You know that Don Drummond’s report on the Reform of Ontario’s Public Services is coming out next week, right? Right. On Wednesday, February 15th we’ll get to voraciously read suggestions to find efficiencies and improve value in the public sector. Mark it in your calendar.
Commissions can investigate something – like when a plane crashes or something stupid called ORGNE f*cks up. But this one has a particularly special purpose: telling us terrible things that we don’t want to hear so that we can “improve the use of public money.” Giving us marching orders for a mission we were sort of hoping we wouldn’t have to complete. But most of all, I wonder whether and why we really needed to commission a commission in order to do it.
So a commission can tell you things you’re a bit afraid of, things you legit don’t know and need to find out, things you want to know but don’t have the time for, or all three. Need one in your personal life? I can think of some examples:
- Commission on My Eating Habits
- Commission on My Friendship Quality
- Commission on My First Date Conversations
- Commission on Being Too Facetious When Giving Examples on The Blog
So however efficient they are in terms of outsourcing, commissions are a little shield. Well, this is what the commission found! Not necessarily MY opinion! But we should think about it. See? You need to really appreciate their tricky function.
And Don? He will be at once a hero and a scapegoat – dooming policymakers to tough and oft-ugly choices while simultaneously telling them what they’ve been dying to say.
For decades we loved Royal Commissions until we found out that they became the places that good ideas went to die. So we stopped them.
But maybe it’s time to end all this merit poppycock and get things back along bloodlines where they belong – get the “Royal” back into the Commissions and give Charlie and his two sons some work to do besides criticizing architecture and flying helicopters.
If there is going to be less money, then that means fewer loonies, twonies and paper money commemorating live Royalty and dead Prime Ministers.
Most of the dead Presidents and luminaries on the US bills (Franklin, Washington, Jackson, Jefferson) were slave-owners and now look at the value of their money.
Maybe we could put Don Drummond on the twenty dollar bill and be done with it…..