Prime Ministerial Leadership, the Public Service and Administrative Reform in Canada: Part 1

Doctors Phidd and Dwivedi present a detailed analysis of Prime Ministerial Leadership, the Public Service and Administrative Reform in Canada. The authors describe the history of the public service and administrative reform in Canada. While the role of the respective prime ministers is central to their discussion, they carefully describe legislation and institutional changes which impacted the public service as well. Detail is given concerning the role of the Privy Council, Treasury Board, Civil Service Commission, and other agencies, offices, task forces and commissions. Prime ministerial initiatives are juxtaposed against environmental challenges and government power blocks, suggesting a need to pay greater attention to how public sector organizations are managed. The authors go on to describe how contemporary public administration studies have pointed to the complexities involved in public sector organizations. They further suggest that this requires more analysis of what happens within public sector organizations. They also call for greater study of organizational development and change within the public sector. The Phidd & Dwivedi article presented in this issue ends in the 1980’s with the administration of Prime Minister Brian Mulroney. Part two will cover “Prime Ministerial Leadership, the Public Service and Administrative Reform in Canada: Public Sector Reforms from the 1980’s to 2000 and Beyond”. Part two will appear in the Summer 2007 issue of this review