
Because issues are complex and there is little time
to deal with them, insufficient attention may be given As if the general decline of legitimacy for
to their implications or consequences for public service government and the public sector in general were not
values. And when mistakes of this kind are made, those enough, Canadian public service values are also affected
affected are unlikely to be tolerant. Persons under stress by a general decline in understanding of the principles
react strongly when their interests are affected and forget and practices of responsible government. Declining
that there can be many other legitimate ways to view sensitivity to or familiarity with the essential features
any situation. People may not take the time to reflect of parliamentary government, and the relationships that
that even values can conflict, and that difficult choices underlie it, is not limited to the general public or the
must be made between them. As a result, they are less media. It affects ministers, parliamentarians and public
understanding and forgiving than they otherwise servants too.
would be.
These various influences — and no doubt many
Many pressures on public service values come from more we have not named — have combined to create or to
outside the public service. Some of them come from broad exacerbate the five problem areas or challenges explored
59
 in the various chapters of this report. The result is that, However, we also stated that such statements have
although public service values have never been more their place. They are even essential at certain times and
important, they have never been under greater pressure for certain purposes. We believe this may be one of those
than they are today. times, because what is needed is something that goes
beyond the public service itself, something that helps link
To call this a crisis would be incorrect: it would not it to the broader framework of parliamentary government
do justice to the overwhelming majority of public servants in Canada.
who are living and representing sound public service
We suggest that, after a suitable period of preparation
“The legitimacy of public institutions will be enhanced by a renewed to be discussed below, the Government and Parliament of
pride and self-confidence on the part of public servants themselves, a Canada should adopt a statement of principles for public
confidence that can come from refocusing on the character of public service, or a public service code. Such a statement of
service as a public trust.” principles should not focus on conflict of interest or other
ethical issues. The public service already possesses conflict
values every day, often in very trying circumstances. of interest and post-employment guidelines. These deserve
We have deliberately refrained from doing so. However, to be better known and better understood, but they exist.
in the eyes of the Study Team, the public service has The statement that is needed should aim much higher. It
arrived at a turning point when action is required to should aim, above all, to set forth the role of the public
clarify and reaffirm public service values. service within the principles of federalism and responsible
government: to anchor the public service in its primordial
If public service values are affected by the declining values, those that we have called the “democratic values.”
legitimacy of government, they can also help to restore it.
The legitimacy of public institutions will be enhanced by a We have examined public service codes from a number
renewed pride and self-confidence on the part of public of countries and sponsoring organizations including the
servants themselves, a confidence that can come from UK, New Zealand, U.S. and Canada. Some are too much
refocusing on the character of public service as a public focused either on ethics or on managerial issues. A useful
trust. But this is a step that public servants cannot example is the proposed UK Civil Service Code. [This code
take alone. is included as Annex 3 to this report.] Among the virtues
of the British document are that it is brief and, above all,
A Statement of Principles that it is focused primarily on the principles of responsible
government: the relationship of officials to ministers and
We have been at pains throughout this report to the responsibility of ministers to Parliament. The other
emphasize the limits of codes and rules as far as the duties of public servants are rooted in and related to these
values of the public service are concerned. We have first principles. A striking feature of the British code is
emphasized, and will again, that abstract statements that it sets out not only the duties of public servants to
are less powerful than living models and broadly shared ministers, but also the duties of ministers to officials. For
practices, and are relatively powerless where these do not example, it enunciates the duties of ministers to uphold
exist. For this reason, we have underlined the overriding the political impartiality of the civil service, not to ask civil
importance of leadership and example, and the practices servants to act in any way which would conflict with the
that encourage and reward them. code, and to give fair consideration and due weight to
informed and impartial advice from civil servants in
reaching decisions. We must of course remember that the
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 UK is a unitary state, not a federation, in learning from Although we think a statement of the great principles
its example. of public service endorsed by the Government and
Parliament of Canada is now required as a foundation and
We think that a statement of principles or code of this reference point for public service values, we do not think
kind could help to provide not only a new foundation for the time is yet ripe for its adoption. We suggest a target
date of one year from the publication of this report. In the
“...a statement of principles or code of this kind could help to meantime, to prepare the ground for it, and to advance
provide not only a new foundation for public service values, but broader awareness and understanding of public service
could establish a new moral contract between the public service, values, we suggest a process of discussion now take place,
the Government and Parliament of Canada.” both inside and outside the public service.

