The intergovernmental affairs function in Saskatchewan, 1960-1983

Article Abstract:

The Canadian federal system has recently emerged from a period of intense stress and change. Some of these changes have been structural and formal, such as the patriation of the constitution in April of 1982. Others have occurred as the result of persistent demands of active daily political interchange. Prominent among the new structures are intergovernmental affairs agencies, dedicated in the main to managing contacts between the various orders of government. The provincial government in Saskatchewan became involved in this process, creating several agencies designed to manage intergovernmental contact during the 1970s and 1980s. This article traces the development of these intergovernmental agencies, providing detail about staffing, goals, and issues. In particular its tests the generally accepted hypothesis that such agencies result mainly from the need to manage increasingly numerous and complex intergovernmental contacts. It finds this explanation to be inappropriate in Saskatchewan. Instead, it would appear that a conjunction of circumstances important to the political economy of the province promoted the development of an increasingly sophisticated intergovernmental affairs capacity dedicated to defending the province's entrepreneurial interests. As well, the study challenges the premise that guarding jurisdiction is a primary goal of governments, concluding that these actions seem to be linked to other more important goals. Finally, the study reasserts the importance of ideology, demonstrating that in the case of Saskatchewan, the NDP government's emphasis on public ownership heavily influenced the type of intergovernmental agency, as well as the timing of its development. (Reprinted by permission of the publisher.)

Saskatchewan, Provinces

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The evolution of program budget ideas in Canada: does Parliament benefit from Estimates reform?

Article Abstract:

The article examines the federal Estimates budget from the perspective of whether or not the program format enhances democratic control. It introduces the idea of the budgetary system as a control in a generic management process, and then traces reforms in the accountability side of the Canadian federal government's central management system through the past twenty years. It concludes that the implementation of this version of PPBS was an error, and that it will be difficult to correct, because the budget design is embedded in the network of central institutions, which includes the Office of the Auditor General (OAG). A distinctive kind of "meta control" is now a characteristic of the federal context, and is not clearly managed by government from one decision centre. The author argues that the system does not seve parliament. Instead it encourages bureaucratic or silent politics at several levels: inside departments; between departments and the OAG; and an implicit system of elite accommodation between the OAG, central agencies and the government. (Reprinted by permission of the publisher.)

Management, Budget, Budgeting, Budgets, Canada. Office of the Auditor-General

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"Of secretaries to princes."

Article Abstract:

An enduring issue of public administration is the ability of our political leadership to implement an agenda and to master events. This question has acquired new urgency in Canada and the United States with the publicity given to personnel problems in the offices of the prime minister and leader of the opposition, and with the role of the White House staff in the Iran-Contra affair. Using examples drawn from the author's past position as principal secretary to Prime Minister Trudeau, the article argues that: (a) it is possible to prevent the urgent from overwhelming the important but only if a strategic plan is adopted; (b) to implement such a strategic plan it is necessary to have a highly competent, partisan personal staff; but (c) we are in danger in Canada of blurring the lines between a partisan Prime Minister's Office and our tradition of a neutral public service. Such a blurring will impede the attempt to develop a strategic prime ministership. (Reprinted by permission of the publisher.)

Strategic planning (Business)

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