ARCHIVED - Expenditure Review of Federal Public Sector - Volume One - The Analytical Report and Recommendation

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Volume One

The Analytical Report and Recommendation

Acknowledgements

A complex and comprehensive report such as this necessarily depends on the input and collaboration of a great many people, each expert in his or her own way. These acknowledgements list as completely as possible those who have contributed to making this Report feasible. Their generosity and wisdom were invaluable; they of course bear no responsibility for any errors or misunderstandings that may remain.

Clients

This review was undertaken at the instigation of Jim Judd, then Secretary of the Treasury Board. Alex Himelfarb, then Clerk of the Privy Council, concurred in this assignment. The Honourable Reg Alcock, President of the Treasury Board at that time, agreed that this study should be among the expenditure reviews mandated early in 2004 by the Treasury Board.

The Honourable Lucienne Robillard, former President of the Treasury Board, was not directly involved in the Review, except as a member of the Treasury Board agreeing to the suite of expenditure reviews. However, her rigour and passion for good management had encouraged earlier work on compensation planning that formed a foundation for this project.

Wayne Wouters, Jim Judd's successor as Secretary of the Treasury Board strongly supported the completion of the project, as did Linda Lizotte-MacPherson, Associate Treasury Board Secretary.

Team Members

Through the course of the project, the author appreciated the commitment of several full or part-time team members assigned from the Treasury Board Secretariat. These were indispensable to the work, carrying out research, managing logistics, and conducting consultations with other specialists. Some also participated in planning the report, in the writing, and in critiquing the text.

Lee Beatty contributed from February 2004 until July 2005, principally on issues of comparability, and on managing the external verification. Monique Paquin was project co-ordinator from the beginning in January 2004 until the autumn of the same year. Noomen Ketata designed numerous figures and tables through much of 2004. Don Booth played a variety of research and editorial roles off and on between late 2004 and early 2006. His efforts in March and April 2006 were indispensable to bringing the Report to a conclusion. Joanne Di Raimo managed the author's schedule, maintained project records, and assisted in many other ways. For the later stages of finalizing the Report, the work benefited from the research and logistical support of Louise Richer and Lucie Proulx.

David Swayze, an experienced consultant active on human resource and compensation issues in the public service, provided research and editorial services, as well as drafting slide presentations based on the Report. His frank criticism and friendly encouragement were invaluable. Joanne Godin edited the text, improving greatly its accessibility for readers. As with all good editors, her most difficult suggestions generally proved the wisest to accept. Ron Thibault and Randi Saunders Morry assisted greatly in revising the text for consistency. Mary Daly, another human resources consultant, helped situate federal public sector compensation in the context of broader compensation theory and practice. Terry Lister of IBM Business Consulting Services Canada, and Judy Lendvay-Zwickl of the Conference Board of Canada were generous early in the project in sharing their broad insights on compensation theory and practice.

The Translation Bureau expedited their high-quality work with an eye to ensuring consistency of style, a challenge in a work of this size. Jean Pierre Toupin and Marie-Claude Faubert designed the final document and matched the French text to the changes made to the English version. I am grateful to the French editor, Jean Pierre Toupin, for maintaining the quality of the French text while matching the reorganizations and revisions undertaken in the English version.

Expert Contributors

Dozens of employees of the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat (TBS) and the Public Service Human Resources Management Agency of Canada (Agency) put in long hours to provide data, explain policy, and review text for the Report. TBS Assistant Secretaries and Agency Vice-Presidents Hélène Laurendeau, Phil Charko, David Moloney (and his predecessors Kevin Page and Mike Joyce), Rick Burton, and Mark Corey were most supportive in facilitating contributions by members of their staffs. In addition, Hélène provided office space and logistic support after the author left the Treasury Board Secretariat in late 2004; she also read and commented on several parts of the text. Phil, Rick and Mark commented as well.

In the areas of employment, salaries and total compensation, as well as economic indicators and analysis, indispensable contributors from TBS included: Louis Beauséjour, Richard Stuart, Alex Hui, Jim Plumpton, Marc Richard, Rick Hartrick, Louise Richer, and Bibi Majeed. Richard Stuart and Alex Hui were exceptionally devoted, rigorous, and creative colleagues on some of the most difficult aspects of the Report. On matters relating to expenditure analysis relating to salaries and benefits, Hubert Séguin has been a pioneer whose work proved invaluable to this Report.

On the subject of public service pensions, the Report relied heavily on the expertise of Bryce Peacock, with assistance from Claude Gagné, Linda Hansen, John Kay, Tony Rizzotto and Benoît Robert. On the various benefit plans, our principal advisor was Rolf Amundsen, with input from Ron Kaden, Diane Filby, Kathy Jordan, Terry Ranger, Jean-Pierre Breton, and Dale De Spiegelaere.

On classification and reclassification issues, the project benefited from policy and quantitative input from Patricia Power and Jake Hogervorst from the Agency, and from Public Service Commission employees Kent Sproul and Harris Sinclair.

In regard to executive classification and compensation, Agency officials in the Leadership Network contributed generously. These included in particular: Ken Kritsch, Carolyn Guest, and Lynn Lemire-Lauzon. Wayne McCutcheon and Ginette Bougie of the Senior Personnel Secretariat at the Privy Council Office provided related expertise.

In the area of pay equity, the Report benefited particularly from input from Linda Giroux, who had developed a version of the proposals presented in Recommendation 17. On collective bargaining, Don Graham and Michel Lefrançois were most useful. Mylène Bouzigon, Treasury Board Senior General Counsel provided welcome advice on these and other legal topics affecting the Report.