public service values, but could establish a new moral The Next Steps
contract between the public service, the Government and
Parliament of Canada. In the Canadian case, we suggest In the introduction to this report, we used the image
that such a statement should set out the principles that of an honest dialogue to describe the process we have
govern the relations between public servants and been engaged in over the past year. It has been a
Parliament, especially parliamentary committees. As we remarkable journey, and it is one on which the public
pointed out in chapter 2, this is an area where public service as a whole should now embark. Over the coming
service values and conventions have been subject to great year, we suggest there should be a wide-ranging and
pressure in recent years, and a public statement of honest dialogue about values and ethics in the public
principles endorsed by the Government and Parliament of service, using the report of the Study Team as a starting
Canada could greatly help to put things on a clearer point. We suspect this dialogue will open up a host of
footing, especially in preparation for the creation of new important issues, including public service-wide issues such
program delivery agencies. as harassment, discrimination and conflicts in information
policy (openness and confidentiality).
A statement of public service principles could also
make provision, as the British code does, for the kind This dialogue on values should start at the top.
of recourse mechanisms we have recommended in In-depth discussions on values should be undertaken by
chapter 5 for public servants who believe they are being deputy ministers, and perspectives on values should be
asked to take actions that conflict with public service integrated into other public service renewal initiatives,
values and ethics. especially service initiatives, structural and organizational
reforms, and any revisions to the employment or human
A statement of public service principles should not resource management regimes. These discussions and a
attempt to do too much, however. The more it is loaded focus on values will energize and strengthen reform.
down with managerial or other detail, the less useful it will
be, and the swifter it will become dated. The ideal Dialogue should also embrace the entire public service
statement would be succinct, dignified in tone and diction, to the greatest possible extent. This wider process could be
focused on the great principles of public service, and coordinated under a central authority but it could also be
intended to endure. Other matters can be handled in other facilitated by the Canadian Centre for Management
ways, including the normal processes of leadership and Development (at least at the executive level), using a
discourse within the public service itself. variety of techniques, instruments and forums to reach the

61
 widest number of public servants, both in Ottawa and in all who believe they are being asked to perform an action
regions of Canada. contrary to sound public service values or ethics.

