Public Executive Program

About the program

This 5-day program has been developed to address the key leader-manager competencies identified by the Treasury Board of Canada and provincial and municipal public service counterparts. The program provides a unique overview of the frameworks and processes to address policy development, program planning and leadership challenges facing today’s public-sector executives.

No other program in Canada provides the same kind of exciting and intensive opportunity to interact with public-sector leaders from a wide variety of jurisdictions across Canada.

This program focuses on:

The fundamentals of Leadership Excellence and Program Management in Government
Public-Sector Ethics and Accountability
The relationship between Public Servants and Elected Officials
Speaking Truth to Power
Media and Government

Who should attend

Public-sector executives at the federal, provincial and municipal levels who are looking for fresh perspectives and approaches to policy issues and public-sector leadership.

This program is designated an approved recertification program by the HRPA.

Certificate of Achievement

Participants who complete the Program receive a Smith School of Business Certificate of Achievement.

High impact learning

Leading-edge content presented by outstanding session leaders.

You might also be interested in: Queen's Leadership Program, and Queen's Strategy Program

Benefits for you and your organization

Queen's Public Executive Program is designed to enhance the strategic thinking, policy-making and decision-making skills of public-sector managers.

Broaden your public policy perspective by interacting with a diverse group of session leaders and public-sector executives
Sharpen your management and leadership skills by working with a world-class faculty team
Bring in new ideas from respected session leaders and fellow public-sector executives
Benefit from a proven executive development process used by more than 1,400 Canadian organizations, including public-sector organizations from all levels of government and all jurisdictions in Canada
Network with federal, provincial, and municipal public-sector managers from across Canada
Improve performance in the most efficient way possible, at a cost much lower than that charged by consultants
Establish an ongoing relationship with Smith School of Business and create a culture of lifelong learning within your organization

Program Alumni

As an alumnus of this program, you will receive an invitation to the annual Public Policy Forum

The program includes the following topics

The Fundamentals of Leadership Excellence and Program Management in Government: Determine the proper scope and limits to government
Public Sector Ethics and Accountability: Manage your portfolio ethically and creating a culture of accountability
The Relationship Between Public Servants and Elected Officials: Develop an understanding of the roles of public servants and elected officials in the strategic planning and execution process
Speaking Truth to Power: Using a case study, demonstrate the importance of ensuring comprehension of the impact of government decisions
The Media and Government: Understand the power of the media and learn how to manage the message

Session Leaders

Session leaders include senior professors from Smith School of Business and Queen’s Faculty of Policy Studies, as well as knowledgeable experts from the public and private sectors. These outstanding teachers are constantly in touch with government leadership and are well-versed in policy challenges through their own experiences.

Dr. Thomas Axworthy
President and CEO, Walter and Duncan Gordon Foundation

Thomas Axworthy assumed his current position as the President and CEO of the Walter and Duncan Gordon Foundation in 2009. In addition to his work with the Gordon Foundation, Tom has been Executive Director of the CRB Foundation in Montreal and the Historica Foundation in Toronto. As well, he is a longstanding board member of the Harmony Foundation, which specializes in environmental education. He was Senior Policy Advisor and Principal Secretary to Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau. In 1984, he went to Harvard University as a Fellow of the Institute of Politics at the Kennedy School of Government, and was subsequently appointed visiting Mackenzie King Chair of Canadian Studies. He is also a former Chair of the Centre for the Study of Democracy, School of Policy Studies and Queen’s University. In 2002, he was appointed Officer of the Order of Canada in recognition of his achievements in heritage education, civics and citizenship.

Dr. Keith Banting
Professor, Political Studies and Policy Studies, Queen's University

An authority on social and economic policy issues, Keith Banting is the author of Poverty, Politics and Policy and The Welfare State and Canadian Federalism. He is an editor and co-author of another dozen books dealing with public policy, including most recently Federalism and Health Policy: A Comparative Perspective on Multi-Level Governance. He currently holds the Queen’s Research Chair in Public Policy. Professor Banting served as Director of the School of Policy Studies from 1993 to 2003. Prior to that appointment, he served as Associate Dean of Graduate Studies and Research at Queen’s University. In 1983-85, he was a Research Coordinator for the Royal Commission on the Economic Union and Development Prospects for Canada. In 1986-92, he was a member of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, and in 1990 was elected vice-president of the Council. In 2005, Dr. Banting was invested as a member of the Order of Canada.

