QUEBEC
I DECISION-MAKING PROCESS
In Quebec, Cabinet is at the heart of the
decision-making process. As the main decision-making body of government, the Cabinet,
chaired by the Premier, assumes responsibility for the overall direction of the
government, the enforcement of laws and the administration of the state. This body is
responsible for the activities that are essential to the proper management of the state.
Cabinet is made up of Ministers, Ministers of State and Ministers responsible for various
sectors. Cabinet is responsible for, among other things, approving bills and draft
regulations, setting out a financial framework, establishing policies and programs,
coordinating the activities of departments and agencies and appointing senior officials
and heads of public corporations and agencies.
The Premier has chosen not to assign
Ministers their responsibilities through a mandate letter. Rather, the Premier
communicates his expectations to Ministers at a meeting, either before or after their
appointment to Cabinet. Once (during his inaugural address to the National Assembly),
Premier Parizeau announced specific objectives concerning each Ministers
portfolio, but this has not become a practice.
To enhance its planning and coordination
efforts and make government activities more efficient and consistent, Cabinet has struck
three Cabinet committees. While these committees differ in nature, their
missions complement one another. The main purpose of the Cabinet committees is to prepare
major strategies and debate important policy and budgetary issues:
- the Priorities Committee (10);*
- the Treasury Board (5); and
- the Legislation Committee (6).
Cabinet also has four standing
committees, which are charged primarily with coordinating government activities --
mainly those taken by Ministers in their respective sectors:
- Cabinet Committee on Regional and Territorial Affairs (16);
- Cabinet Committee on Education and Culture (6);
- Cabinet Committee on Employment and Economic Development (10); and
- Cabinet Committee on Social Development (9).
Any Minister wishing to bring a matter
before Cabinet must do so by means of a Memorandum whose form and content
meet the requirements set out by Cabinet. Before being tabled at a Cabinet session for
decision, a Memorandum may have to go through several stages to enable Cabinet members to
make the most appropriate and informed decisions possible.
The Memorandum must first be submitted to
the General Secretariat of the Executive Council. The Secretary General can
submit any Memorandum received by his office to a Cabinet committee, a secretariat of
the Office of the Executive Council or any department concerned by the subject for an
opinion. The committee, secretariat or department that is asked to review the matter has
two weeks to respond. The opinions and recommendations are usually submitted to the
committee that will be considering the Memorandum. Only once all the required opinions and
recommendations have been issued can the Memorandum be forwarded to Cabinet. However, one
week must elapse from the time they are received before the Memorandum can be submitted to
Cabinet.
A Memorandum is considered ready to be
submitted to Cabinet once the Office of the Secretary General has received all the
requested opinions and analyses and it is complete, from an administrative point of view.
Naturally, a Memorandum will not make it onto the Cabinet agenda until all the
difficulties it poses in terms of ministerial coordination have been ironed out. In this
regard, the role played by the Cabinet coordinating committees is a crucial one, since it
is up to these committees, and more specifically their chairpersons and secretaries, to
ensure the consistency of the governments policies and actions and to resolve the
differences that might arise between the Ministers concerned by the Memorandum in
question. The Cabinet committees submit recommendations to Cabinet as to the
appropriateness of moving ahead with a file and as to the substance of that file.
Once a Memorandum is placed on the agenda of
a Cabinet session, it is usually discussed at that session -- unless the Minister
submitting it is absent. For Cabinet to take a decision, the members must arrive at a
consensus. In the absence of such a consensus, the Premier usually suspends debate to
allow a period of reflection, further work on the file or additional consultations. Once a
session is concluded, the Secretary General sees to it that a record of the Executive
Council proceedings is prepared and that any decisions are acted on.
In the event that a decision involves
tabling a bill in the National Assembly, the Office of the Secretary General sends the
decision, along with the Memorandum which prompted it and the text of the accompanying
bill, to the Legislation Committee, which ensures the bills legal and legislative
consistency. The committee also considers harmonizing the bill with all applicable Quebec
legislation. Lastly, it looks at the proposed legislations suitability in terms of
the objective, the bills complexity, scope and consequences from a legal point of
view, and the simplicity/quality of the wording. The Legislation Committee also ensures
that the bill conforms to the decision taken by Cabinet.
