Hey, hey, hey do the Freddy beach shuffle.
I already got a couple of emails about my thoughts on the senior management shake up in Freddy Beach.
Now, before I comment, let me lead with what the Premier said about this change at the top (from today’s TJ):
“I want to work proactively to continue to build the team that is going to allow our province to punch above its weight compared to other jurisdictions.”
And then, the TJ’s concluding remark:
During the lead up to the 2006 election he discussed a rejuvenation of the service with outside players and fresh ideas – a move that brought swift criticism.
Now, for my comments. Here are the changes:
Marc Léger – Appointed deputy minister of Public Safety. Léger previously served as assistant deputy minister of safety services with Public Safety.
Tom Reid – Appointed deputy minister of Natural Resources. Reid had been serving as assistant deputy minister of renewable resources with Natural Resources.
Edith Doucet – Appointed acting deputy minister of Family and Community Services. Doucet is currently assistant deputy minister of program development and monitoring for the department. She previously served as director of family and prevention services and childhood services.
Ronald Durelle – Appointed acting deputy minister of Tourism and Parks. Durelle is currently assistant deputy minister of corporate operations with Tourism and Parks.
Carolyn MacKay – Appointed deputy minister of Human Resources. McKay previously served as assistant deputy minister of program delivery with Family and Community Services, as a senior policy analyst with the Executive Council and as director of human resources and ambulance services with Health and Community Services.
Bill Levesque – Appointed president of the Regional Development Corporation. Levesque had been serving as vice-president of development and special initiatives with the corporation.
Six deputy ministers have received new assignments:
David Ferguson, previously deputy minister of Natural Resources, is appointed clerk of the Executive Council and secretary to Cabinet.
Louise Lemon, previously deputy minister of Public Safety, is appointed deputy minister of Supply and Services.
Don Ferguson, previously deputy minister of Family and Community Services, is appointed deputy minister of Health.
Nora Kelly, previously deputy minister of Health, is appointed deputy minister of Post-Secondary Education, Training and Labour.
Rachel Bard, previously deputy minister of Post-Secondary Education, Training and Labour, is appointed deputy minister of Environment.
Brian Dick, deputy minister of Self-Sufficiency, is also appointed deputy minister of Business New Brunswick.
Not one new face. Everyone from within. All that talk about fresh faces, attracting top talent from outside – not one new face.
This is the team that is going to allow New Brunswick to “punch above its weight class”.
Shuffle the same bodies around and presto! you get the team.
In fairness, I don’t know 75% of these guys/gals so they may be the dream team. But the rhetoric leading up to this was about change, about bringing in top talent from “across Canada” I believe was mentioned.
How about from across the hall, more like it.
Final point. I see that economic development (Business New Brunswick) was so important that it was relegated to the second department of the Self Sufficiency Deputy. In the old days, they would tack on the orphan departments as someone’s secondary responsibility.
I’m probably going to get chastised for this but my reaction to this is basically quite negative. I hope I am proven wrong.