Premier Stelmach’s key Committee (Agenda and Priorities and Treasury Board) appointments are out. Good balance again but these appointment is the real indication of the inner circle and brain trust of the Stelmach government as indicated by who sits on both committees.
Stevens, Hancock, Horner and Snelgrove are dual appointments and get to deal with the big picture for the Premier agenda and objectives.
Hancock once again takes on the Government House Leader role with the able assistance of Deputies Gene Zwozdesky and Rob Renner.
The all party Field Policy Committee Chairs see George VanderBurg back and Ray Prins and Dave Rodney getting the nod. Newbies Ken Allred and Fred Horne are all sound choice.
Deputy Minister appointments come later today and the Minister’s Mandate Letters come next week.
Ken, what is the difference between deputy ministers versus assistant ministers ... or are they the same thing now?
ReplyDeleteDeputies run the department and the civil service, they carry out and are responsible for the day to day operations and running of the Ministries. Think of it like the Deputy Minister being the President and CEO of a company, whereas the Minister is like the Chair of the Company's Board of Directors. Ministers give the direction and overview and they are publicly elected official responsible for that direction.
ReplyDeleteParliamentary assistants? or assistant Ministers like you said? well, they would like a board member, they could advise the Minister, they can act on behalf of the Minister on certain things, but at the end of the day they report to the Minister AND as elected officials they report to Albertans as well.
Hope that helps, as opposed to making it more complicated...
also, don't forget, Deputy Ministers make about $200,000 more than either Ministers or PA's...or even the Premier for that matter, keep that in mind when you think of which job you'd rather have...
(and i'm not implying by any means that DM's are overpaid, they deserve every penny)
The Corporate metaphor for government mangagement and administration does not really cut it.
ReplyDeleteThey are different worlds.
I agree that they are different worlds Ken, but i disagree that it doesn't really cut it, especially with your lack of further detail to explain the difference between a DM and a PA.
ReplyDeleteIt is not perfect to compare government to private sector, but since most people only know the private sector it is beneficial to use analogies.
Why do I have to explain the difference between a DM and a PA?
ReplyDeleteLook it up yourself in the Cabinet announcement and you will see it is a very significant difference.
If you are right that "people only know the private sector" and given that they it is not comparable to the pubic sector operational models - it is not beneficial to use it as an analogy. It is misleading! Do not do that!!!
Deal with the public sector management and operating models in their own right!
Citizens need to learn the difference not make this dangerous mistake of presuming the private and public sector operational models are the same or are even comparable. They are not. And that is a good thing.