In addition, the committee confirms that all
the stages of the process for developing the bill in question have been completed and that
any required consultations have in fact been held. Once the committee completes its review
of the bill, the committee secretary forwards it to the unit in the National Assembly
responsible for translating and printing it. In order to be printed, Cabinet bills require
the written approval of the Premier or chairperson of the Legislation Committee.
This approval process generates enhanced
ministerial solidarity around government projects and holds each Minister accountable for
the intersectoral implications of the actions he or she plans to take. The emphasis is on
better advance coordination in developing the major issues to be tabled at Cabinet. The
process enables the concerned Minister to adequately brief certain colleagues on the
problem, the issues and the expected effects of his or her project.
Only Cabinet members sit on the various
Cabinet committees. Backbenchers do not sit on these committees, nor do they attend
Cabinet meetings. Although they have no direct role to play in the decision-making
process, they can nonetheless influence the government indirectly, through standing
commissions of the National Assembly. These commissions can examine issues as they see
fit. Moreover, when Cabinet proposes to table a rather sensitive bill in the National
Assembly, it makes sure to consult caucus beforehand.
The government has several means at its
disposal to assess its policies and programs. Cabinet retreats enable the executive branch
to examine the governments achievements and prepare for the coming session of the
National Assembly. These retreats are followed by caucus retreats, during which the same
issues will be raised and debated. This forum gives caucus an additional tool with which
to influence the decision-making process. In addition, each political party organizes
annual general councils at which the members usually formulate very specific
recommendations on government policy directions and issue their assessment of the
governments conduct. Ministers make it a point to maintain a strong presence at
these general councils.
In the same vein, the Priorities Committee
engages in a multi-year review exercise orchestrated by the Priorities Committee
Secretariat to assess government policies and programs. These assessments can sometimes
lead to summits, which are convened to take stock of the situation, analyse the
assessments and reach agreement on the approaches to take for the coming years.
Currently, the National Assembly has 125
members, 74 of whom are Government members. Cabinet is composed of 23 Ministers, including
the Premier. In addition, some backbenchers occupy the position of parliamentary assistant
or chair a standing commission of the National Assembly.
II CENTRAL AGENCIES
The primary responsibility of the Office of
the Executive Council is to assist the Premier and Cabinet in managing the affairs of the
state. The Office is led by the Premier and reports to him through the Secretary General.
The decision-making process is also supported by the Office of the Premier and Treasury
Board.
1. Office of the Premier
The Office of the Premier of Quebec, headed
by the Chief of Staff, is comprised of employees chosen by the Office.
The Office of the Premier advises and
supports the Premier in his role as leader of the political party forming the Government.
It ensures liaison with Ministers and members without ministerial portfolios and sees to
it that the party machinery runs smoothly. The Office of the Premier advises the Premier
on overall strategies, as well as on major initiatives undertaken by the Government. The
Office of the Premier has no official role to play in the appointment of Deputy or
Assistant Deputy Ministers. The Chief of Staff does, however, play an unofficial role
in this regard when it comes to important appointments.
The support functions of the Office of the
Premier include allocating his time, coordinating his schedule and travel, and preparing
his correspondence.
2. Office of the Executive Council
As the chief public servant of Quebec, the
Secretary General and Clerk of the Executive Council is responsible for the operation
of the General Secretariat and carries out, in respect of the General Secretariat and the
Office of the Executive Council, the functions assigned to the Deputy Minister of a
department.
The Secretary General and the General
Secretariat for which he is responsible are charged with providing Cabinet and its
committees with the administrative support services they need to function. He ensures
liaison between the Executive Council, its committees, departments and agencies.
Accordingly, all the units comprising the Office of the Executive Council come under his
authority.
The Secretary General also acts as Clerk. As
such, he heads up a technical support administrative unit charged with processing the
draft orders to be adopted by Cabinet.
a) Priorities Committee Secretariat
The Priorities Committee is supported by a
team that helps it carry out its functions efficiently. This advisory role is assumed by
the Priorities Committee Secretariat, under the direction of an Assistant Secretary
General.
The Secretariats role is not to carry
out research projects or to take the place of the departments and agencies. Programming
expertise lies (and must remain) in the departments. Consequently, responsibility for
developing a triennial departmental strategic plan rests entirely with the departments,
whose task it is to propose the appropriate means (policies, programs) for meeting
government objectives. It is also their responsibility to mobilize their partners and
client groups in developing their strategic plan in order to help them contribute to the
objectives that have been set.
