Someone pointed me to a comment on Reddit that it would be easier to cut in communications because we just cut ad spend.
I’m not on Reddit so I’ll just post the answer here - advertising and sponsorship budgets were in the departments we serve and they paid ad costs directly with only very limited exceptions (we had a small budget for social media boosting which actually didn’t exist in the first fiscal year noted - was funded from savings).
The numbers above are the operations of communications, not ads: marketing services, translation services, PR, events, public opinion, consultations, design, media monitoring, web infrastructure and writing, etc.
Great advice for public and any private sector organizations looking for sustainable efficiencies. The credibility of this advice is confirmed by its demonstrated success. This should find its way into a Globe & Mail OpEd piece. Canadians would be impressed and reassured that this government is serious about fundamental, structural change to improve national productivity.
Once again, you validate the decision of Calgary Confederation to elect you as our MP. The experience, knowledge and perspective that you bring to government are an essential asset to the Liberal team.
It’s baked into all your broader points, but I’d explicitly add incentives and goals. Without explicitly defined goals as part of regular performance review, managers and organizations simply exist to exist. Regarding incentives, I don’t mean monetary incentives necessarily, but rather incentivizing correct behaviors and decision making. Without incentivizing the right behaviors and goals, none of the other points, as right as they are, have any chance of sustained success.
I truly hope that the fed govt listens carefully to the knowledge and wisdom you gained from your direct experience in AB.
Re-organizing the federal public service has historically been a highly daunting task, especially in this millennium.
Harper came in fired up to cut the Ottawa "fatcats," but ended up merely reallocating and somehow not reducing at all. He also neglected to invest in modernizing/digitizating, which is sure catching up to us now.
Trudeau added some 40% more public servants over his decade, way out of proportion to population growth.
And at this moment, our national govt needs to do more and do it more quickly.
I wish all involved much patience, strength, and success in navigating the changes required.
It's a big ship and it'll take some time. But public servants can do this, under the right captain!
Excellent recommendations, based on factual outcomes and results. I echo other requests for you to submit this as an Op Ed piece to the Globe - perhaps in the form of an open letter to Mr. Sabia, from one dedicated & successful public servant to another?
This is very well written. The culture of accountability will likely be the hardest part, as doing so will require scaling a wall that has been built over decades. Fundamentally, though, two things will be needed to establish that culture: (1) mid-level managers' willingness to take a risk in providing advice; (2) senior executives' willingness to trust what they are told and stand firm in the face of MINO staffers and their focus on "comms" and "optics". I'm very cynical about whether this can happen to a material degree, but I hope that it does.
Great advice for public and any private sector organizations looking for sustainable efficiencies. The credibility of this advice is confirmed by its demonstrated success. This should find its way into a Globe & Mail OpEd piece. Canadians would be impressed and reassured that this government is serious about fundamental, structural change to improve national productivity.
It is far more likely that this is going to be more like 2002 in BC than DMs finding savings through efficiency and accountability. Cuts to services, with some ministries having to find more savings because others will be untouchable. Is Passport Canada going to become 15% more efficient with no service cuts? And defence spending going way up? C'mon. That's some bullshit.
Former municipal government employee here. This list mirrors a lot of my experience in that things were not done this way and were awful. I saw a lot of expensive and time consuming reorganizations take place when the root issue was personnel based (i.e. two directors don't like each other so their departments don't collaborate) or accountability based.
Curious about automation and technology upgrades as a way to find savings? Heard an interview with a former DOGE bro who worked with Veteran affairs and that was his biggest takeaway.
From the piece, a phrase stood out to me: "[T]hat which will be done eventually, must be done immediately."
I voted for Corey Hogan this past election and one of the main reasons was because I disagreed with the Conservative's foreign policy. Watching a man-made, preventable famine devastate Gaza has been profoundly disturbing. This is an urgent crisis. Something has to be done, and if not done immediately, the only results are tragic ones.
So far, 122 people have already starved to death, 80% of them being children.
Starvation is a slow gruesome death. I urge Mr. Hogan and the Canadian government to take immediate action by sanctioning those responsible for the blockade of foreign humanitarian aid. Waiting is not an option, every day means a lot to those starving to death.
Corey, very interesting piece. But you teased us! You said, “In three years, and with no layoffs, we reduced the size of our budget by 18%, saving $7.4 million a year in the process.” How?? Where did you find the savings without cutting staff? All your high-level guidance was great, but also interesting to hear details from case studies.
Love this piece, and the combination of strategy and tactics for implementing change. I'd echo the call for turning this into an op-ed (or something similar) that would open it up to broader audience.
Someone pointed me to a comment on Reddit that it would be easier to cut in communications because we just cut ad spend.
