Author Archives: Tony Dean

By Tony Dean Public servants and their managers are focusing a lot these days on finding efficiencies. Governments are asking them to find new and more effective ways of providing public services at a lower cost. We of ...

By Tony Dean I'm continuing to enjoy the Liberal and NDP deal-making on the budget. It's a window, albeit narrow, on what a more representative form of government might look like. NDP supporters are seeing their electi ...

By Tony Dean The departure this month of Jamison Steeve, the Premier's Principal Secretary and Chief of Policy is another big jolt in the political world at Queen's Park. Dalton McGuinty credits Steeve as a driving for ...

By Tony Dean There is talk of the Ontario Legislature staying open for business over the summer to deal with the government’s budget legislation. The PCs are working really hard at being a nuisance with bell ringing an ...

By Tony Dean Queen’s Park was shaken up on May 3 with the surprise appointment of David Livingston to replace Chris Morley as Premier Dalton McGuinty’s chief of staff.   That evening the Ontario crowd at the massive Pub ...

By Tony Dean There has been a lot of talk about the degree to which the McGuinty government has taken up Don Drummond’s recommendations on deficit reduction and reform of public services. It’s a tricky one for the gove ...

By Tony Dean Yet another big announcement hit Queen’s Park on Thursday with the impending departure of Chris Morley as chief of staff in the Premier’s Office. Morley has been a superb chief of staff.  He walked into go ...

By Tony Dean The big news at Queen’s Park today is the appointment of Conservative MPP Elizabeth Witmer as Chair of the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board. It’s a good move at the right time for Witmer. It puts the ...

By Tony Dean So there is a last-minute Liberal-NDP budget deal after all. These talks were always going to go to the wire and it’s no surprise that they culminated in a Monday afternoon face-to-face meeting between Dal ...

By Tony Dean Predictably, talks on amendments to the Liberal budget are moving slowly and cautiously.  Let’s face it, an early deal would have observers looking for who blinked first and neither party can afford that.  ...