The Secretariat performs the following
tasks:
- proposes to the committee a plan and work methods enabling it to
adequately examine the issues for consideration
and reach a consensus on aspects that are
deemed to be important;
- provides the committee with data, information, analyses and
proposals aimed at facilitating its work;
- helps the committee diversify its advisory sources, both for
obtaining information and defining approaches;
- prepares economic and social development indices, making it
possible to compare Quebec with other developed
societies and measure the impacts of the
Governments actions; and
- supports the departments in developing their strategic plan by
informing them of the Priorities
Committees decisions and consensus
opinions on the nature of the Governments actions, the amount of
resources to allocate to these actions and the
approaches proposed.
b) Coordinating Committees Secretariat
The four Cabinet coordinating committees
receive support from a secretariat led by Assistant Secretaries.
The Secretariat, in its dealings with each
of the chairs of the committees it supports, is charged with:
- preparing a summary of the Memoranda, analyses and opinions issued by the various
administrative entities concerned (Treasury Board, Department of Finance, and the
departments and secretariats concerned);
- determining the degree to which these policy proposals or proposed interdepartmental
measures conform to the strategic plans approved by the Priorities Committee;
- assessing the interdepartmental and intersectoral coherence of the actions proposed
in the Memoranda brought to its attention; and
- facilitating, where needed and at the request of the chair of the Cabinet
coordinating committee concerned, conciliation between the departments involved.
c) Legislation Secretariat
The Legislation Committee is assisted in its
work by a dedicated section of the General Secretariat. This Secretariat, comprising
a small number of advisors and support personnel under the direction of an Associate
Secretary General, sees to the preparations and organization of the committee meetings and
prepares the minutes of the proceedings, which are transmitted to Cabinet if necessary.
In more general terms, it analyses the
Memoranda or bills that are to be submitted to the committee and sees to it that the
activities involved in developing these bills, in the departments and the Statutes Office
of the Justice Department, are carried out according to a timetable allowing the
Government to implement its legislative agenda. It coordinates the revision of the bills
that the Government plans to table in the National Assembly and ensures an institutional
link with the National Assembly units in charge of translating and printing the
bills.
d) Senior Appointments Secretariat
Reporting to an Associate Secretary General,
this Secretariat is responsible for, among other things, senior appointments.
As such, the Secretariat is charged, in
conjunction with the Premier and the responsible Ministers, with seeking out and
recommending candidates for positions staffed at the Governments discretion, such as
Deputy Ministers, Assistant and Associate Deputy Ministers and agency heads and members.
This responsibility also includes career management for government administrators within
the meaning of the Public Service Act (their development, determination of their
remuneration and other working conditions) as well as for Chairpersons, Vice-Chairpersons,
Secretaries and members of agencies.
It also is charged with analysing the
various questions pertaining to the organization of senior management positions in the
various departments and agencies. Lastly, it advises and supports the Secretary General on
matters concerning the application of the code of conduct and ethics governing senior
public servants.
e) Deregulation Secretariat
This Secretariat, which operates under the
responsibility of an Associate Secretary General, is charged primarily with ensuring the
implementation of the policy on regulatory activity. Basically, this consists in
tightening the process for developing government regulations, asking departments and
agencies to prepare their triennial regulatory review plans in accordance with the policy
in effect, analysing the content of these plans, reporting to Cabinet and ensuring
follow-up. It is also responsible for reviewing bills and draft regulations in light of
the provisions of the regulatory policy, as well as recommending measures to reduce red
tape in the application of acts and regulations that affect businesses and individuals and
encouraging their adoption by departments and agencies.
f) Economic and Employment Summit Secretariat
Under the responsibility of an Associate
Secretary General, this Secretariat is charged with supporting, in terms of content,
liaison and logistics, the follow-up mechanism overseen by the Premier and seeing to the
execution of job creation projects emanating from the Summit by coordinating the actions
of the departments and agencies and coordinating the liaison with outside organizations
responsible for promoting the social economy. It also provides the necessary support to
the advisory committee established in connexion with the $250 M fund to combat poverty
through labour market integration. It also ensures, in conjunction with departments and
Cabinet committees, follow-up on the government policies and actions growing out of the
Summit, other than reforms to public services.
g) Government Agencies Secretariat
This Secretariat was established in October
1997 to oversee implementation of the recommendations of the Task Force on Government
Agency Review.
