How We’re Building Smarter Government

Peter Bethlenfalvy is the MPP for Pickering — Uxbridge and President of the Treasury Board of Ontario.

It’s time to build a smarter government.

That’s the sentiment I heard across Ontario when I visited business and community leaders at local chambers of commerce during a recent tour. It’s the same message I heard on the campaign trail in 2018 and one that our government has committed to achieve.

Since being elected, our government has taken a new approach to managing Ontario’s finances. We reassessed how government operates and checked it against the best practices in the private sector.

We looked at our balance sheets and understood that paying for public services on a credit card now meant our children and grandchildren would be burdened with rising debt and interest payments — money that wouldn’t flow to frontline services.

We examined every dollar of spending to find efficiencies that could allow us to redirect funds to front-line services where they were most needed.

Our goal?

To build a smart, fiscally sustainable government that puts the people at the centre of everything we do.

To change the culture of government, focus on better outcomes and improve the customer experience for everyone.

We tackled this challenge with a razor-sharp focus on:

· Streamlining and improving services

· Fixing inefficiencies

· Improving how we do business

It’s all about working smarter to bring the language of business to the business of government.

Why?

A smarter government protects high-quality public services now and for our children and grandchildren.

Upon launching our Smart Initiatives, I traveled across the province to hear from business and community leaders about how we can work together to build a modern, fiscally-sustainable government that works for all of us.

Throughout my visits, I heard words of support from business and community leaders who also told me that these changes are long overdue. For too long, government has lagged behind the private sector, foregoing technology and simply letting government operate unchallenged.

I heard from people across the province that want to work with us to help find modern solutions that improve government services while saving taxpayer dollars.

But we’re not just talking about these changes. Our government has already taken action by implementing a series of Smart Initiatives to modernize government and improve customer experience.

Centralizing Procurement to save $1 billion per year

As part of our plan to make it easier to deliver services, we are introducing more efficient processes and systems that will make government more effective. That may not sound like an exciting government initiative but it has the potential to save $1 Billion a year — that’s $1 Billion that can be reinvested in hospitals, schools, or necessary infrastructure projects across Ontario.

Right now, the numerous Ministries, agencies, and organizations within the government of Ontario all purchase the supplies they need separately. For example, a hospital and a school in the same community could both require printer paper and cleaning supplies, but they would each buy enough to fill their organizational needs, never speaking or coordinating with one another.

That means they lose out on the savings that come with buying in bulk — savings that families know can help make all the difference on a tight budget.

Under our plan, that same school and hospital that needed the same supplies would pool their order to save taxpayer dollars by getting a bulk discount.

But Smarter Government isn’t just about saving money, it’s about improving interactions with government by modernizing how it operates.

Transfer Payment Consolidation

Right now, non-profit organizations that supply support services to families and individuals in need across this province are required each year to spend hours (if not days) of their time filling out different forms for different Ministries to apply for numerous grants.

Under our plan, these same organizations would be able to fill a comprehensive, combined form online. That saves countless hours for non-profit staff and volunteers to redirect towards helping Ontarians and makes their funding more predictable and accessible.

Removing Unused Properties from the Government’s Books

Another Initiative you should be aware of has to do with the millions of dollars the provincial government currently spends in property taxes and maintenance costs to keep empty, unused, and underused properties on the government’s books.

Right now, these properties offer no value to the people of Ontario, but continue to drain government coffers. Our government is changing that by reviewing all government-owned building and properties to ensure they’re useful, necessary, and cost effective.

Those that aren’t generating value for the people of Ontario will be given back to municipalities to develop low-income housing or long-term care spaces — where that’s not feasible, they will be sold off to generate funds that can be used to fund projects like these across the province.

Over the next few weeks I’ll be highlighting some specific Smart Initiatives that our government is undertaking. Watch for regular updates on my Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn accounts to learn more about how our government is modernizing the way the people of Ontario access services and how we’re spending your money responsibly.