F-35 audit a costly reminder to make bureaucrats accountable
The public service needs a culture of outcomes, not optics. That means making executives accountable, and, yes, having the courage to dismiss those who fail in ways that cost Canadians millions.
Carney’s quiet public service revolution
The public service is being retooled piece by piece to meet the demands of delivery. The changes may outlast the agenda that sparked them.
PSPC using an AI bot named ‘Ava’ to help clear Phoenix pay system backlog
With about 450,00 outstanding cases tied to the faulty pay system, an artificial intelligence virtual agent is tasked with clearing 160,000 over the next 15 months.
‘Too many rules’: AG urges feds to streamline procurement, reduce outsourcing
Auditor General Karen Hogan says ‘worrying observations’ around procurement processes need to be addressed.
PSPC refers two new procurement fraud cases to RCMP; feds take GC Strategies, subcontractor to court over billing practices
The department says it is ‘actively pursuing the recovery of illegitimate amounts billed to the government and referring cases to the RCMP for criminal investigation.’
New minister Lightbound plans to tap AI to help to fix procurement, government efficiency woes
With billions of dollars on the line and intense public scrutiny, Government Transformation and Public Works and Procurement Minister Joël Lightbound says adopting new technologies is ‘precisely one way to achieve [efficiency] without increasing the size of our public service.’
BOIE pushes discussion of NDP resources to future meeting as Bloc mulls ‘significant’ rule changes
Plus, the board approved a full carryforward for the House’s budget this year, with an extra $4.9-million to be sought through the next supplementary estimates.
Federal government doesn’t know how many offices sit empty: AG
Auditor General Karen Hogan’s report says departments need to accelerate their efforts to reduce office space, and PSPS needs better data on the number of public servants using office space on a daily basis.
Auditor general says feds didn’t get value for money in dozens of GC Strategies contracts
GC Strategies, the beleaguered Ottawa-based firm that was the primary contractor for the ArriveCan app, was awarded dozens of government contracts between 2015 and 2024 at a total value of over $92-million.
Shrinking the bureaucratic behemoth
The old playbook of trimming travel budgets and giving departments arbitrary cut targets won’t cut it.