Operating under the responsibility of an
Associate Secretary General, the Secretariat is charged primarily with ensuring the
application of government decisions on government agencies, providing the government with
proposals concerning the recommendations contained in the Task Force report that have
yet to be followed up on, and developing expertise as to the operation of government
agencies.
h) Economic Projects Coordination Centre
This Centre operates under the
responsibility of an Associate Secretary General. The Centres mandate consists
primarily in following up on and ensuring the implementation of the job creation projects
that grew out of the Summit in sectors other than the social economy, referring, where
applicable, economic development projects whose direct coordination is not its
responsibility to the appropriate departments and units, and ensuring their follow-up. It
must support the proactive strategies proposed by the departments with a view to seeking
investments or promoting private or partnership projects in sectors where their
implementation would have structuring effects on economic activity, and it must monitor
changes in these projects.
i) Administrative Reform Branch
The Branch is charged with advising the
Secretary General on the implementation of various reforms aimed at enhancing the
effectiveness and efficiency of the Quebec public service.
j) Secretariat of the Order of Quebec
The Secretariat of the Order of Quebec is
responsible for laying the groundwork for the Government to name individuals to the Order
of Quebec, as provided for in the Act respecting the Ordre national du Québec.
k) Canadian Intergovernmental Affairs Secretariat
Under the authority of the Minister for
Canadian Intergovernmental Affairs, this Secretariat provides the Government of Quebec
with support and advice in the area of Canadian intergovernmental relations. It
ensures coherence of action on the part of the Government of Québec in its dealings with
the federal and provincial governments. The Secretariat reports to an
Associate Secretary General.
It is also responsible for coordinating the
internal trade file. In conjunction with departments and agencies, the Secretariat takes
part in the proceedings of Canadian intergovernmental conferences and helps develop and
negotiate agreements with the federal and provincial governments.
The Secretariat is responsible for the
network of Quebec offices in Canada that ensure, within their respective territories,
links with federal and provincial stakeholders. It also coordinates activities relating to
Quebec economic and trade promotion in Canada. The Secretariat oversees the
Governments relations with Canadas Francophone and Acadian communities and
manages, in cooperation with the departments and other Quebec stakeholders, the program of
financial support for partnerships between Quebec and Canadas Francophone and
Acadian communities. Lastly, the Secretariat negotiates and implements cooperation
agreements with governments or agencies in certain provinces.
l) Aboriginal Affairs Secretariat
Under the responsibility of an Associate
Secretary General, this Secretariat provides the Minister for Aboriginal Affairs with the
expert advice and support he needs to carry out his mission.
Specifically, the Secretariats mandate
comprises the following:
- coordinate the Aboriginal activities of departments and government agencies;
- assume responsibility for developing government policies that are to apply to the
Amerindian and Inuit communities;
- provide the Aboriginal community with general information and publicize the relevant
government policies to the Quebec population as a whole; and
- conduct the negotiation of comprehensive agreements in cooperation with the
departments concerned, advise the departments on the negotiation of sectoral agreements
and oversee implementation of the agreements concluded.
m) Administration Branch
The Administration Branch provides the
Offices various administrative units with human, materiel, financial and computer
resource management services, as well as communications management services. It also acts
as the Offices mouthpiece in its dealings with central agencies.
n) Consultation Mechanisms
There is no official mechanism for
consultation between the Office of the Premier and the Office of the Executive Council.
Each week, the Secretary General and the Director of the Office of the Premier get
together to discuss the Cabinet meeting agenda; occasionally, the Premier attends this
informal meeting.
3. Treasury Board
Treasury Board is a standing committee of
Cabinet. In creating Treasury Board, the National Assembly introduced a mechanism for
monitoring the use of Quebecs resources and taking charge of administrative policy
development.
