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The pandemic caused governments worldwide to respond quickly to a greater array of health, economic and social issues in a more concentrated time span than previously. The Canadian public sector had developed many of the tools needed to act with agility to support the government agenda response to these challenges. With the consent of political parties, Parliament modified its operations and passed empowering legislation to provide the executive branch with sweeping powers to act. In this turbulent time, government accountability was delayed but never forgotten as a series of conversations with senior public servants revealed. This article delves into those reflections on the first year of the pandemic to discern how government operations changed and how both Parliament and the public sector can adapt to ensure that government can act effectively and efficiently but be held accountable for its decisions as it addresses more complex policy challenges in future. Sur un laps de temps plus reduit que jamais auparavant, la pandemie a force les gouvernements du monde entier a reagir rapidement a un plus grand nombre de problemes sanitaires, economiques et sociaux. Le secteur public canadien a mis au point de nombreux outils necessaires pour faire preuve d'agilite afin d'aider le programme gouvernemental dans sa reponse a ces defis. Avec le consentement des partis politiques, le parlement a modifie ses operations et a adopte une loi constitutive pour doter l'executif de vastes pouvoirs d'action. En cette periode troublee, l'imputabilite du gouvernement a ete retardee mais jamais oubliee, comme l'a revele une serie de conversations avec des hauts fonctionnaires. Cet article explore ces reflexions sur la premiere annee de la pandemie pour discerner comment les operations gouvernementales ont change; et comment le parlement et le secteur public peuvent s'adapter pour garantir que le gouvernement agisse de maniere efficace et efficiente, tout en etant tenu responsable de ses decisions alors qu'il fait face a des defis politiques plus complexes a l'avenir., INTRODUCTION Prime Minister Justin Trudeau kicked off the 2021 Canadian National Public Service Week by praising federal public servants for their support of the government efforts to reduce the impact [...]

Several Canadian and international scholars offer commentaries on the implications of the COVID-19 pandemic for governments and public service institutions, and fruitful directions for public administration research and practice. This first suite of commentaries focuses on the executive branch, variously considering: the challenge for governments to balance demands for accountability and learning while rethinking policy mixes as social solidarity and expert knowledge increasingly get challenged; how the policy-advisory systems of Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and United Kingdom were structured and performed in response to the COVID-19 crisis; whether there are better ways to suspend the accountability repertoires of Parliamentary systems than the multiparty agreement struck by the minority Liberal government with several opposition parties; comparing the Canadian government's response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the Global Financial Crisis and how each has brought the challenge of inequality to the fore; and whether the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated or disrupted digital government initiatives, reinforced traditional public administration values or more open government. Plusieurs universitaires canadiens et internationaux ont offert des commentaires sur les implications de la pandemie du COVID-19 pour les gouvernements et les institutions de la fonction publique, ainsi que des orientations productives pour la recherche et la pratique en administration publique. Cette premiere serie de commentaires se concentre sur le pouvoir executif, en considerant de diverses facons : le defi pour les gouvernements d'equilibrer les exigences de responsabilite et d'apprentissage tout en repensant les combinaisons de politiques alors que la solidarite sociale et les connaissances d'experts sont de plus en plus remises en question; comment les systemes de consultation en politique de l'Australie, du Canada, de la Nouvelle-Zelande et du Royaume-Uni ont ete structures et mis en oeuvre en reponse a la crise du COVID-19; s'il existe de meilleures facons de suspendre les repertoires de responsabilite des systemes parlementaires que l'accord multipartite conclu par le gouvernement liberal minoritaire avec plusieurs partis d'opposition; comparer la reponse du gouvernement canadien a la pandemie du COVID-19 et a la crise financiere mondiale et comment chacune a mis le defi de l'inegalite au premier plan; et si la pandemie du COVID-19 a accelere ou perturbe les initiatives du gouvernement numerique, renforce les valeurs traditionnelles de l'administration publique ou un gouvernement plus transparent., Shaping the long shadows of COVID-19: three challenges for governments Arjen Boin and Paul't Hart Frantic mobilization efforts in the health sector, clear crisis communication and a remarkable degree of [...]