Chantal Hébert
National Affairs Columnist, The Toronto Star

Chantal Hébert is a national affairs columnist with The Toronto Star and a guest columnist for Le Devoir. She is also a regular contributor to the weekly “At Issue” panel on the CBC’s National News. Ms. Hébert served as parliamentary bureau chief for La Presse and Le Devoir in Ottawa, and as a political reporter for Radio-Canada. She is a Fellow of the Asia-Pacific Foundation, the 2005 recipient of APEX’s Public Service Award, and the 2006 recipient of the Hyman Solomon award for excellence in journalism and public policy.

Nik Nanos
Chairman, Nanos Research

Nik Nanos is a Canadian public opinion pollster and an expert on image research and crisis communications management. In 1987 Nanos founded SES Research while he was a student at Queen's University. The company is now known as Nanos Research, a market and public opinion research firm with clients across North America. In the 2006 federal election, Nanos predicted the results to within one tenth of one percentage point for the four major parties - a record in Canadian polling history. His company is the official pollster for CTV News. In 2008, Nanos was appointed an associate professor in the Canadian studies program at the State University of New York at Buffalo. He is a graduate of the Queen’s Executive MBA program.

William Richard
Director, Queen's Public Executive Program

William (Bill) Richard is a former senior government executive (Brigadier General) in National Defence with extensive experience in strategic planning, leadership, information technology, program management, policy, and international affairs. He is an Adjunct Professor at Queen’s University in the School of Policy Studies and a Senior Fellow in the Queen’s Centre for International Relations. Prior to his recent retirement from the Canadian Forces, Mr. Richard was the Commander Canadian Defence Liaison Staff (London, England), responsible to the Chief of Defence Staff and the Canadian High Commissioner for bilateral Defence Relations with the United Kingdom. As a management consultant, he has recently completed projects in strategic planning and change management at Queen’s University, National Defence, and the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long Term Care.

Colin Robertson
Vice President and Fellow, Canadian Global Affairs Institute

A former Canadian diplomat, Mr. Robertson is Vice President and Fellow at the Canadian Global Affairs Institute and hosts its regular Global Exchange podcast. He is an Executive Fellow at the University of Calgary's School of Public Policy and a Distinguished Senior Fellow at the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs at Carleton University. Mr. Robertson sits on the advisory councils of the Johnson-Shoyama School of Public Policy, Conference of Defence Associations Institute, North American Research Partnership, and the Sir Winston Churchill Society of Ottawa. He is an Honorary Captain (Royal Canadian Navy) assigned to the Strategic Communications Directorate. He is a member of the Deputy Minister of International Trade's NAFTA Advisory Council and the North American Forum. He writes on foreign affairs for The Globe and Mail and he is a frequent contributor to other media.

The Honourable Hugh Segal
Master Massey College, University of Toronto and Curriculum Advisor

Hugh Segal joined the Canadian Senate in 2005, after four decades of public service which included Chief of Staff to the Prime Minister of Canada, Associate Cabinet Secretary (Ontario) for Federal-Provincial Affairs and Policies and Priorities, Legislative Assistant to the Leader of the Opposition (Ottawa), and President of the Independent Institute for Research on Public Policy. Chair of the Special Senate Committee on Anti-Terrorism, he is a former Chair and present member of the Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs. He headed a NATO parliamentary delegation to Washington and is a former Chair (Calgary 2004) of the annual Canada-UK Colloquium. He was a Senior Fellow at Queen’s School of Policy Studies and was named a Member of the Order of Canada in 2003.

Dr. Janice Gross Stein
Conflict Management, University of Toronto

Janice Gross Stein is the Belzberg Professor of Conflict Management in the Department of Political Science and the Director of the Munk School for Global Affairs at the University of Toronto. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and an Honorary Foreign Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. She is the co-author, with Eugene Lang, of the prize-winning The Unexpected War: Canada in Kandahar. She was the Massey Lecturer in 2001 and a Trudeau Fellow. She was awarded the Molson Prize by the Canada Council for an outstanding contribution by a social scientist to public debate. She is a member of the Order of Canada and the Order of Ontario. Dr. Stein currently serves as Co-Chair of the International Programs Committee on the Board of Care Canada.