Treasury Boards authorities are set
out in the Financial Administration Act, the Public Service Act, the Act
respecting the process of negotiation of the collective agreements in the public and
parapublic sectors, the Act respecting government services to departments and
public bodies and the acts to establish certain departments or government agencies. In
addition to its own authorities, Treasury Board -- as a standing committee of Cabinet --
plays a government advisory role, providing advice on the administrative and financial
implications of bills, draft regulations and policy proposals and on specific courses of
action. The Department of Finance sets the objectives, and Treasury Board is charged with
attaining them. Under the Financial Administration Act, Treasury Board is
responsible for preparing and monitoring the implementation of the Estimates.
Treasury Board comprises five members
designated by the Government from among the members of the Executive Council. It meets
every Tuesday to decide on the requests submitted to it by departments and agencies or to
make recommendations on matters referred by the Government.
To fulfil its responsibilities, Treasury
Board relies on the technical support and consultation services of the Treasury Board
Secretariat, which is headed by a Secretary (a position at the level of Deputy Minister).
The Secretariats structure reflects
the mandates assigned to it; thus, there is the Budgetary Policy Sector, the
Management Policy Sector and the Personnel and Staff Relations Policy Sector. All three
sectors analyse the budgetary and administrative implications of the files submitted for
Treasury Board or Cabinet approval.
The method of preparing the Estimates, in
its current form, dates back to the 1972-73 introduction of the planning, programming and
budgeting (PPB) system, one of the underpinnings of the administrative reform instituted
by the Financial Administration Act. Each department and most agencies are assigned
a closed overall envelope that they use to allocate their resources in order to respond to
their most pressing needs. Thus, the principle whereby government expenditures must be
limited by the Governments ability to pay applies as well to the budget estimates
process.
The Estimates preparation cycle
commences at the Treasury Board Secretariat following the Budget Speech delivered by the
Finance Minister at the start of each fiscal year. This speech presents data on income,
expenditures and the deficit not only for the coming year, but for the two previous
ones as well. Thus, the Government sets an expenditure objective and, on that basis, the
Treasury Board Secretariat launches the budget cycle for the following year. This cycle
begins in May and comprises three stages: the triennial forecast, the program review and
detailed appropriations.
The aim of the triennial forecast
is to conduct an initial assessment of the cost of renewing the existing programs for the
next three years. The completed triennial forecast is compared to the objective set by the
Government in its Budget Speech. Based on the outcome of this comparison, the Treasury
Board President submits a Memorandum to Cabinet recommending the preparation procedures
and approaches that will guide the departments in developing their budget estimates for
the coming year. At the same time, the budgets are approved for each of the departments
and agencies. These envelopes are then transmitted to the departments, accompanied by
program review preparation instructions and forms. It is during this second stage that
departments can proceed with the review of their activities and the resources allocated to
them to develop the reduction measures required to achieve the expenditure objective.
Towards the beginning of October, the
program
review file prepared by each department is returned to the Secretariat. This is an
analysis of the requested adjustments, taking into account, if applicable, the economic
parameters review carried out at the same time for the Department of Finance. Once the
adjustments recommended by the Treasury Board Secretariat have been made, the outcome of
the program review is assessed against the objective set out in the Budget Speech,
resulting in a number of government fiscal balance scenarios. Lastly, the Treasury Board
President submits a new Memorandum to Cabinet to review, if applicable, the budgetary
approaches and obtain the necessary mandates to implement the expenditure reduction
measures, handle the departments requests and prepare the final budget envelopes.
Once the decisions taken by Cabinet have been factored in, the Treasury Board Secretariat
sends the departments the final envelopes, usually at the end of December or beginning of
January, to confirm to them the outcome of the program review. The envelopes are
accompanied by the instructions and forms required to prepare for the last stage of the
budget cycle, namely the detailed appropriations.
The purpose of preparing detailed
appropriations forecasts is to break down the amounts of the final envelopes for
their presentation in the appropriation ledger, to be tabled in the
National Assembly. The final envelopes must be broken down by programs, items and
activities according to the numbering and heading system specified by the Treasury Board
Secretariat. The envelopes are also broken down by super category and category of
expenditures according to the nomenclature appearing in the appropriations book.
Once the departments detailed
forecasts have been received, the Budgetary Policy Sector prepares the two documents to be
published when the appropriations are tabled in the National Assembly: the
appropriation book as such and the supplementary appropriation information.