Within departments and agencies, we suggest that The main responsibility for ongoing concern about the
each deputy head should structure an internal process of condition of public service values will fall on the shoulders
discussion in such a way as to ensure that it will be open
and challenging, reflecting the kind of honest dialogue “Within each department, a person or office, at a senior level, should
that we ourselves have enjoyed and that should be part of be established to provide advice, support, and enforcement for the role
a healthy public service culture that encourages speaking of public service values and ethics in the department. Every
truth to power. department and agency should also establish an appropriate recourse
or appeal mechanism for members of departments concerned about
The dialogue we propose should not take place potential violations of accepted public service values or ethics.”
within the public service alone. Because there is need
for a new moral contract between the public service, of public service managers and leaders, especially deputy
and the Government and Parliament of Canada, we ministers. It will fall to them, more than to anyone else, to
suggest a process of dialogue should also be engaged articulate and to exemplify public service values, to lead
with ministers and with members of Parliament. by example, to earn the trust of their colleagues and to
This process would aim at developing a statement of encourage a continuing dialogue. Deputies should be held
principles of public service along the lines discussed in responsible and accountable for ensuring that core public
the preceding section, a statement or code that could service values are understood, respected and embodied in
eventually be adopted by the Government and Parliament their departments. Success in doing so should be a leading
of Canada. This discussion might also involve other criterion for appointment, performance assessment,
stakeholders such as public service unions, private discipline and promotion. Within each department, a
sector leaders, non-governmental organizations, and person or office, at a senior level, should be established to
leading academics. provide advice, support, and enforcement for the role of
public service values and ethics in the department. Every
At the end of a year of broad discussion inside department and agency should also establish an
and outside the public service, we propose the adoption appropriate recourse or appeal mechanism for members of
of a statement of principles for the public service, but this departments concerned about potential violations of
should not be the end of the story: it is only the beginning accepted public service values or ethics.
of what should be an ongoing process of public service
attention to values and ethics. In order to provide a focal Other activities should also continue through the
point for this ongoing concern and attention to values, coming year, and beyond. There is need for ongoing
we propose that, when a statement of principles has been research on public service values and ethics, especially the
adopted, an office should be established to provide advice experience of other parliamentary countries. This research
to public service leaders and managers on matters related should be undertaken or sponsored by organizations such
to values and ethics in the public service, to collect as CCMD and the Treasury Board.
information, and generally to coordinate administration
of the principles. At a public service-wide level, this office Ongoing training and development in the field of
might also provide the kind of confidential recourse or public service values and ethics is also needed at all levels,
appeal mechanism to support and counsel public servants both in corporate public service and departmental
programs. Orientation programs at all levels should pay
62
appropriate attention to values issues and discussion, public scrutiny and accountability; learning to hold a
and a variety of other programs, methodologies and public trust and to put public interests ahead of self;
approaches should be developed by CCMD, TDC and respecting the authority of law and of democratic will;
departmental training authorities to promote a deepened and entering into a community that values these as the
understanding of the role of values in the public service. foundations of good government. The values of public
The focus in such training or development activities should service are both its price and its reward.
be on how to think about values and ethics, how to discern
values and ethical issues in the public sector, and how to A community based on high ideals is bound to
deal with moral dilemmas and conflicts. Such training have its moments of disappointment or discouragement.
should emphasize the specific governmental context of People are not perfect; choices are difficult; the way ahead
values, helping public servants to relate values and ethics is not always clear; the debate over public purposes is
to the higher purposes of the public service as a national often messy, and sometimes raw; and the press of public
institution with a solemn public trust. There is a special business is great. In these circumstances, actions or
short-term need, even urgency, for broader training and decisions can sometimes fall short of the ideal, or appear
explanation about the Conflict of Interest and Post- to do so. And when they do, those who have devoted
Employment Codes within all departments. The existing themselves to the ideal may feel betrayed. They may
guidelines are sound, but they are not well understood. react strongly, conclude that the whole edifice of values
In an environment of employee takeovers, partnerships was a sham in the first place, and retreat into scepticism,
and new approaches to service delivery, the conflict of cynicism, or indifference.
interest issues are subtle, complex and widespread. Public
servants need a better understanding of them and of how A strong public service community, well rooted in its
the existing framework should be applied. This is also an values, will be able to surmount these moments of testing,
area in which the Treasury Board should be providing more recover its balance, and renew its calling. Public service,
active assistance to public service leaders and managers, and public service values, cannot be judged only by the
so that they can provide the necessary leadership on ways in which the profession falls short of its ideals. This
ethical matters to their employees. is bound to happen, in a human world. It must be judged
also by its aspirations; by its determination to maintain
A Strong Foundation them at a high level, and by its effort to achieve them.

