Commission on the Reform of Ontario's Public Services

Chapter 3: Our Mandate and Approach
Recommendation 3-1: Do not simply cut costs. The imperative to restrain spending should
instead be an opportunity to reform programs and service delivery. Simple cost-cutting can be
effective in hitting near-term deficit reduction targets, but it does not encourage longer-run
fiscal stability or allow for reforms that will generate more value for money spent.
Recommendation 3-2: Avoid across-the-board cuts. Such a blunt tool treats equally a
valuable, efficiently run program and one that is outdated and sloppily managed. This is dumb.
Spending should be aligned with government priorities so that high-priority initiatives are
adequately funded while lower-priority programs are either cut substantially or eliminated
outright. Across-the-board cuts represent an abdication of the government’s responsibility to
make real, and often difficult, decisions.
Recommendation 3-3: Avoid setting targets for the size of the civil service; instead, set
targets for outputs, not inputs. Focus on the cost of programs and services and on value for
money. A smaller and leaner civil service will be an inevitable result of reducing the cost of
programs and achieving greater value for money.
Recommendation 3-4: The government should not rely unduly on hiring freezes and attrition
to reduce the size of the civil service as a result of any spending restraint. Such approaches
typically weaken the quality of the civil service for years — even decades — to come.
Lower-priority and less efficient programs and services must be targeted for reduction; the
result will be fewer employees working in these areas. More generally, the focus must be on
retaining good employees while letting go of those who are not performing well. All employee
appraisal and bonus schemes must be aligned to these objectives; for example, the
government should continue to offer performance bonuses to those who exceed
job requirements.
Recommendation 3-5: Do not hang onto public assets or public service delivery when better
options exist. Consider privatizing assets and moving to the private delivery of services
wherever feasible. We suggest pursuing this course only where the public can get better
value for money spent without compromising access to services, not for ideological reasons.
In budget planning, do not count chickens before they are hatched. If assets are to be sold,
never incorporate any revenue from such planned sales into a budget before the fact; there is
always uncertainty over the timing, accounting treatment and ultimate market value of any
sale. Instead, simply record any sale in the appropriate manner if and when it is completed.
490