Flumian Confusion
From the Prime Minister's website:
Prime Minister Stephen Harper was pleased to announce today the following changes in the senior ranks of the Public Service. The changes reflect the smaller, more streamlined Cabinet structure of the new government:
Maryantonett Flumian, currently Deputy Minister of Service Canada, becomes Deputy Head of Service Canada and Associate Deputy Minister of Human Resources and Social Development.
But at Service Canada, the move is described slightly differently:
On February 7, 2006, Maryantonett Flumian was appointed Deputy Head of Service Canada. She also continues to serve as Vice-Chairperson of the Canada Employment Insurance Commission.
Prior to this, she was Associate Deputy Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development and Social Development Canada, and the Deputy Minister of Labour.
The Service Canada bio suggests that she is no longer the Associate Deputy Minister of HRSDC and Deputy Minister of Labour.
In fact, the Deputy Minister of Labour is Munir Sheikh.
So has Flumian been moved out of HRSDC?
Well, a few things. First, part of the "move" is related to a name change. Human Resources and Skills Development is now Human Resources and Social Development. That would explain this "announcement":
Alan Nymark, currently Deputy Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development, becomes Deputy Minister of Human Resources and Social Development.
So part of the announcement has to do with title changes, and not promotions. But what about being appointed Deputy Head of Service Canada?
Well, that decision was taken some time back, and not in the three weeks since the election.
Flumian's name came up in September of 2005, being appointed by Prime Minister Paul Martin to the head of Service Canada:
From Hansard:
Mr. Christian Simard (Beauport-Limoilou, BQ): Mr. Speaker, faced with the sponsorship scandal, the federal government is not learning from its mistakes. The Prime Minister just appointed as head of Service Canada the very person who was in charge of the gun registry, another scandal involving nearly $2 billion for which his government will soon have to answer.
How can the Prime Minister explain his choice in appointing such a mediocre manager as the head of Service Canada?
So who appointed Flumian to be head of Service Canada? Stephen Harper, or Paul Martin? Is this one of those inertia things, where a ball starts rolling in September under one administration, then comes to rest in February at the beginning of the next?
Finally, is this a promotion? "Deputy minister" is the highest unelected official in a ministry. In the British system, that role is titled "permanent undersecretary", which helps describe it better. It is the bureaucrat who remains, permanently, as governments change. It is a role that defines apolitical continuity.
Everyone else, including "deputy head", reports ultimately to the deputy minister.
Being appointed "deputy head" doesn't sound like a promotion over "assistant deputy minister" and certainly not over "deputy minister".
The wheels of the bureaucracy continue to turn even as governments rise and fall. It is a strength in Western-style democracies that the civil service is generally apolitical, meaning that government services continue despite elections and changes in government. Stephen Harper and the Conservatives will have to review all the functions in government, and the people responsible for them, and make some hard decisions about both. But that will take time, and I expect that the new government will be compelled to implement some Liberal decisions, simply because they have no choice to do otherwise, practically speaking.
No choice...yet.
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Comments
Perhaps this is a dumb question but what is a Deputy "Head" supposed to be? Considering there is a Deputy Minister and an Associate Deputy Minister, what the sam hill is a Deputy "Head"? Are there other Deputy "Heads" in other departments. Or is this a positon they made up for her specifically, for whatever reason (and there's probably a lot of those stemming from her former position at the Firearms Registry).
Posted by: Schwarze Tulpe at February 14, 2006 04:08 PM
Not a dumb question. I just added a piece when you posted your comment about exactly this. As far as I can gather, Deputy Head is probably a top level official in an organization that doesn't rank its own ministry, like Service Canada. The top dog in any ministry is the Deputy Minister.
Posted by: Steve Janke at February 14, 2006 04:16 PM
Steve,
Right you are - Service Canada is not legally established, though it should be called the Minsitry of Expenditures. It probably should never have had a DM.
Basically, nothing happened. The redivision and redenomination of the Ministries meant that the names of the positions had to change. I doubt anyone has decided what the government will even do with Service Canada. No way has Flumian been promoted, she is no longer a DM, and I am sure she is at the same EX level.
I suspect nothing substantive will happen at this level until either a new Clerk of the PCO is appointed, or it is clear that Himmelfarb is there to stay.