Public service is a special calling. It is not for Moments of discouragement might be fewer or less
everyone. Those who devote themselves to it find grave if there were a wider understanding of how values
meaning and satisfaction that are not to be found interact or conflict in any human decision or action.
elsewhere. But the rewards are not material. They are Choices in human affairs are not often made between
moral and psychological, perhaps even spiritual. They something clearly bad and something clearly good; they
are the intangible rewards that proceed from the sense are made instead between competing goods. Liberty and
of devoting one’s life to the service of the country, to the equality may both be good, but they also conflict, and any
affairs of state, to public purposes, great or small, and choice where they are at stake will make trade-offs
to the public good. between them. The same is true of public service values.
In every choice to be made in the public service, a variety
The rewards of this special calling, like those of other of values is at play, and a weight must be given to each.
professions, come at a price. The price is submitting to Those with eyes fixed firmly on only one of these values
very high standards of professional conduct; accepting may lose track of the importance that should be, or has
63
 been, accorded to other important values. If we were more idealism about public service, an idealism that waits only
aware of how values conflict, we would have more insight to be tapped and channelled into firm commitment by a
into the complexity of our own situations, and the consistent pattern of behaviour and example from above.
decisions we ourselves have to make. We might also be
more generous to others, especially to those with very In rediscovering and reaffirming its values, not only
serious responsibilities, realizing more clearly the through words but through actions, the public service will
agonizing trade-offs and delicate balances go a long way to addressing the problem of public
that are entailed in every significant decision. legitimacy that affects governance today. Part of this is
cyclical. It has to do with the succeeding patterns of over-
If we have reason to be more insightful about the confidence and disappointment that wash over all social
tasks of leadership, we also have reason to expect much institutions. The wheel will turn again. And one of the
of it. It is through leadership and example, above all, that things that will help it to do so is clarity and conviction on
values are given force in daily life, and become part of the the part of the public service about its vocation, and the
real conduct of a community of persons. Leadership does values that sustain it. If declining legitimacy contributes
not come only from the top. In fact, at the moment it to undermining values or calls them into question, a
seems to us that much of the leadership on values is revival of public service values can also help to prepare
coming from the middle and lower levels of the public the ground for a future in which the balance of legitimacy
service who are showing forth public service values in swings again.
their daily work and lives, and sometimes ask themselves
whether these same values are shared by the higher levels In our view, public service renewal cannot come
of the service. They need and look for gestures, symbols, through new techniques or approaches to public
actions that confirm to them that public service values are management alone. These are important, even crucial,
important and are lived at all levels of the hierarchy. but they are the icing on the cake, the superstructure,
the outward manifestation of an inward reality. They will
One of the ways in which public service leaders will be not succeed — or worse, they will lead the public service
able to respond to this yearning will be in the leadership into the wrong paths — unless they are animated from
they are prepared to give, and the momentum they are within by sound public service values.
prepared to sustain, for discussion and action on public
service values through the year following the publication Renewal must come first from within: from values
of this report, and beyond. Nothing would be less helpful consciously held and daily enacted, values deeply rooted
than to assume that the whole matter of values was in our own system of government, values that help to
adequately addressed by a single report, or even by an create confidence in the public service about its own
eventual statement of public service principles. These are purpose and character, values that help us to regain our
only steps in a long process of constructing the foundation sense of public service as a high calling. This is the solid
for the public service of the future. foundation on which we can build the public service of the
future, a great national institution dedicated, as in the
If leadership and example from the top are past, to the service of Canadians and their form of
forthcoming and, what is more, sustained, we think they democratic government.
will meet a strong and welcoming response from below.
The cynicism or scepticism we encountered does not seem
to us to run deep. In fact, where it occurs, it appears very
often to be but a thin, defensive shell on a deep well of
64
A n n e x 1
Principles of the Conflict of Interest and Post-Employment Code for the Public Service

Annex 1
Principles of the Conflict of Interest and Post-Employment Code for the Public Service

Every employee shall conform to the

following principles:

1. employees shall perform their official duties and 6. employees shall not step out of their official
arrange their private affairs in such a manner roles to assist private entities or persons in their
that public confidence and trust in the integrity, dealings with the government where this would
objectivity and impartiality of government are result in preferential treatment to any person;
conserved and enhanced;
7. employees shall not knowingly take advantage
2. employees have an obligation to act in a manner of, or benefit from, information that is obtained
that will bear the closest public scrutiny, an in the course of their official duties and
obligation that is not fully discharged by simply responsibilities and that is not generally available
acting within the law; to the public;

