Former Progressive Conservative deputy prime minister Don Mazankowski will soon be drawing on his experience to advise the government on renewal of the federal public service.
He has been named co-chair of a new advisory committee to suggest how Ottawa can renew the civil service in the face of massive retirements and program realignments over the next decade.
Three of the nine “eminent Canadians” appointed to the committee come from prime minister Stephen Harper’s home and political base of Alberta – Mazankowski from Vegreville and Calgary, University of Alberta president Indira Samarasekera and Capital Health Region president Sheila Weatherill from Edmonton.
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Mazankowski’s co-chair is Paul Tellier, a former senior civil servant and Canadian National Railway president.
This is the latest in a long line of promises to reshape government. Successive governments for the past two decades have announced plans to revitalize the public service, which employs more than 200,000 Canadians.
Most have made little difference.
Harper said current challenges facing the government workforce include how to adjust to changing program designs and public demands, how to improve accountability and how to attract a new generation of employees.
“This is particularly true as the current baby boom generation retires,” he said. “The future development of the public service requires sound advice, innovative solutions and strong support from both within and outside government.”
The committee will meet twice a year and prepare an annual report for the government which will be tabled in Parliament.
Mazankowski, 71, retired from Parliament in 1993 after 21 years as an Alberta MP.
He served in a variety of cabinet posts, including a stint as agriculture minister, transport minister and minister responsible for the Canadian Wheat Board.
