Commission on the Reform of Ontario's Public Services

Ambitious for Excellence: A Larger Vision
These are all practical suggestions for using the current fiscal challenge as an opportunity to
transform the way the Ontario government delivers public services. Perhaps, though, we can
shoot for a grander goal — a province that provides the best public services, delivered in the
most efficient manner, in the world.
This sounds impossibly ambitious — an aspiration that borders on fantasy. But put the
question another way: why not? We are forever goading our business sector to take on the
world by developing new products and using imaginative marketing to win new customers
worldwide even in the face of stiff global competition. Why not apply the same goals to our
government? Why not give our public servants an objective that can turn the task of
transformation — which will at times be a very tough slog — into a project that becomes a
source of real pride? Is such a goal even possible? Let us be blunt: the competition is not all
that stiff and this province has plenty going for it. Ontario has the best-educated population in
the world. It has a history of stable, democratic government. It has a terrific reputation for good
public-sector management among one of the toughest audiences in the world — the bond
buyers who lend us money at relatively low interest rates. No jurisdiction in the world has any
advantage over Ontario when it comes to delivering public policy and services.
What Does Being the Best at Public Policy
and Services Look Like?
Public service would be an honourable calling that would draw the province’s best and
brightest people into the government and its agencies, where they would be offered
appropriate incentives and rewarded with compensation tied to performance, outcomes and
productivity.
The best public service would set clear objectives, use proper metrics to measure
progress and provide clear accountability for those expected to meet those objectives.
In many areas, we recommend that the government develop long-term plans for key
programs.
The best public service would benchmark itself against the best in the world — both in the
private sector and in the public sectors of other jurisdictions.
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