Prime Minister Announces Appointment of New Clerk of Privy Council and Secretary to the Cabinet

Prime Minister Jean Chrétien announced today the appointment of Mr. Mel Cappe as Clerk of the Privy Council and Secretary to the Cabinet, effective January 18, 1999. Mr. Cappe will serve as the 18th Clerk of the Privy Council.

Mr. Cappe is currently Deputy Minister of Human Resources Development, Deputy Minister of Labour and Chairperson of the Canada Employment Insurance Commission. He has previously served as Deputy Minister of the Environment. Mr. Cappe is a 23-year veteran of the public service.

After five years as Secretary to the Cabinet and Clerk of the Privy Council, Jocelyne Bourgon will become President of the Canadian Centre for Management Development, where she will continue to promote the importance of the public service and of public administration in Canada and abroad. Madame Bourgon had requested to move on so that she could continue working on issues of public service management innovation, which she pioneered during her period as Clerk.

"Madame Bourgon has been an excellent Clerk who has skilfully presided over a difficult period of transition in the public service that was necessary to bring the government under fiscal control. She seized on the opportunity with imagination, compassion and vigour, to help build a public service in keeping not only with our means but, more important, with our country's changing needs as we enter a new century," said the Prime Minister. "Indeed, her piloting of the successful La Relève effort to revitalize the public service will, I believe, long be seen as an important and positive turning point in the history of the Canadian public service. I am delighted that she will be bringing these very skills to play in her new capacity as President of the Canadian Centre for Management Development."

The Prime Minister announced that Madame Bourgon is being summoned to the Queen's Privy Council for Canada in recognition of her contribution to the service of her country.

Biographical notes attached.

PMO Press Office: (613) 957-5555

Date of birth: December 1948

Education:

- B.A. (Economics), University of Toronto
-M.A. (Economics), University of Western Ontario

Professional Experience

July 1996 to Present Deputy Minister of Human Resources Development and Chairperson of the Canada Employment Insurance Commission and Deputy Minister of Labour

May 1994 - July 1996
Deputy Minister of the Environment

1990 - 1994
Senior Assistant Secretary and then, Deputy Secretary, Program Branch, Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat

1989 - 1990
Assistant Deputy Minister, Bureau of Corporate Affairs and Legislative Policy, Consumer and Corporate Affairs Canada

1986 -1989
Assistant Deputy Minister, Policy Coordination, Consumer and Corporate Affairs Canada

1982 - 1986
Senior Deputy of Investigation and Research, Bureau of Competition Policy, Consumer and Corporate Affairs Canada

1981 - 1982
Chief, Analysis and Evaluation, Finance Canada

1979 - 1981
Senior Economist, Economic Programs, Finance Canada

1977 - 1979
Senior Analyst, Planning Branch, Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat

1975 - 1977
Policy Analyst, Planning Branch, Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat

Date of Birth: September 1950

Academic History:

- Studies in science and management

- Honorary Degrees from:
- Mount Saint Vincent University
- Queen's University
- Ottawa University
- Carleton University

Professional Experience:

March 1994 - to present
Clerk of the Privy Council and Secretary to the Cabinet, Privy Council Office

June 1993 - 1994
Deputy Minister of Transport

March 1993 to June 1993
President of the Canadian International Development Agency

1992 - 1993
Secretary to the Cabinet for the Federal- Provincial Relations

1991 - 1992
Associate Secretary to the Cabinet for the Federal-Provincial Relations

1989 - 1991
Deputy Minister, Department of Consumer and Corporate Affairs

1987 - 1989
Assistant Deputy Minister, Corporate Policy and Communications Sector, Department of Energy, Mines and Resources

1985 - 1987
Assistant Secretary (Economic Policy and Programs) Federal-Provincial Relations Office

1983 -1985
Director General, Food and Consumer Products, Department of Regional Industrial Expansion

1974 - 1983
Various positions within the Department of Fisheries and Oceans

1973 - 1983
Summer student employment with the Public Service of Canada

TRANSLATION

December 14, 1998

Ms Jocelyne Bourgon
Clerk of the Privy Council and
Secretary to the Cabinet
Privy Council Office
Ottawa (Ontario)
K1A 0A3

My dear Clerk,

I want to express my appreciation and gratitude for the excellence and integrity with which you have served as of Clerk of the Privy Council and Secretary to the Cabinet during the last five years. You have supported me, as well as all members of the Cabinet, with loyalty, wisdom and distinction.

During your term, policy formulation has been improved. You have contributed to the redefinition of the role of the Federal Government as well to re-establishing the government's fiscal health. Program delivery and the provision of services to Canadian have also been modernized.

I want to underline, in particular, your exceptional accomplishments as Head of the Public Service. Under your leadership, a major set of reforms of the Public Service are proceeding as a result of the La Relève initiative. Human resource management is being streamlined, employees have access to continuous learning, they have acquired greater interdepartmental mobility and their success is better recognized. This has created a new feeling of pride on the part of public servants. The Canadian model of public sector management is very well recognized internationally and is a source of pride for all Canadians. As its unrelenting defender, you can be proud of the Public Service you are passing on to your successor. A Public Service that is vibrant, renewed and dynamic; thereby achieving a goal you had set at the beginning of your term.

You have often stated that there is no greater reward than being given the opportunity to influence the future of your country. On my behalf, and on behalf of all my colleagues, I want to thank you for your exceptional contribution to your profession and to Canada. There can be no better ambassador for the Public Service than yourself. I am delighted that you have agreed to accept a new challenge in the Public Service which will allow you to continue to contribute to further enhance its reputation both domestically and abroad.

With warm regards,

TRANSLATION

December 14, 1998

The Right Honourable Jean Chrétien
Prime Minister of Canada
House of Commons
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0A6

Dear Prime Minister:

As you announce my departure, I wish to take this opportunity to express my appreciation for having shared with you an important period in the history of Canada and of the Public Service of Canada.

Prime Minister, you have given me the honour to serve as Clerk of the Privy Council and Secretary to the Cabinet. In this capacity, I have had the opportunity to contribute to your priorities and to the achievements of the government. For this, I thank you.

I am proud to hand to my successor a public service that is strong, modern and ready to take on the challenges of its time and, this, despite the magnitude of the reforms of the past five years. In this regard, I would particularly like to thank you for the respect and support that you have always shown to the Public Service of Canada, an institution essential to the quality of life of Canadians and the performance of Canada.

I am grateful to you for having agreed to my request to move on to new responsibilities and for allowing me to take charge of the Canadian Centre for Management Development. At CCMD, I will be able to pursue some of the reforms which we have launched in the context of La Relève and which are close to my heart. I will, as well, be able to continue to promote the importance of the public sector and of the public administration in Canada and abroad.

(Original signed by)
Jocelyne Bourgon