A Reader's Guide / Guide du lecteur

Canadian Public Policy

A Reader's Guide / Guide du lecteurAuthor(s): Douglas A. L. AuldSource: Canadian Public Policy / Analyse de Politiques, Vol. 1, No. 3 (Summer, 1975), pp. 343-348Published by: University of Toronto Press on behalf of Canadian Public PolicyStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3549381 .

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Graham Commission/Commission Graham

A Reader's Guide

DOUGLAS A.L. AULD/Associate Editor

The Report of the Nova Scotia Royal Commission on Education, Public Services and Provincial-Municipal Relations, chaired by Professor John Graham, is an undertaking of monumental proportions. Encompassing 4 volumes and about 69oo pages, the Report' analyzes, dissects and recon- structs almost every facet of the local and provincial-local public sector in Nova Scotia. As a public policy document it is of considerable importance and warrants careful study. Rather than attempt to provide a summary of the Commission's purpose, findings and recommendations, the editors invited Professor Graham to set the stage for the subsequent articles which examine selected areas of the Commission's work. This is done in the first paper.

An analysis of the Health Service aspects of the Report by Robert Evans, is the subject of the second paper. The paper concentrates on hospital and medical costs, the role of the physician in determining health costs and the question of the supply of physicians in the Province. The author is pleased with the Commission's emphasis on the supply or cost side of health expenditure but raises doubts about the interpretation of cost data. He also expresses concern about the application of utilization statistics to analyze the question of excessive hospital facilities. As for the Commission's recommendation that the Province assume general control over hospitals, the author is not al- together certain that such action is the appropriate panacea for inefficiency and higher-than-necessary health costs.

The Commission states in its Report that the fee-for-service method of determining doctors' salaries is a potential cause of escalating health costs. Evans is somewhat critical of the Commission's interpretation of fee and

I Report of The Royal Commission on Education, Public Services and Provincial-Municipal Relations (Halifax: Queen's Printer, 1974) Vol. I Summary and Recommendations Vol. II. Municipal Government and the Province Vol. III Education Vol. IV Appendices CANADIAN PUBLIC POLICY-ANALYSE DE POLITIQUES, 1: 3

summer/6t6 1975 Printed in Canada/Imprim6 au Canada



344 / Douglas A.L. Auld

salary data but agrees with them on the need to develop the type of data that are useful to study costs. He emphasizes that as far as the supply of physicians goes, it is not enough to say there are too many. One must examine what they are doing and where, relative to the needs of the population. On balance, Evans' reaction to the set of recommendations is favourable as a starting point.

The third paper, by Tom Plunkett and William Hooson, concerns itself with municipal services and the administrative structure that ensures their delivery. The first part of the article is a resume of the Commission's findings and recommendations dealing with geographical area consolidation, councils and committee structure, county organization and briefly, the role of the province in assisting local government. More on this latter issue is to be found in Ron Crowley's paper. While agreeing with the overall analysis and direction of the recommendations, Plunkett and Hooson raise several interesting questions about this section of the Report. Is, they ask, local government simply a 'delivery service' for public goods? Will local politicians really behave, in terms of their role in the overall revised administrative scheme, as they are assumed in the Report? Why does the Commission recommend local school councils in a supposedly centralized system of education? The answers to these questions will, the authors feel, have some bearing on the overall success of a restructured local service structure.

The fourth paper of the symposium, by Ron Crowley, deals with specific intergovernmental and fiscal aspects of the Report. The Commission has recommended a substantial reallocation of expenditure between the provincial and local sector. This is based on a set of criteria, but the author wonders why the criteria were introduced since they have not, according to him, been used as the basic bench-mark in service reallocation. The provision of 'services to people' by the Province and 'services to property' by the local government leads to '... a totally emasculated local government ...' as far as Crowley is concerned.

Turning to the property tax proposals, the author points out that the analysis leading to the proposals is based on the assumption that the tax is completely shifted to the consumer, an assumption that is not entirely tena- ble. As Crowley emphasizes, if even some of the more recent propositions about the property tax are true, the Commission's rationale for tax reform is somewhat questionable. Finally, like others, the author is not convinced that the inadequacies of local government are as serious as the Report seems to suggest.

Primary and secondary education, the topic of the fifth paper, is an important, if not the most important service at the provincial-local level. Peter Atherton's paper first presents a synopsis of the findings and recommendations. The changes, according to the author, are radical and would profoundly affect all aspects of public education. The author is uncertain that the 'ration- ality' of the recommended structural and financial changes will be politically acceptable. The proposed change for the role of school principal is so radical that the Commission has seen fit to provide for early retirement of present school administrators!