Introduction In Why Nations Fail, Acemoglu and Robinson (2012) explain that the Black Plague represented both a calamity for humanity and an opportunity to reinvent itself. Without the Black Plague, [...]

This article explores the area of research engagement between two very important communities in the Canadian public policy landscape: academics and senior public service executives. Using data from three surveys, we argue that while public sector executives may be more receptive to academic research than the literature suggests, academic advice and knowledge remain underutilized. While there does not seem to be a strong cleavage between the two groups, they also tend to come together mostly under very specific conditions. Oddly enough, academics do not seem to be troubled by the underutilization of their research. Cet article etudie le domaine de participation a la recherche entre deux communautes primordiales dans l'environnement des politiques publiques canadiennes : les universitaires et les cadres superieurs de la fonction publique. En s'appuyant sur les donnees obtenues par trois sondages, nous soutenons qu'en depit du fait que les cadres de la fonction publique semblent plus ouverts a la recherche universitaire que les ecrits ne le suggerent, les conseils et les connaissances academiques restent largement sous-utilises. Bien qu'il ne semble pas exister de grande fracture entre les deux groupes, ils semblent cependant s'accorder dans des conditions particulierement specifiques. Etrangement cependant, les universitaires ne semblent pas etre alarmes par la sous-utilisation de leur travail de recherche., Introduction Public policy and decision-making literatures have had a long engagement with the provision, distribution, and use of knowledge (Jennings and Hall 2012; Howlett and Newman 2010; Young 2013). Over [...]

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Chapters in this section of "Educational Media and Technology Yearbook" examine important trends prominent in the landscape of the school library media profession in 2001. Themes include mandated educational reform; diversity in school library resources; communication through image-text juxtaposition in Web pages; and professional development and the national shortage of media specialists. (AEF)

Highlights David Kolb's experiential learning model and examines learning preferences within the context of the model. Discusses implications and provides illustrations for each of the model's four stages: (1) concrete experience; (2) reflective observation; (3) abstract conceptualization; and (4) active experimentation. Provides six sample teaching/learning sequences. (CMK)

Reports on a study designed to formulate a literature-based model describing what teacher-librarians do as they help students involved in information search and use (ISU). Whether teacher-librarians work with students in all phases of the ISU process and the extent to which their intermediary activities can be related to other models are considered. (Contains 37 references.) (KRN)

Through informed use of such electronic tools as Web sites, electronic discussion lists, and e-mail, school library media specialists can assume responsibility for their own professional growth and can actively influence issues and institutions that are important to their professional lives. Discussion includes recognizing information needs; assessing pertinent information; and connecting with colleagues to impact issues. (AEF)

This paper examines the failure and success of aboriginal self-government during the 1982-87 period by focusing on the constitutional talks, their impact on the federal and provincial governments, and the resultant activity of those governments. The paper begins with a brief account of the emergence of aboriginal self-government onto the constitutional table. The paper then analyses the consequences of the emphasis on constitutional change and the use of the first ministers' constitutional conferences for the development of aboriginal self-government. The paper reveals that this emphasis was bound to result in frustration and complication of the pursuit of aboriginal self-government in the constitutional arena. However, the paper concludes that the constitutional process wrought unintentional results that benefited aboriginal communities in Canada. The conferences served as a powerful inducement to the development of the issue in policy areas. (Reprinted by permission of the publisher.)

This article begins with a short discussion of the three core principles of parliamentary government in order to establish a framework for evaluating the Voluntary Sector Initiative (VSI): representative government, responsible government and the tradition of dissent. The following sections briefly describe the VSI and assess it in relation to the three principles. The VSI proposes a fundamental change in the operation of government to meet the challenges of the new century and, while it is too soon to assess its prospects for achieving its objectives, some areas of potential promise and danger may be identified.