Here are some provocative questions for one or both the constitutional and business efficiency experts in the audience.
Why is employment insurance a federal program but workers compensation insurance provincial?
What is the basis for having a separate crown corporation or equivalent to manage workers compensation in every province?
What was the logic used back when these organizations were created?
Are the injured workers in Nova Scotia different than those in Manitoba or Ontario, for example? Are their needs different? Why should they be treated differently?
How much information, administration, infrastructure, and policy duplication is there from having distinct and separate organizations
How many collective ‘CEOs’ and executive are there amongst ALL the workers compensation entities across Canada?
Ok, while I’m at it, and to make sure I’m being efficient, lets expand the discussion and look at other areas of government.
How many lottery commissions do we have across Canada? Why do we need a separate commission for each province or region? Are there regional differences in how those scratch and break-open tickets work?
It is interesting that a few years back some logical and bold leader suggested that there need only be one securities regulator/commission for the entire country. This person must have figured that money is money, share certificates are share certificates and fraud is fraud, no matter what provincial soil you walk on.
In the modern economy, whether government or private sector, the ‘products’ in the services sectors such as insurance, securities, and finance to name just a few examples, are increasingly virtual. In a previous post about banking I made the point that the almighty dollar, the ultimate currency, is represented digitally, and moved around at the speed of light. Last I checked none of the major banks or insurance companies have distinct and separate companies, with their own leadership teams in each province, and I doubt they ever will, as the trend has certainly been one of centralization and aggregation in the name of operational efficiency. Sure, there are regional and provincial differences that justify separate and distinct policies, but I’m not convinced that completely separate physical operating entities are required. Think about it. Insurance for example, whether employment, workers compensation or general home and auto, is seemingly non-existent, that is, the average constituent doesn’t see the overhead, infrastructure and work manual effort that combines to justify the cost. As the saying goes “out of sight, out of mind”, which is part of the reason I think so much inefficiency is tolerated.
Since while we are on the topic of efficiency and since I’m in Nova Scotia, here are a few other questions and factoids.
Did you know that the Province of Nova Scotia has its own gaming ‘corporation’ complete with (another) CEO and a full complement of vice presidents, including a veep of “Business Innovation”. Does that sound like a title for an individual working in a government department to you?
While on the topic of gaming, would you believe that the Province of Nova Scotia also has the Alcohol and Gaming Commission, of course, complete with its own CEO and suite of executive underlings.
Hmm, where there’s smoke there’s fire, right? I think the smoke here is caused from the long-burning fire of our g-notes that keep the government club room cozy. Just to be clear, I don’t think anyone, named or otherwise is doing anything wrong or with bad intent but those that know me know what I’m going to say next – the road to hell is paved with good intentions.
Why do we let this kind of inefficiency continue?
I think I know why. Here’s my theory. First and foremost, the kind of people that have the desire and credentials to ‘upset the applecart’ aren’t on the inside.
Second, the politicians that could lead a mandate of efficiency are insulated from the gory details (to put it politely) about what is, could be and should be going on within government departments and agencies. And, since our political leadership gets turned over more often than I do in bed at night, and shuffled around more than a blackjack deck at the casino, even the most well intentioned don’t have a snowball’s chance of affecting real change. Finally, the bureaucrats, including the ‘DMs’ and ‘ADMs’ aren’t likely to be popular amongst their peers for suggesting any form of consolidation, whether it be intra or inter-jurisdictional.
Ok, back to the plethora of CEOs issue.
A simple Google search: “Province of Nova Scotia” and the letters “CEO” turned up even more fuel for the fire. Lets see how many more CEOs and ‘corporations’ I have come up.
We have, in no particular order;
InNOVAcorp headed by CEO, Dan MacDonald
Nova Scotia Business Inc, with CEO, Stephen Lund
Sport Nova Scotia, CEO, Jamie Ferguson
Nova Scotia Liquor Commission, CEO, Bret Mitchell
Now, I know many of the named and unnamed people in this post, and to be completely honest, I actually like them personally and think they are very capable. Obviously I do have some issues (yes, I know how that sounds and it’s true) with the structure and operations of so many government ‘departments’ and crown corporations. I can’t apologize for asking what might seem like provocative and leading questions. Have you ever seen anyone ask these questions? If they were, I’d shut up and follow along politely in support.
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Oh, and just one more nugget before I give my fingers a rest. How in good ole Celtic Nova Scotia could we forget the “Office of Gaelic Affairs”. You guessed it – it has its own CEO too.
In closing, I want to say that I respect diversity and strive for transparency, so if you have a view, contrary or otherwise, please do write it down and send it along for publication, with attribution, of course.