The proposed changes in school financing are indeed interesting as Ather-



A reader's guide / 345

ton points out. A formula-determined instructional budget, a method of accountability akin to PPBS (Program, Planning, Budgeting System) and a School Commission to evaluate each school are reasons for the author to raise questions about the acceptability of all the recommendations.

Perhaps not as important but certainly as controversial, is university education and research. The sixth and final paper by David Stager covers the basic areas of tuition costs, student aid and research in the universities. The author illustrates the nature of the Commission's 'full cost' pricing of instructional costs by comparing the proposed Nova Scotia scheme with those in operation in other provinces. To compensate for the relatively high tuition costs, a new program of student aid is also proposed. Stager raises a substantive question about the fairness of the proposal which applies a means test strictly on the basis of family income.

As for research and other scholarly activities, the author is inclined to conclude that because of the method of financing this aspect of university, '... one might expect a long-run decline in the quality and quantity of research.' Even if this is warranted or desired by society, the Report, by Stager's standards, is not very convincing in this respect.



Guide du lecteur

DOUGLAS A.L. AULD/R6dacteur associ&

Le rapport de la Commission Royale de la Nouvelle-Ecosse sur l'Education, les Services Publics et les Relations Provincio-Municipales, pr6sid6e par le Pro- fesseur John Graham, est une entreprise aux proportions monumentales. Le Rapport,1 qui comprend 4 volumes et environ 69oo00 pages, analyse, disseque et reconstruit pratiquement tous les volets du secteur public provincial-local et local en Nouvelle-Ecosse. En tant que document de politique publique, il est d'une importance extreme et exige une etude soigneuse. Plut6t que d'essayer de donner un r6sume des buts de la Commission, de ses conclusions et de ses recommendations, les r6dacteurs ont invite le Professeur Graham t donner le ton des articles suivants, qui examinent des domaines choisis parmi le travail de la Commission. Ceci est fait dans le premier article.

Le deuxieme article est une analyse des Services de la Sante tels que vus par le Rapport. L'auteur en est Robert Evans. L'article se concentre sur les

coots hospitaliers et m6dicaux, sur le rMle du m6decin dans la determination des cofts m6dicaux et sur la question de l'offre de m6decins dans la province. L'auteur est satisfait de l'emphase que la Commission met sur l'offre ou le c6te coit des d6penses de sant6, mais emet des doutes quant 'al'interpr6tation des donnees de cooits. Il soulkve 6galement le probleme de l'application des statistiques d'utilisation pour analyser la question d'un service hospitalier excessif. Quant a la recommendation de la Commission que la Province assure le contrble g6neral des h6pitaux, I'auteur n'est pas du tout certain qu'une telle action soit la panac6e appropri6e contre l'inefficacit6 et les frais m6dicaux plus 61eves que n6cessaire.

La Commission declare dans son Rapport que la m6thode du paiement pour service utilis6e pour determiner le traitement des m6decins est une cause

I Report of The Royal Commission on Education, Public Services and Provincial-Municipal Relations (Halifax: Queen's Printer, 1974) Vol. I Summary and Recommendations Vol. II Municipal Government and the Province Vol. III Education Vol. IV Appendices CANADIAN PUBLIC POLICY-ANALYSE DE POLITIQUES, I: 3 summer/6t6 1975 Printed in Canada/Imprimb au Canada



Guide du lecteur / 347

potentielle de l'escalade des frais medicaux. Evans critique quelque peu l'interpr6tation de la Commission quant aux donnies concernant les prix et les salaires, mais est en accord avec elle quant au besoin de d6velopper le type de donn6es utiles a l'6tude des cofits. Parlant de l'offre de m6decins, il affirme qu'il ne suffit pas de dire qu'il y en a trop. On doit examiner ce qu'ils font et oui par rapport aux besoins de la population. L'un dans l'autre, la reaction d'Evans a cette serie de recommendations est favorable comme point de d6part.