I’m not on Reddit so I’ll just post the answer here - advertising and sponsorship budgets were in the departments we serve and they paid ad costs directly with only very limited exceptions (we had a small budget for social media boosting which actually didn’t exist in the first fiscal year noted - was funded from savings).
The numbers above are the operations of communications, not ads: marketing services, translation services, PR, events, public opinion, consultations, design, media monitoring, web infrastructure and writing, etc.
Great advice for public and any private sector organizations looking for sustainable efficiencies. The credibility of this advice is confirmed by its demonstrated success. This should find its way into a Globe & Mail OpEd piece. Canadians would be impressed and reassured that this government is serious about fundamental, structural change to improve national productivity.
Once again, you validate the decision of Calgary Confederation to elect you as our MP. The experience, knowledge and perspective that you bring to government are an essential asset to the Liberal team.
Well thank you! What a kind thing to say.
It’s baked into all your broader points, but I’d explicitly add incentives and goals. Without explicitly defined goals as part of regular performance review, managers and organizations simply exist to exist. Regarding incentives, I don’t mean monetary incentives necessarily, but rather incentivizing correct behaviors and decision making. Without incentivizing the right behaviors and goals, none of the other points, as right as they are, have any chance of sustained success.
What an impressively precise and useful list!
I truly hope that the fed govt listens carefully to the knowledge and wisdom you gained from your direct experience in AB.
Re-organizing the federal public service has historically been a highly daunting task, especially in this millennium.
Harper came in fired up to cut the Ottawa "fatcats," but ended up merely reallocating and somehow not reducing at all. He also neglected to invest in modernizing/digitizating, which is sure catching up to us now.
Trudeau added some 40% more public servants over his decade, way out of proportion to population growth.
And at this moment, our national govt needs to do more and do it more quickly.
I wish all involved much patience, strength, and success in navigating the changes required.
It's a big ship and it'll take some time. But public servants can do this, under the right captain!
Excellent recommendations, based on factual outcomes and results. I echo other requests for you to submit this as an Op Ed piece to the Globe - perhaps in the form of an open letter to Mr. Sabia, from one dedicated & successful public servant to another?
This is very well written. The culture of accountability will likely be the hardest part, as doing so will require scaling a wall that has been built over decades. Fundamentally, though, two things will be needed to establish that culture: (1) mid-level managers' willingness to take a risk in providing advice; (2) senior executives' willingness to trust what they are told and stand firm in the face of MINO staffers and their focus on "comms" and "optics". I'm very cynical about whether this can happen to a material degree, but I hope that it does.
Great advice for public and any private sector organizations looking for sustainable efficiencies. The credibility of this advice is confirmed by its demonstrated success. This should find its way into a Globe & Mail OpEd piece. Canadians would be impressed and reassured that this government is serious about fundamental, structural change to improve national productivity.
I appreciate the brave, reasonable face.
It is far more likely that this is going to be more like 2002 in BC than DMs finding savings through efficiency and accountability. Cuts to services, with some ministries having to find more savings because others will be untouchable. Is Passport Canada going to become 15% more efficient with no service cuts? And defence spending going way up? C'mon. That's some bullshit.
Former municipal government employee here. This list mirrors a lot of my experience in that things were not done this way and were awful. I saw a lot of expensive and time consuming reorganizations take place when the root issue was personnel based (i.e. two directors don't like each other so their departments don't collaborate) or accountability based.
Curious about automation and technology upgrades as a way to find savings? Heard an interview with a former DOGE bro who worked with Veteran affairs and that was his biggest takeaway.
Great read. Would love if it more MPs communicate via Substack! Great to get long form thoughts!
From the piece, a phrase stood out to me: "[T]hat which will be done eventually, must be done immediately."
I voted for Corey Hogan this past election and one of the main reasons was because I disagreed with the Conservative's foreign policy. Watching a man-made, preventable famine devastate Gaza has been profoundly disturbing. This is an urgent crisis. Something has to be done, and if not done immediately, the only results are tragic ones.
So far, 122 people have already starved to death, 80% of them being children.
Starvation is a slow gruesome death. I urge Mr. Hogan and the Canadian government to take immediate action by sanctioning those responsible for the blockade of foreign humanitarian aid. Waiting is not an option, every day means a lot to those starving to death.
So there won't be any austerity from this new government?
Makes a lot of sense. Hope someone is listening.
Corey, very interesting piece. But you teased us! You said, “In three years, and with no layoffs, we reduced the size of our budget by 18%, saving $7.4 million a year in the process.” How?? Where did you find the savings without cutting staff? All your high-level guidance was great, but also interesting to hear details from case studies.
Love this piece, and the combination of strategy and tactics for implementing change. I'd echo the call for turning this into an op-ed (or something similar) that would open it up to broader audience.