For the Budgetary Policy Sector, the publication of these documents marks the end of the
estimates cycle that began almost a year earlier. This Sector plays a key role in
monitoring
budget implementation: it tracks expenditure changes and provides Treasury Board
with regular status reports identifying the main budget overruns that are anticipated.
Where appropriate, Treasury Board can take concrete measures to rein in spending.
4. Resource Management
Treasury Board exercises the powers
entrusted to the Government to develop and implement the overall administrative policy
governing the public service. Management policies cover the following areas: management of
goods and services, management of information technologies, financial management and
workforce control. Treasury Board is charged with establishing overall policies and
programs for managing the public services human resources and with assessing their
implementation. In addition, it negotiates collective agreements with public service
employee associations and determines the pay, benefits and other working conditions for
non-unionized public sector workers.
The Public Service Act gives the
Treasury Board President responsibility for, among other things, holding recruitment and
promotion competitions, carrying out research, studies or surveys on human resources
management and proposing to the Government or a department or agency measures designed to
improve human resources management and development within the public service.
It should also be pointed out that staffing
authority is entirely delegated to the departments and agencies: Deputy Ministers have
statutory authority to manage the human resources in their department; the same is true of
agency heads.
Established by the Public Service Act,
the Public Service Commission has responsibilities associated with an administrative
tribunal. In addition to hearing employee appeals as provided for under the Act, the
Commission is charged with verifying the impartiality and fairness of decisions affecting
public servants, as well as compliance with the Act and its regulations as regards the
employee recruitment and promotion system. The Commission comprises between three and
five members, including a chairperson who heads up the organization. Members are
appointed, after their names are put forward by the Premier, by a resolution of the
National Assembly.
The Public Service Act also defines
the category of government administrators. This employment category comprises the
Secretary General of the Executive Council, the Associate and Assistant Secretaries
General of the Executive Council, the Secretary along with the Assistant and Associate
Secretaries of Treasury Board, Deputy Ministers and Assistant or Associate
Deputy Ministers. Government administrators are appointed by Cabinet on the
recommendation of the Premier. Also on recommendation of the Premier, the Government can
change a government administrators employment category.
There is a special decision-making process
for senior appointments, in accordance with the policies on management of incumbents of
senior positions appointed by the Governments prerogative, adopted by Order 1488-96
of December 4, 1996. The names of the candidates that the Premier intends to appoint to
Deputy Minister or Assistant or Associate Deputy Minister positions are entered on the
Cabinet meeting agenda one week in advance, in order to give the Ministers time to
consider their candidacies. Nevertheless, the final decision rests with the Premier. As
for the positions of government agency heads or members, it is up to the Minister
concerned to bring the matter before Cabinet.
As part of the accountability process for
senior public servants, Deputy Ministers receive a letter from the Secretary General
asking them to prepare and submit to him their objectives for the coming year. Following
this request, the Deputy Minister meets with the Secretary General, who consults the
Minister before determining the management results that are expected of the
Deputy Minister.
As for the heads of government agencies,
they are asked to inform the Secretary General of the approaches and mechanisms that have
been agreed to with the Minister responsible for implementing the act establishing the
agency.
The Secretary General of the Executive
Council is the head of the public service and, as such, responsible for Deputy Ministers.
The Secretary General communicates his vision of the public service through the
Governments corporate objectives and the objectives set by each
Deputy Minister.
The Secretary General also has a number of
means at his disposal to ensure the coordination of government activities. The forum of
Deputy Ministers meets once every three weeks to review the decisions taken by Cabinet and
discuss projects that the Government plans to undertake. The committee of Assistant or
Associate Deputy Ministers also meets every two months to consider general public
administration issues. Periodically, the two groups organize special meetings during which
the Secretary General informs the Deputy and Assistant or Associate Deputy Ministers of
new initiatives to be undertaken.
Each Monday there is a coordinating meeting
between representatives of each Executive Council Office secretariat and a
representative of the Treasury Board Secretariat. The aim of the meeting is to prepare and
coordinate files that are to be submitted at Cabinet meetings.
* The figure in parenthesis indicates
the number of Ministers on the committee.
Annex 1 - Memorandum to Cabinet Flow Chart
Annex 2 - Cabinet Committees Orgazation Chart
Annex 3 - Office of the Executive Council
[ Table
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