ANNEX B
REFORMCRAFT
Helping Canada to Steer Itself Better
The Challenge:
Governance in Canada needs attention if we believe that what defines us matters.
Canadians greet the promise of the new millennium with a mixture of optimism and concern
about their future and the future of Canada in the global community. The world is
turbulent, fast moving and the globalization of information and markets is a reality.
Canadians are increasingly faced with the unimaginable and novel issues without good
choices. Canadians grapple with uncertainty, and many feel alienated, disconnected and
worried about the future and hope that their governments (who sometimes say there is
little they can do) can help them to cope.
Why it Matters:
Governance is how our society steers itself. Canadians’ dissatisfaction with
government is reducing its relevance and eroding the capacity for good governance at a
time when the need is great. Canadians are increasingly ‘working around’
governance systems, sometimes in unhelpful ways, because they do not believe the systems
will change. If Canadians do not make their governance systems work for all, if we do not
start moving towards better governance now, Canadian society and its future will not be
steered by us collectively. It may be steered by a few (who, however well intentioned,
aren’t focused on the wants and needs of Canadian society as a whole); or by others
outside Canada (who are focused on needs and wants elsewhere), or by no one. Good
governance will enable Canadians to make public choices and to discuss and influence the
societal and public consequences of private choices, including those that affect us as
humans.
Concerns Have Been Raised by Others:
Others have come to the same conclusion - that improving governance matters. They have
helped make ‘governance’ an emerging issue in discussions about how societies
cope in the new millennium. People like Steve Rosell of the Meridian Institute and
Yehezkel Dror, advisor to the Club of Rome, have written books on the subject.
Organizations like the OECD have identified it as an important area of focus. The
University of Ottawa has established a Governance Center to explore the subject, and the
federal Policy Research Secretariat has identified governance as an emerging issue.
We Must Think Differently:
The evolving status quo is not bringing enough change fast enough. Canadians must start
improving governance in Canada now, by thinking differently. Shifting mind sets to focus
on people, processes and capabilities. Because if change is the key feature of the
landscape for the foreseeable future, then continuity in our governance systems must come
from shared values and a commitment to live and work together not just from institutions
and structures, which will have to become more flexible. What emerges as crucial, is the
existence and health of the on-going public conversation that slowly builds and sustains
the understanding of and commitment to the broad values we share as well as the
willingness to embrace our differences and to work together.
This means enabling and supporting individuals moving from being casual users of
governance systems to feeling pride, and doing the same at the level of society as a whole
- moving people from a sense of inclusiveness to a sense of belonging. By starting where
we are, building on what grows spontaneously, and by planting seeds and amplifying them.
The Reformcraft* Model Can Help:
The reformcraft model that I have developed can help. It says strengthen values,
consent, and learning using three action levers, and measure progress with seven success
criteria (see diagram below).
Reformcraft means strengthening values. For the first time in human history we
are able to destroy our species and our planet. Reformcraft’s goal is to help
Canada to ‘weave the future’ using values to guide choices as part of a
pluralistic political philosophy. To see shared values and the willingness to work
together providing continuity in our governance systems along with more-flexible
institutions and structures; and to put morality back at the center of politics and
government. It will require Canadian society to make more-explicit and globally-sensitive
value choices, and to have a healthy on-going public conversation in order to define and
sustain the evolving shared values as well as to manage the differences in interpretations
of values constructively. Values that bind us together as humans around the world, as well
as those that define us as Canadians.
Reformcraft means strengthening consent by assisting leaders to re-think how to
enlighten, empower and engage citizens; to enable informed participation; to improve
inclusiveness and transparency; and to get consent in the right places in Canadian
society. And asking if enough Canadians feel secure enough to participate.
And Reformcraft means strengthening learning in a climate of blaming. In other
words, knowing what learning means (including truth telling); designing for learning,
using what is learned both to make adjustments and to share what is learned; and above
all, walking the talk.
Canadians can start by using the action levers to move towards good governance now.
These are: politicians helping understanding (by asking the right questions and framing
issues the right way); network-based institutional innovation (to strengthen collaborative
relationships in our complex federation); and horizon scanning entities that link
effectively both to citizens and decision makers. And we can measure progress with the
success criteria.
Conclusion:
Reformcraft is thinking differently in order to achieve good governance. This would
result in: real improvement in Canada’s ability to steer its future; relevant
institutions, processes and leaders; and increased public confidence and support for our
system of governance. We can make a difference. But Canadians have to want good
governance, and believe that individual contributions can make a difference.
* The term ‘reformcraft’ was coined by Yehezkel Dror, advisor to the Club of
Rome; I use it as a label for my model.
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