3. employees shall not have private interests, other 8. employees shall not directly or indirectly use,
than those permitted pursuant to this Code, that or allow the use of, government property of any
would be affected particularly or significantly by kind, including property leased to the
government actions in which they participate; government, for anything other than officially
approved activities, and
4. on appointment to office, and thereafter,
employees shall arrange their private affairs in a 9. employees shall not act, after they leave public
manner that will prevent real, potential or office, in such a manner as to take improper
apparent conflicts of interest from arising, but if advantage of their previous office.
such a conflict does arise between the private
interests of an employee and the official duties
and responsibilities of that employee, the conflict
shall be resolved in favour of the public interest;

5. employees shall not solicit or accept transfers

of economic benefit, other than incidental gifts,
customary hospitality, or other benefits of
nominal value, unless the transfer is pursuant
to an enforceable contract or property right of
the employee;

65
66
A n n e x 2
Components of an Ethics Regime2

Annex 2
Components of an Ethics Regime2

The measures outlined below are designed for 4. Elaboration on the code, usually as commentary
application to the public service, but they can be combined under each principle, which explains more fully
with measures applicable to government as a whole, that the meaning of the principle and/or provides
is, to both politicians and public servants. Some of these illustrations of violations of the principle.
components are contained in the section of the Auditor
General’s report on “possible elements” of an ethical 5. Reference to the existence of ethics rules
framework. (statutes, regulations etc.) related to the problem
areas covered in the code and/or to problem
1. The evaluation of ethical performance as a basis areas covered elsewhere.
for appointing and promoting all members of the
public service, but especially its leadership. Note: Rules on such matters as harassment
and discrimination often constitute part
Note: The New Brunswick Office of the of a collective agreement between the
Comptroller General requires that government and an employee union.
employees sign off “to acknowledge
their understanding of [the Code of 6. Elaboration on the code, either following each
Conduct] on an annual basis as part of principle or in a separate part, which adapts the
their performance review.” code’s principles to the particular needs of
individual organizations.
2. A statement of values, including ethical values,
either as part of a strategic plan or as a separate Note: Conflict of Interest Guidelines for
document. Manitoba’s Department of Family
Services supplement government-wide
Note: This document is sometimes described as guidelines to provide for the particular
a credo or a statement of principles or problem of employees who work closely
philosophy. with community-based organizations but
also participate in the community as
3. A code of ethics (or conduct), linked to a value citizens.
statement (if one exists) which sets out general
principles of ethical conduct. 7. Provisions for administering the code, including
publicity, penalties for violations and provisions
Note: If there is a government-wide statement for grievance.
on ethics, it can be elaborated by
various sub-codes to meet the needs of Note: One technique for publicizing the code,
particular categories of officials, for especially in respect of conflict of
example, Cabinet ministers, legislators, interest, is to circulate it annually to all
public servants, Crown agency employees and have employees attest by
employees. their signature that they have read and
understood it.

67
2
Excerpt from Kernaghan, Kenneth, 1996. The Ethics Era in Canadian Public Administration, Research Paper No. 19. Ottawa: Canadian Centre for
Management Development.
 8. An ethics counsellor to perform advisory and 14. The inclusion of exit interviews (interviews with
administrative functions for senior public servants employees leaving the organization) to ask
across the government. questions about the employee’s view of the
ethical culture of the organization.
Note: An ethics counsellor could also perform
investigative and educational functions. The objective of outlining these components of an
He or she could perform the same ethics regime is to encourage public organizations to take
functions for cabinet ministers. a systematic approach to promoting ethical conduct. The
measures chosen, however, must be carefully geared to the
9. An ethics counsellor, ombudsman or committee to unique requirements of individual organizations. What has
provide advice on ethics rules and ethics issues been said about codes of conduct can be said about ethics
within a single department or agency. programs as a whole, namely, that they “should be crafted
from a rich empirical base, understandable in the climate
10. Ethics education/training for public servants, of the particular agency, making sense to those to whom
beginning with the most senior echelons and new they apply — down-to-earth, realistic... The goal is to
employees. underscore that the standards of honesty go hand in
hand with those of efficiency and competence.”4 An
These approaches can be supplemented by other ethics regime containing an appropriate selection of
measures that are less common or more the measures discussed above can help to make ethics
controversial than those shown above. an integral part of daily dialogue and decision-making.
In government decision-making, ethical considerations
11. An ethics audit to evaluate the organization’s are tightly intertwined with political and managerial
policies and procedures for preserving and ones and all three dimensions are essential to
nurturing ethical behaviour.3 successful governance.