Posted by: ottawacon at February 14, 2006 04:33 PM
This is not a promotion. HRSD is being recombined under Nymark. Flumian is being moved there and reports through Nymark. This, as has been pointed out, is being done b/c of the decision to recombine the departments split under the Liberals.
Apparently this guy TDH strategies is trying to present this as a "promotion" of some sorts. Whatever. Phone up any civil servant at random in Ottawa and you'll get the straight goods. Or you could take the word of a blogger from Vancouver. Your choice.
Posted by: JG at February 14, 2006 05:09 PM
I recall political science studies 40 years ago that said Canada was burdened with the highest number of civil servants of any country in the world. thse stats were quoted in various social science magazines at the time.
Does anyone have a source for what the per capita comparisons are today?
Posted by: brock at February 14, 2006 05:12 PM
After reading TDH Strategies's posting in Kate's comments section (it's the first one) under "Busy Day" (http://www.smalldeadanimals.com/) it's clear that TDH has no credibility or is worthy of our consideration whatsoever. Poor guy. To crash and burn like that. Wow.
Posted by: Schwarze Tulpe at February 14, 2006 05:22 PM
Looks like it's time for another $10 billion inquiry to figure out exactly what's gone here.
Brock .... re your question on the number of civil servants, you would think you should be able to get this info from Statscan. With all the data it collects, manipulates & useless surveys it produces, I'm sure they have this information squirreled away somewhere.
Posted by: JM at February 15, 2006 07:15 AM
"So who appointed Flumian to be head of Service Canada? Stephen Harper, or Paul Martin?"
This appears to be a holdover Martin move:
OIC dated October 5, 2005
http://www.pco-bcp.gc.ca/oic-ddc/OIC-DDC.asp?lang=EN&txtOICID=&txtFromDate=&txtToDate=&txtPrecis=flumian&txtDepartment=&cboDepartment=&txtAct=&txtChapterNo=&txtChapterYear=&txtBillNo=&rdoComingIntoForce=&DoSearch=Search+%2F+List&OICKey=65184&viewattach=13651
"a) pursuant to subsection 4(2) of the Department of Human Resources and Skills Development Act, appoints Maryantonett Flumian of Ottawa, Ontario to be Associate Deputy Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development, to hold office during pleasure;
(b)pursuant to subsection 4(2) of the Department of Social Development Act, appoints Maryantonett Flumian to be concurrently an Associate Deputy Minister of Social Development, to hold office during pleasure;
(c) orders that the person appointed pursuant to paragraphs (a) and (b) shall be styled Deputy Minister for Service Canada;"
Posted by: Occam's Carbuncle at February 15, 2006 09:03 AM
FYI, a Deputy Head is simply a more general term that refers to someone in charge of a department or entity like a crown corporation. It includes Deputy Ministers but is not limited to them.
Not sure who all is on the complete federal list (it is specified in a regulation somewhere), but in my neck of the woods it includes Deputy Ministers, presidents of corporations, the public service commissioner and the clerk of the legislative assembly.
It looks like Service Canada is some sort of non-departmental entity -- it is supposed to cut across all departments -- so it has a Deputy Head instead of a Deputy Minister.
Posted by: AD at February 15, 2006 02:43 PM
Being appointed "deputy head" doesn't sound like a promotion over "assistant deputy minister" and certainly not over "deputy minister".
Bad news:
http://calsun.canoe.ca/News/National/2006/02/15/1443591-sun.html
"Senior gun registry bureaucrat promoted"
Posted by: thickslab at February 16, 2006 10:56 AM
From what I understand, Service Canada is (was?) an attempt to meld as many government departments as possible into a single entity. From their website:
The goal of Service Canada is to provide better, one-stop service to more Canadians in more communities, delivered with the right service attitude. Over time, it will bring federal services and benefits together making it easier for Canadians get more of the help they need in one place, whether by phone, Internet or in person.
Service Canada will integrate services from a number of federal departments to form a single service delivery network. Over the next three years, Service Canada will continue to enhance and introduce more services with the goal of continuous improvement in service delivery and client satisfaction.
Posted by: Mac at February 19, 2006 01:10 AM
Deputy Head is not Deputy Minister. Often Assistant Deputy Ministers have other titles related to their position, such as CEO of a ministry-run agency. Deputy Head is most likely one of those titles. "Also has responsibility for..."
Posted by: gos' at February 20, 2006 12:21 PM
 
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