On matters of Public Accounts and government financing practices, John Morgan and Louise Breton from the Office of the Comptroller General were generous with their counsel.

Statistics Canada was active in assisting with some comparability analysis based on their databases, and in verifying our use of publicly available Statistics Canada data. The Chief Statistician, Ivan Fellegi, readily facilitated support from his staff. Among those most involved were Mike Sheridan and his successor Richard Barnabé, both Assistant Chief Statisticians, and several staff including Peter Morrison in the Social, Institutional and Labour Statistics Field.

In developing the material on the Canadian Forces, the Report obtained essential data and corrections through the ready cooperation of Vice-Admiral G.E. Jarvis and various members of his staff, including Colonel J.C. Rochette, Captain Chuck Garnier, and Commander G. Vandervoort. Colonel McCarthy provided information on the Canadian Forces Health and Dental Service. Within the Treasury Board Secretariat, Rae Angus was most useful on Canadian Forces matters.

On the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Paul Gauvin, Deputy Commissioner, Corporate Management and Comptrollership, was unfailingly helpful through several rounds of fact gathering, revisions and verification. Staff input from Marie Stewart, Roxanne Noël, and Sylvain Murray was greatly appreciated. Fred Drummie, Chair of the RCMP Pay Council, provided comments on the text. Michel Haddad in TBS was also helpful regarding RCMP issues.

Regarding the Canada Customs and Revenue Agency, the Report profited from data and thoughtful input supplied by Dan Tucker, Deputy Commissioner, Human Resources, as well as Claude Tremblay, Director General, Staff Relations and Compensation, and Debi Pilgrim. On the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, Fiona Spenser, Vice President, Human Resources was very helpful. On the National Research Council, Mary McLaren, Director General of Human Resources provided needed information and perspective. On Parks Canada, the Report benefited from the help of Chris Reny, Team Leader, Compensation and Benefits. On the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation, Jim Miller, Vice-President, Risk Management and Communications, assisted. Guy Tremblay, Director General, Finance at Human Resources and Skill Development Canada provided useful views from a departmental perspective on the rationale for conversion of non-salary to salary dollars.

On matters relating to parliamentary compensation, the Report benefited from data and commentary from Luc Desroches, Director General, Corporate Services for the House of Commons, and from Murielle Boucher of the Library of Parliament, as well as Connie Balasa and Hélène Lavoie on the staff of the Senate.

In relation to consultant daily rates, the Report relied on information supplied by Peter Everson and Bill McCann of Consulting and Audit Canada, and Josée Touchette, Assistant Deputy Minister, Corporate Services at Justice Canada.

External Contributors

Several distinguished experts, mainly from outside the federal government, were generous in offering advice on the issues covered in the Report and in some cases on parts of the draftReport. These contributions were exceptionally important in maintaining perspective and validating findings over the past two years.

Thanks are due in particular to: Gary Breen, of Gary Breen and Associates; Jean-Claude Bouchard, President of the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency; Ian Clark, President of the Council of Ontario Universities; Fred Drummie, Chairperson of the RCMP Pay Council; Jean-Guy Fleury, Chairperson of the Immigration and Refugee Board; Morley Gunderson, Professor at the University of Toronto; Martha Hynna, Chairperson of the Public Service Health Care Trust; Nitya Iyer, a lawyerwith Heenan Blaikie in Vancouver; Alain Jolicoeur, President of the Canada Border Services Agency; Judith Maxwell, then President, Canadian Policy Research Networks; Jim Mitchell, Senior Partner, Sussex Circle; John O'Grady of John O'Grady Consulting Inc.; Sylvie St-Onge of Hautes Études Commerciales in Montreal; Jodi White, President, Public Policy Forum; and David Zussman, Executive Vice-President of Ekos Research.

Early in the Project, several external experts agreed to brief the author on compensation practices. These included: Gary Dobbie, Senior Vice-President, Compensation, Benefits and Employee Relations at the Royal Bank of Canada; David Dodge, Governor of the Bank of Canada; Don Drummond, Chief Economist for the Toronto Dominion Bank; Warren Edmondson, Chairperson of the Canada Industrial Relations Board; Shirley Howe, Public Service Commissioner for the Government of Alberta; Jean-François Munn, partner in Loranger Marcoux in Montreal; André Ouellet, then President of Canada Post; Yvon Tarte, Chairperson of the Public Service Staff Relations Board; Laura Thanasse, Vice-President, Compensation at Sun Life; Roland Theriault, partner in Mercer Consulting in Montreal; and Kevin Wilson, Assistant Deputy Minister, Human Resources for the Ontario Management Board.

It would have been desirable to include representatives of the federal public service unions in these consultations. However, after an invitation by the author to the Executive of the National Joint Council, the unions declined to participate. After his retirement as President of the Professional Institute of the Public Service in December 2004, Steve Hindle did review and comment on parts of the draft Report, drawing on his extensive experience as a union leader. Among the external advisors, John O'Grady also brought a long involvement in compensation issues from a union perspective to bear in his comments.

Other Assistance

Numerous others also helped with the project and the Report in various ways at various times. In the Treasury Board Secretary's Office, Rose Kattackal, Mary Gregory, and Enza Mattioli were always helpful. Stephen Silcox and Mike Giles in Corporate Services helped with contracting and financial management. Bianca Bertrand assisted in staffing the project. Roxanne Lépine and Cendrine Brisson in Hélène Laurendeau's office were unfailingly hospitable and helpful.

Michael Horgan, the Deputy Minister of Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, was patient in allowing the author time at various points in 2005 and early 2006 to finish the Report.

 

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