Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, we have all, I think, spoken to this, and certainly I have today already, the idea that we must get to a place where we have regional directors, that they are in place, and that there's succession planning so there's no gaps in those service opportunities and superintendents within every department, again making sure that they are staffed and making sure that we have succession planning in place, again so that there's no gaps. They should be meeting directly with the Premier's office as well as with their respective ministries. But then on the ground within those offices, and even further down to the front lines of delivering our services, we need to get to a place where we are actually offering person-centered services; person-centered services that are responding to the needs of our residents as they are coming forward to the government, and how can we do that in the best way? Obviously, in my mind, it's having that ability to make a decision at the front line that is meaningful to the person coming forward for the service.
To better empower the public service to do that, there are some simple things that I think can be done throughout departments and can come from the top down to empower people at the front lines, having an understanding of conflicts. One of the concerns that comes up as well, if there's decisions being made in small communities, that they can be subject to concerns of there being too many conflicts in a small community. That doesn't have to be the case if it's clear that there's a matricis that shows here's what is conflict says, here's how you declare a conflict, and here's who you might go to in our office if you have a conflict. The public should know what decisions can be made. It should be clear what the decisions are that's available within a community office and what are the basis for the decision, what are the parameters within which someone can exercise discretion. So it doesn't have to be a box checking exercise. There can be discretion that is exercised. But discretion can come with parameters so everyone still knows what it is that's at issue, how to have that decision made and how to represent themselves, and the timelines for those decisions need to be public as well. When things go wrong, there can be appeals that are made, and that too can be public, and that will provide better opportunities within the regions.