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In this paper, I examine how the federal Department of Western Economic Diversification has adapted and survived despite considerable odds. By employing variations of three survival strategies, the Department has been responsive to its stakeholders yet achieved autonomy. Furthermore, the impact of these results has been affected by a number of institutional arrangements. Western Economic Diversification Canada has survived by leveraging responsive competence and organizational autonomy with actors in the political process, including politicians, civil society, and other government officials. It has been aided by its comparative advantage as an advocate for western Canada and by its small size.

In this paper, I examine how the federal Department of Western Economic Diversification has adapted and survived despite considerable odds. By employing variations of three survival strategies, the Department has been responsive to its stakeholders yet achieved autonomy. Furthermore, the impact of these results has been affected by a number of institutional arrangements. Western Economic Diversification Canada has survived by leveraging responsive competence and organizational autonomy with actors in the political process, including politicians, civil society, and other government officials. It has been aided by its comparative advantage as an advocate for western Canada and by its small size.

In this paper, I examine how the federal Department of Western Economic Diversification has adapted and survived despite considerable odds. By employing variations of three survival strategies, the Department has been responsive to its stakeholders yet achieved autonomy. Furthermore, the impact of these results has been affected by a number of institutional arrangements. Western Economic Diversification Canada has survived by leveraging responsive competence and organizational autonomy with actors in the political process, including politicians, civil society, and other government officials. It has been aided by its comparative advantage as an advocate for western Canada and by its small size. / Arts, Faculty of / Political Science, Department of / Graduate

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This thesis seeks to explain why Canadians have been unable to reach consensus on the meaning of Canadian citizenship and on the issue of how they relate to one another as citizens. Rather than adopt a longitudinal approach to this dilemma, that is explaining why it has persisted over time, this study focuses on the 1987 Meech Lake Constitutional Accord, and specifically the provision recognizing Quebec as a "distinct society within Canada". This thesis treats the Accord as a microcosm of the larger "Canadian question". Applying the covenantal and compactual traditions in politics to the Canadian experience, this essay argues that the source of Canadian discord lies in the inability to agree on the essential nature of federalism and political community in Canada. This development has made it difficult for citizens to construct covenantal relations which would bind Canadians together in a lasting political arrangement, free of seemingly perennial constitutional "crises".

The structure of the Canadian cabinet has been taken by a variety of observers and participants in government to be an important, or at least an intriguing subject. The volume of writings about the Canadian cabinet has increased over the past decade. Civil servants have produced unpublished additional volumes of memoranda. The pace of change in cabinet structures, and prime ministerial announcements about them, suggest that they are regarded as significant policy instruments and as significant indica- tions of the character and directions of a government. Certainly it is no longer true to say, as Prime Minister Diefenbaker did in 1960, that "The means by which the Cabinet conducts its business are traditionally regarded as its own affair, and questions on the subject are normally neither asked nor answered". [Continued in text ...]

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In recent years, Total Quality Management has increasingly become a management approach embraced by public and private sector organisations worldwide. Although adopted initially by the private sector, Total Quality Management strategies have recently - and increasingly - been used by public sector organisations. However, public sector, particularly local government, experience with Total Quality Management has not been as systematically documented as private sector cases. Implementation issues in the public sector such as, problem identification, including the definition and distinction between the concept of customer and citizen; results; alternatives; and, performance measures differ significantly from private sector counterparts. Identification and documentation of these implementation issues are prerequisite requirements for the improved application of Total Quality Management in the public sector. The purpose of this research study, which was supported by the Canadian Association of Municipal Administrators, is to examine the Total Quality Management efforts being undertaken by local governments in Canada. The analysis includes a survey of Canadian municipalities to assess the general state of Total Quality Management efforts at the local government level. These survey data are compared with similar studies recently completed at the local government level in both the United Kingdom and the United States. In addition, the research study includes a more detailed review of specific cases to critically assess the use of TQM; and, to provide a "best practices" assessment of the application of Total Quality Management at the local government level in Canada. The intention is to identify the principles of Total Quality Management through the survey and case analysis, which can identify problems and concerns associated with TQM; and, provide a model for other public sector organisations - particularly local governments - attempting to implement Total Quality Management. The results of these inquiries confirm that local governments in Canada are generally cognisant of the principles of Total Quality Management and continue to explore TQM applications. For the most part, Total Quality Management has proven successful within local governments in Canada. In addition, the results suggest that local governments considering Total Quality Management should undertake an in-depth corporate strategic assessment or planning exercise prior to initiation of a formal quality program and recognise their own unique strengths and weaknesses. Most importantly, the Total Quality Management concepts best suited for any specific organisation, including local governments, must be clearly identified; understood; supported, particularly by managers; and, strategically used rather than the universal application of all Total Quality Management principles.