Note: Depending on the sophistication of the

existing ethics regime, the audit can be
done either before any of the above
measures are adopted or as a means of
assessing a regime already in operation.

12. The raising of ethical considerations in a

deliberate and regular way at meetings and
through such other means of communication as
newsletters.

13. The provision of a confidential hotline that public

servants can use to discuss concerns about their
personal ethical behaviour or that of others.

68
3
See the model ethics audit in Lewis, pp. 199-202.
4
Robert C. Wood, quoted in Lewis, The Ethics Challenge in Public Service, p. 158.
A n n e x 3
The UK Civil Service Code

Annex 3
The UK Civil Service Code

1 The constitutional and practical role • the duty to comply with the law, including
of the Civil Service is, with integrity, honesty, international law and treaty obligations, and
impartiality and objectivity, to assist the duly to uphold the administration of justice;
constituted Government, of whatever political
complexion, in formulating policies of the together with the duty to familiarise themselves
Government, carrying out decisions of the with the contents of this Code.
Government and in administering public services
for which the Government is responsible. 4 Civil servants should serve the duly constituted
Government in accordance with the principles set
2 Civil servants are servants of the Crown. out in this Code and recognising:
Constitutionally, the Crown acts on the advice of
Ministers and, subject to the provisions of this • the accountability of civil servants to the
Code, civil servants owe their loyalty to the duly Minister or, as the case may be, the office
constituted Government. holder in charge of their department;

3 This Code should be seen in the context of • the duty of all public officers to discharge
the duties and responsibilities of Ministers set public functions reasonably and according to
out in Questions of Procedure for Ministers the law;
which include:
• the duty to comply with the law, including
• accountability to Parliament; international law and treaty obligations, and
to uphold the administration of justice; and
• the duty to give Parliament and the public as
full information as possible about the • ethical standards governing particular
policies, decisions and actions of the professions.
Government, and not to deceive or knowingly
mislead Parliament and the public; 5 Civil servants should conduct themselves with
integrity, impartiality and honesty. They should
• the duty not to use public resources for party give honest and impartial advice to Ministers,
political purposes, to uphold the political without fear or favour, and make all information
impartiality of the Civil Service, and not to relevant to a decision available to Ministers. They
ask civil servants to act in any way which should not deceive or knowingly mislead
would conflict with the Civil Service Code; Ministers, Parliament or the public.

• the duty to give fair consideration and due 6 Civil servants should endeavour to deal with the
weight to informed and impartial advice affairs of the public sympathetically, efficiently,
from civil servants, as well as to other promptly and without bias or maladministration.
considerations and advice, in reaching
decisions; and

