Speaking Truth to Canadians about Their Public Service

by Donald J. Savoie

The federal public service plays a vital role in Canada’s development by helping to shape public policies and deliver programs and services to Canadians. Speaking Truth to Canadians about Their Public Service provides a comprehensive review of the challenges confronting the public service, how the relationship between politicians and career officials has evolved in recent years, and what motivates public servants.

Donald Savoie calls on Canadians and their politicians to consider what they want from their federal public service. Answering this question requires a fresh look at the government’s traditional accountability requirements, how policies are shaped, and how government programs and services are delivered. It also requires a review of ambitious modernization and reform measures launched over the past forty years to make the public service more accommodating to political direction and to improve program delivery. Dividing federal public servants into two groups – poets (those who write policy) and plumbers (those who deliver programs and services) – the book establishes who has the upper hand. This division sheds new light on the theories that seek to explain the attitudes and behaviours of career government officials.

Amid increasingly stronger signs that the public service is in need of a reset, Speaking Truth to Canadians about Their Public Service concludes with practical recommendations to assist Canadians and their politicians in defining what they want their public service to be.

Genres: Canada

352 pages, Hardcover

Published September 10, 2024

Reviews

[Musam · Rating 5 out of 5]

A well written piece by Savoie that lays out all there is to know about the Federal Public Service in Canada in 2024.

Savoie masterfully explains what the challenges are, how we got here, and proposes some solutions that could get the public service back to the reputation it once had in Canada.

A key point that stuck with me throughout the book is how little incentive there is to change anything, managers and executives just want to "serve up" and look good to their superiors and to the political class, while frontline workers are disregarded and the actual service to Canadians deteriorates.

[Boer Cui · Rating 3 out of 5]

Became a little repetitive towards the end but gives a good explanation of the key issues.

[Alison Kat · Rating 3 out of 5]

The foundational concepts of this book were extremely interesting but the second half of the book was very repetitive.