e-forum e-Forum November 2006 1. President's Message The year…

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 e-Forum November 2006

 1. President's Message
 The year may be ending but there's a lot to look forward to before it's done, says Jodi White

 2. Osbaldeston Lecture
 Your guide to an event the Forum hopes will become an autumn mainstay.

 3. How Quebec Governs
 Politics heats up in la Belle Province. The Forum is there.

 4. Reviving Our Arctic Policy
 The Forum looks at an oft-neglected region and the compelling issues marking its future

 5. November-December Calendar of Events

 1. President's Message

 The last two months of the year might be an odd time to talk about beginnings but the list of events the Forum is
 organizing for this period has the unmistakable feel of newness.

 At the top of the list is a project that has already received considerable outside interest since it was announced in
 September. The project is called Canada's Public Service in the 21st Century and it is one of the Forum's most
 ambitious undertakings ever. We want it to be a study of the public service that will involve a wide array of
 participants from all sectors of the economy, regions of the country and from young Canadians as well as old. The
 project will take several forms: from roundtables of selected invitees to higher-profile public events. As it looks at the
 trends and challenges facing the federal bureaucracy, the project will also define the choices observers believe the
 public service must make in order to remain a vital national institution.

 The first event under the banner of the public service project will be the inaugural Gordon Osbaldeston lecture, Nov.
 15 at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa. The lecture is named after the distinguished former bureaucrat we believe
 represents the best of the country's public service. Former Supreme Court Justice Frank Iacobucci will deliver the
 lecture. Ian Green, a former deputy minister of Health, is heading the public service project as the Forum's new Chair
 in Public Service Governance. (Ticket information is available on our Web site at www.ppforum.ca.) You can read an
 interview with Ian in this edition of e-Forum, as he considers our first steps in this important and singular endeavour.

 As focused as we are on the public service project, we have plenty of other works underway. Forum Vice-President
 Graham Fox will chair a conference on Quebec's political future. It will take place Nov. 6-7 in Montreal. Forum
 Director of Special Projects Yves Poisson is planning a Dec. 13 conference to study the economic, social and political
 issues facing Canada's North. And Director of Special Projects Katherine Baird is working with the Privy Council
 Office on the Government of Canada Fellows Program, a private-public sector exchange program that kicks off this

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 month with information sessions in Calgary, Toronto and Montreal. Fellows Program

 I look forward to having you join us.

 Jodi White

 2. Osbaldeston Lecture

 Former Deputy Minister Ian Green, now the Forum's Chair of Public Service Governance, is heading the project,
 Canada's Public Service in the 21st Century. The first major event in this sweeping, multi-year project is the Gordon
 Osbaldeston lecture scheduled for Nov. 15 at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa.

 Ian Green answers a few questions about the event from Joe Paraskevas, Director of Communications.

 Who is Gordon Osbaldeston and what is your goal in organizing a lecture in his name?

 Gordon Osbaldeston is a former Clerk of the Privy Council. Gordon had a long, distinguished and widely respected
 public service career. He has also lectured and written with keen insight on many public sector issues. Our goal in
 organizing an annual lecture in his name is to carry on his tradition of thoughtful service, dialogue and analysis of
 public service. The lecture is an opportunity to invite well-known individuals to share their views on key issues and in
 so doing generate greater profile, awareness and understanding around public service issues and challenges.

 What is the broad message of Frank Iacobucci's speech and why is such a message compelling at this time?

 Our inaugural guest speaker is Frank Iacobucci, a former Deputy Minister of
 Justice and former Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada. Frank's speech will focus on the role of the public service
 in supporting and sustaining Canada's democratic political system. This goes to the heart of what the public service is
 about. A professional, non-corrupt and non-partisan public service is an essential element of a healthy democracy and
 prosperous society. It is a timely subject given recent debates around accountability and public trust, calls for public
 service renewal and the ongoing discussion of how to enhance policy capacity and leadership across the public service.

 The Osbaldeston lecture is a key feature of the Public Policy Forum's project on Canada's Public Service in the 21st
 Century. The plan is to make the lecture an annual event that profiles and promotes public service issues. At the same
 time, we hope to address key questions around leadership, policy-making, management of people and public resources
 and accountability through a range of additional activities ranging from roundtables to surveys to targeted research and
 publications.

 To whom do you expect to appeal with this lecture - a relatively large event for the Forum? Does this lecture have
 public appeal beyond bureaucratic circles?

 We'd like the lecture to appeal to as wide an audience as possible. The role of the
 public service is an issue that should concern other sectors, jurisdictions academics, media and the public.

 One question about the public service project: what do you believe the public service needs that the Forum can
 provide through Canada's Public Service in the 21st Century?

 The public service faces many challenges in adapting itself to a changing world and to new realities. It is a large and
 central national institution. Building on the PPF's experience as an independent and respected organization in
 addressing public service issues, we think we can support an open and forward-looking exercise that tackles the myths
 and realities of today's public service, envisions what future capacities and characteristics are necessary and candidly


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 assesses barriers to change. We can and ought to bring a range of interests like business, NGOs, provinces and
 territories, academics, youth, media and other members of the public to the discussion. Canada's public service needs
 and deserves this kind of attention and engagement.

 3. Gouverner le Québec - (How Quebec Governs)
 Quels enjeux se pointent à l'horizon au Québec? Comment ceux-ci seront-ils affectés par l'environnement politique
 changeant? Comment les valeurs des Québécois et du Canada anglais divergent-elles? Quel impact cette divergence
 aura-t-elle sur les relations Québec-Canada? Ce sont les questions qui seront abordées lors de cet échange privilégié
 s'adressant aux chercheurs et aux chefs de file de la société civile ainsi que des secteurs public et privé. Formulaire
 d'inscription. Pour plus de renseignements, veuillez communiquer avec Dianne Gravel.

 4. Reviving Our Arctic Policy - Economic Transformation North of 60º
 Prime Minister Stephen Harper recently touted northern development and Arctic sovereignty as important Canadian
 issues shaped and understood by most Southerners based on romantic imagery rather than practical experience. This
 one-day roundtable aims to dispel myths and misunderstandings about Canada North of 60º by facilitating a dialogue
 between a cross-section of leaders and experts about the key challenges and opportunities facing Northern Canada
 including: the economic development of Canada's northern oil & gas and mining resources, Arctic sovereignty and
 security, devolution and the regulatory framework, federal-territorial-Aboriginal partnerships, and investments in
 social infrastructure and human resources necessary for sustainable growth.
 Registration form. For more information, please contact Julia Oliveira

 5. Calendar of Forum Events

 November

 6-7 - How Quebec Governs (Gouverner le Québec), Delta Centre-Ville, Montreal. Contact Graham Fox, 613.238.7160
 x228

 9 - Public Policy Forum Breakfast Presentation by Frank Graves, (President, EKOS Research Associates), 7:30 a.m. to
 9 a.m., The Rideau Club, Ottawa. Contact Dianne Gravel, 613.238.7858 x233

 15 - First Annual Gordon Osbaldeston Lecture, National Arts Centre, Ottawa. Contact Julia Oliveira, 613.238.7160
 x244

 22 - PPF Power Hour: What Will it Take to Get Out the Vote?, National Club, Toronto. Contact Kelly Cyr,
 613.238.7160 x248

 December

 13 - Reviving Our Arctic Policy, Crowne Plaza, Ottawa. Contact: Julia Oliveira, 613.238.7160 x244

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