69
 7 Civil servants should endeavour to ensure • is illegal, improper, or unethical;
the proper, effective and efficient use of
public money. • is in breach of constitutional convention or a
professional code;
8 Civil servants should not misuse their official
position or information acquired in the course • may involve possible maladministration; or
of their official duties to further their private
interests or those of others. They should not • is otherwise inconsistent with this Code;
receive benefits of any kind from a third party
which might reasonably be seen to compromise he or she should report the matter in accordance
their personal judgment or integrity. with procedures laid down in departmental
guidance or rules of conduct. A civil servant
9 Civil servants should conduct themselves in such should also report to the appropriate authorities
a way as to deserve and retain the confidence of evidence of criminal or unlawful activity by others
Ministers and to be able to establish the same and may also report in accordance with
relationship with those whom they may be departmental procedures if he or she becomes
required to serve in some future Administration. aware of other breaches of this Code or is
They should comply with restrictions on their required to act in a way which, for him or her,
political activities. The conduct of civil servants raises a fundamental issue of conscience.
should be such that Ministers and potential future
Ministers can be sure that confidence can be 12 Where a civil servant has reported a matter
freely given, and that the Civil Service will covered in paragraph 11 in accordance with
conscientiously fulfil its duties and obligations procedures laid down in departmental guidance
to, and impartially assist, advise and carry out or rules of conduct and believes that the response
the policies of the duly constituted Government. does not represent a reasonable response to the
grounds of his or her concern, he or she may
10 Civil servants should not without authority report the matter in writing to the Civil
disclose official information which has been Service Commissioners.
communicated in confidence within Government,
or received in confidence from others. Nothing in 13 Civil servants should not seek to frustrate the
the Code should be taken as overriding existing policies, decisions or actions of Government by
statutory or common law obligations to keep declining to take, or abstaining from, action
confidential, or to disclose, certain information. which flows from ministerial decisions. Where a
They should not seek to frustrate or influence the matter cannot be resolved by the procedures set
policies, decisions or actions of Government by out in paragraphs 11 and 12 above, on a basis
the unauthorised, improper or premature which the civil servant concerned is able to
disclosure outside the Government of any accept, he or she should either carry out his or
information to which they have had access as her instructions, or resign from the Civil Service.
civil servants. Civil servants should continue to observe their
duties of confidentiality after they have left
11 Where a civil servant believes he or she is being Crown employment.
required to act in a way which:
70
L i s t o f M e m b e r s
CCMD Study Team on Public Service Values and Ethics

John Tait (Chair) Arthur Kroeger

Senior Advisor, Privy Council Office and Senior Fellow, Former federal public servant
Canadian Centre for Management Development
Judith Moses
Margaret Amoroso Executive Director, Training Programs Branch,
Visiting Assistant Deputy Minister, Canadian Centre for Public Service Commission
Management Development
Nicole Senécal3
Ercel Baker Sous-ministre adjointe (Travail), Développement des
Former federal public servant ressources humaines Canada

Claude Bernier1 Georges Tsaï

Sous-ministre adjointe, Transports Canada Assistant Deputy Minister, Partnerships,
Citizenship and Immigration
David Brown
Executive Director, Information, Communication &
Security Policy, Treasury Board Secretariat Observer/Observateur

Lorette Goulet Kevin Doyle

Conseillère spéciale auprès du Sous-ministre Senior Policy Advisor
Développement des ressources humaines Canada Privy Council Office

Ralph Heintzman (Vice-Chair) Secretariat provided by CCMD Research Group /

Vice-Principal, Research, Canadian Centre for Secrétariat fourni par le Groupe de la recherche du CCG
Management Development
André Burelle, Faculty Member, CCMD
Alex Himelfarb Greg Fyffe, Faculty Member, CCMD (Facilitator / Animateur)
Assistant Secretary to the Cabinet Social Policy, Arnold Zeman, Faculty Member, CCMD (Secretary /
Privy Council Office Secrétaire)

Martha Hynna2
Visiting Assistant Deputy Minister, Strategic Projects,
Public Service Commission

Professor Kenneth Kernaghan

Brock University, St. Catharines, Ontario

71
1
Member from May 9, 1995 to June 19, 1995 / Membre du 9 mai 1995 au 19 juin 1995
2
Joined on November 20, 1995 / Devenue membre le 20 novembre 1995
3
Member from November 1995 to May 1996 / Membre de novembre 1995 à mai 1996
72
S e l e c t e d B i b l i o g r a p h y
CCMD Study Team on Public Service Values and Ethics

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