Le troisieme article, de Tom Plunkett et William Hooson, traite des services municipaux et de la structure administrative qui assure leur bonne marche - la premiere partie de l'article est un r6sume des conclusions et des recommandations de la Commission concernant la consolidation de zones geographiques, la structure des conseils et comites, l'organisation du comt6 et, en bref, le rble de la Province dans l'aide au gouvernement local. L'article de Ron Crowley traite d'ailleurs de cette derniere question. Bien qu'ils soient d'accord avec l'analyse g6nerale et la direction des recommandations, Plun- kett et Hooson posent plusieurs questions interessantes au sujet de cette section du Rapport. Est-ce que le gouvernement local est simplement un 'service de distribution' de biens publics? demandent-ils. Les politiciens locaux se conduiront-ils, en termes de leur rble dans le schema d'ensemble administratif r6vis6, comme on le pense dans le Rapport? Pourquoi la Com- mission recommande-t-elle des conseils scolaires locaux dans un systeme d'education qui est cens6 tre centralise? Les auteurs pensent que les

r6ponses a ces questions auront une certaine influence sur le succes ge6nral d'une structure de service local restructur6.

Le quatrieme article de la serie, de Ron Crowley, s'occupe d'aspects intergouvernementaux et fiscaux sp6cifiques du Rapport. La Commission a

recommand6 une reallocation substantielle des d6penses entre le secteur provincial et le secteur local. Ceci est base sur une serie de criteres, mais l'auteur se demande pourquoi ces criteres ont 6t6 pr6sent6s puisque, d'apres lui, on ne s'en est pas servi comme repere de base pour la reallocation des services. L'offre de 'services a la population' par le gouvernement provincial et de 'services a la propri6t6' par le gouvernement local mene d'apres Crow- ley a '... un gouvernement local completement 6mascul6 ...'

Passant aux propositions concernant l'imp6t foncier, I'auteur fait remarquer que l'analyse menant aux propositions est bas6e sur l'hypothese que l'imp6t est transf6r6 en totalit6 au consommateur, hypothese qui n'est pas vraiment fond6e. Comme le fait remarquer Crowley, meme si seulement quelques-uns des derniers r6sultats au sujet de l'imp6t foncier sont verifies, l'expos6 de la Commission concernant la reforme de l'imp6t est quelque peu contestable. Finalement, comme d'autres, I'auteur n'est pas convaincu que les imperfections des gouvernements locaux soient aussi sbrieuses que sem- ble le suggerer le Rapport.

L'6ducation primaire et secondaire, sujet du cinquibme article, est un important - sinon le plus important - service au niveau provincial-local. Peter Atherton prisente d'abord un r6sumi des conclusions et des recommandations. D'apres lui, les changements sont radicaux et devraient affecter

profond6ment tous les aspects de l'6ducation publique. L'auteur n'est pas



348 / Douglas A.L. Auld

certain que la 'rationalite' des changements structurels et financiers recommandes soient politiquement acceptables. Le changement propose pour le r6le de principal d'ecole est si radical que la Commission a cru bon de penser a des subsides pour une retraite anticipee d'administrateurs scolaires actuels!

Comme le note Atherton, les changements proposes dans le systeme de financement des &coles sont tres interessants. Un budget d'instruction determine par une formule, une methode de comptabilite proche du 'PPBS' (Program, Planning, Budgeting System/Systeme d')tablissement du Pro- gramme, du Plan et du Budget) et une Commission Scolaire pour evaluer chaque &cole sont des raisons pour lesquelles l'auteur se pose des questions quant a l'acceptabilite de toutes les recommendations.

Sur un plan peut-etre moins important mais sans doute tout aussi controverse, on trouve l'6ducation et la recherche universitaires. Le sixieme et dernier article, de David Stager, couvre les importantes questions des couits d'inscription, de l'aide aux etudiants et de la recherche dans les universites. L'auteur illustre la nature de l'6valuation 'coits totaux' des couits d'instruction par la Commission en comparant le schema propos6 en Nouvelle-Ecosse a ceux deja en operation dans d'autres provinces. Pour compenser le cofit relativement 6lev6 de l'inscription, un nouveau pro- gramme d'aide a l'atudiant est aussi propose. Stager pose une question impor- tante sur la justice de la proposition qui en mesure les ressources strictement sur la base du revenu familial.

Au sujet de la recherche et autres activites rudites, l'auteur est tents de conclure qu' cause de leur methode de financement'... on peut s'attendre a un declin progressif de la qualit6 et de la quantit& de la recherche.' Meme si ceci est voulu par la societ~, Stager pense que, sous cet aspect, le Rapport n'est pas tres convaincant.



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A Reader's Guide / Guide du lecteur