CONSIDERATIONS ON GOVERNANCE

Norman G Willis
NAHS Workshop OTTAWA
15 January 2008

NAHS Multi-Stakeholder Workshop

We dream of being world leaders in animal health.
WHY?  So that we can capitalize on the benefits this will bring.
But HOW are we going to get there?
There is only one way,

that is by working together and using all of our collective skills, not in a confrontational way by pushing against each other,
but by considering the goal as the benefit for Canada as a whole.

At the heart of the HOW is governance.

From the beginning of time, the way society has progressed has been through governance.

pack leader TO chief TO king TO  emperor TO democracy.

An evolution in leadership and governance

From the strongest TO best TO inheritance TO people

 What does governance encompass?  What are we talking about?

A definition which we have used is:

• decision-making
• authorities
• roles and responsibilities
• accountabilities
• dispute resolution

But what really is governance?

It is

• deciding what to do
• knowing who will do what
• providing the tools necessary to accomplish this.

In effect, what we are describing is, How we will work together.There is a continuum of options in how we can do this.

From networking TO Co-operation To Co-ordination TO Coalition TO Collaboration

The following shows how we can describe each of these.

NETWORKING	share information  mutual promotion	no hierarchy  informal links	low key leadership minimal decision-making informal communication
CO-OPERATION	match needs and provide co-ordination	roles somewhat defined links are advisory	facilitative leaders  complex decision-making formal communication   within central group
PARTNERSHIP	share resources to address common issues	decision-makers form central body roles defined	independent leadership  focused on common  issue group decision-making in central and subgroups communication is frequent and clear
COALITION	share ideas and be willing to pull resources from existing systems	all members involved in decision-making roles and time defined links formal with written agreements	shared leadership decision-making formal with all members common prioritized  communication
COLLABORATION	accomplish a shared vision that will change benchmarks build interdependent system to address issues and opportunities	concensus used in  decision-making roles, time, and evaluation formalized links formalized in work assignments	leadership high, trust level high, productivity   high ideas and decisions equally shared  highly developed communication

I think that we are currently at the stage of Co-operation, but the question is “where do we want to be?”

Trust is fundamental of the environment of governance. Effective governance is based on trust and respect, but trust is not given and cannot be demanded, it must be earned. Therefore to operate with trust will take time and the right process to allow it.

Let’s begin now with mutual respect and allow trust to grow.

A summary of the principles of governance, as I see it, includes,

• Decision-making
• Inclusive Involvement
• Structure for Action
• Working Together
• Power Distribution
• Roles and Responsibilities
• Accountabilities
• Fairness
• Accommodation
• Dispute Resolution
• Concensus
• Communication
• Adaptability
• Transparency

Let me clarify what I mean by these principles:

1. The most important principle is that we must achieve effective and efficient decision-making, resulting in decisions that are the most appropriate ones, that are timely, and that are accepted.
   
2. Those that are impacted by a decision, must be involved in making the decision – it must be inclusive.
   
3. Governance provides a structure to get things done, yielding policies, priorities, and action.
   
4. Governance is an agreed way of working together, be it by co-operation or partnership or collaboration.
   
5. Governance is about power distribution and how power can be used to the best advantage of everyone.
   
6. A principle of governance is that the roles and responsibilities of all players must be defined.
   
7. Accountabilities, as well as responsibilities, must be defined and accepted up front.
   
8. Governance must be about fairness, but this does not necessarily mean equity, because all things are not equal.
   
9. Governance must provide a mechanism to resolve disputes.  Disputes will occur and we must avoid getting stuck in an impasse.
   
10. There must be an ability to accommodate things of different scales.
    
11. If at all possible, the goal should be to seek concensus in decision-making.  We want to increase the probability of buy-in.
    
12. Full communication to all players is essential.
    
13. The process that we are using must be fully transparent in its entirety.
    
14. Because the opportunities and challenges of the future are unknown, there must be adaptability to respond to unusual circumstances.

How can we achieve all this?

I would like to suggest a possible model for how this could be done.  This is not a model accepted by any group, but represents my own thinking.

To do this, I have made a few assumptions which I would like to state up front:

• the role where governments perform best is to facilitate and to respond,
  
• governments consider and ensure the well-being of the Canadian public,
  
• industry often suffers the primary and the lasting impact of adverse events,
  
• the viability and sustainability of industry is integral to the long-term welfare of our country and its population,
  
• there is a wide-spread desire to made the system more efficient and timely,
  
• the care and welfare of animals is important to everyone,
  
• a better governance system will enable a better National Animal Health Strategy.
  

It is also my assumption that where we are in our mode of working together is Co-operation.  The ideal goal would be Collaboration.  And what I am proposing is Partnership (Co-ordination).

My suggested model of governance is as follows:

[D]

The flow of how this could work is shown in the following diagram:

[D]

While this may or may not be the appropriate model, my intention is to stimulate discussion on what could be an appropriate model.

By way of conclusions, I would say that,

• it is clear that Canada URGENTLY need a National Animal Health Strategy,
• there is a very strongly expressed need to improve the present system,

governance, in my belief, is the key to a successful NAHS.