Erin Edmundson
Suzanne Gélinas
Joanne Sullivan
7th Annual Conference of Public Administration
Lord Nelson Hotel
January 31, 2007
September 11, 2001, Flooding March
2003, Hurricane Juan, 2003, “White Juan”,
2004, Snowstorm Fall 2004.









Introduction
Definitions and Context
What is Alternative Service Delivery?
Why ASD in Nova Scotia
Understanding the Contract: Emergency
Response
Benefits and Challenges
Analysis: Application of ASD Literature
Contrasting Models
Conclusion


Increased attention on disasters and
emergencies – major concern for
policy makers and citizens
Nova Scotia:
◦
◦
◦
◦
◦
Swissair, 1998
9/11, 2001
Hurricane Juan, 2003
“White Juan”, 2004
November Storm, November 2004

Disaster
◦ Disaster = Hazard + Vulnerability
◦ Policy Problem of “Global Scope”
◦ Affects ALL regions
 Poor or industrial
 Large or small

Emergency

Emergency Management
◦ “A present or imminent event…[that requires] prompt coordination of action or regulation of persons or property…to
protect property or the health, safety or welfare of the people”
◦ Four Elements




Mitigation
Preparedness
Recovery
Response




Utilized by all government coordinates in
Canada
Response, in recent years, to changing
imperatives
Literature attempts to define in practical
terms
Clear definition?
◦ TBS (1995, 2002)
◦ IPAC
◦ Ford and Zussman
Alternative service delivery involves
rethinking the roles and functions of
government organizations to provide quality
services, grounded in a strong policy
foundation, to citizens through nontraditional means.







<1998 social services delivered on Two Tier
System
1998 DCS took over
>Swissair – considered other options for ESS
DCS considered competitive contracting
But only one organization had interest,
capacity, and Province-wide reach
Canadian Red Cross
Contract signed in March 2000





Little evidence of “government failure”
DCS not unable to provide service
Recognition that Red Cross had the necessary
knowledge, resources and skills
There are reasons to contract out social services
Panet and Tribelcock:
◦ Non-profits:
 “better positioned to service community needs”
 “tend to be accountable…to the client population they
service”
 Greater flexibility “to engage in experimentation and to tailor
services innovatively”
 “community participation aspect”

Provincial Jurisdiction for Emergencies:
◦ Contract for ESS
 involving 25+ people or 10+ units
 Across municipal boundaries


Funding
Duration
Spatial Model of Disaster
Alexander, S. (1993). Natural Disasters. New York: Chapman and Hall, p.1-40. As cited in: McAllister, I. (2006). Econ 5252,
Module/Unit 7: Natural Disasters. Course Readings, Dalhousie University.

Zone of Total Impact
◦ Immediate emergency, urgent threat
◦ Structures severely damaged, destroyed
◦ Mitigate injury

Zone of Marginal Impact
◦ Damage less serious
◦ Municipal actors (police, firefighters, etc.).

Zone of Filtration
◦ No physical damage
◦ Refugees in large numbers
◦ Red Cross contract!




Assist DCS with plans for the provision
of ESS
Annual Report
Policy and Operational Review
Positively promote the Red Cross-DCS
contract through media outlets




Large, international organization
Emergency Response Teams
Strong volunteer base
Significant training

Benefits – DCS
◦
◦
◦
◦

Lower caseload for employees in ESS
Access to volunteers
Clear roles and responsibilities for provision of ESS
Alignment with international symbol
Benefits – Red Cross
◦ Stable and predictable source of funding
◦ Increased visibility in NS
◦ Elevated responsibility – high performance
standards
◦ Opened doors for acceptance at operation tables

Challenges – DCS
◦ Loss of Control
◦ Loss of interest of volunteers due to few/no
emergencies
◦ Volunteer turnover

Challenges – Red Cross
◦ No significant challenges identified

Contracts
◦ “Virtually all governments contract for services”
(Savas, 70)
◦ Social-services usually provided by non-profit
organization
◦ Savas (70) notes a number of conditions to make
contracts feasible:




Unambiguous specification of the work to be done
The existence of a competitive climate
The ability to monitor performance
Enforceable and documented terms

Roles and Responsibilities
◦ Defining worked “unambiguously” is difficult in ESS
◦ Contract outlines 5 responsibilities and what each
means
◦ How, where, when is difficult to predict

Evaluation and Results
◦ Great emphasis in literature on importance of
evaluation and results
 Panet and Trebilcock
 Savas
 Aucoin
◦ Reporting essential for effective, efficient, equitable
use of public resources
◦ Red Cross required:
 to provide DCS with an Annual Report on March 31 of
every year that highlights ESS activities
 To conduct annual review with Minister with regard to
policy and operations

Value for Money and Focus on Outcomes
◦ Value for money not most important element of
contract but still a factor
 Red Cross = volunteers v. DCS = overtime
◦ Focus on Outcomes more important
 Red Cross has a critical mass of knowledge and
experience
 DCS measures outputs based on capacity to respond
and actual response

Shared Objectives and Common Goals
◦ DCS and Red Cross goals well aligned in ESS – to
provide for the needs of citizens
◦ But contexts are necessarily different (Hall, Reed)
◦ Red Cross – organizational mandate to provide ESS
◦ Emergencies target specific clients (depending on
situation)
◦ Equitable service public service value

Loss of control
◦ Savas – Principle/Agent problem
◦ Concern of DCS – delegation of service provision to
Red Cross

Competitive Contracting
◦ Savas: “institutionalizes competition…encourages better
performance”
◦ Australia: “can improve quality and foster
innovation…achieve value for money outcomes and
improve accountability and transparency”
◦ While in most cases competition is a best practice for
ASD, it is often unavoidable
◦ DCS found that sole source contracting was unavoidable
◦ After consideration of competitive process, only one
organization that had interest resources, knowledge,
and geographic reach

Employee Transition
◦ Often one of the most complicated issues when
contracting for services
◦ DCS – no job loss to manage
◦ ESS not a full time job for most
◦ Public servants encouraged to volunteer

Cost Comparison
◦ Often an important factor
◦ No cost comparison by DCS
◦ Difficult to determine cost-effectiveness in this case

British Columbia
◦
◦
◦
◦
Local authorities have jurisdiction (in-house) for ESS
Provincial government assists
Volunteers managed by government
Different needs and concerns related to size,
threats and vulnerabilities, and geographic location
Government of British Columbia. Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General. “About ESS”. Available
[Online]: http://www.ess.bc.ca/about.htm

Government of Canada
◦ May, 2006 PSEPC signed MOU with Red Cross
◦ Recognizes the relationship between organization
with the goal to ensure emergency management is
similar across Canada
◦ Not a legally binding guideline of roles and
responsibilities
Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Canada. 2006. Online: http://www.psepc.gc.ca/media/nr/2006/nr20060508-en.asp



Benefits of this contract:
◦ Government betting from knowledge and
resources
◦ Red Cross is able to pass on expertise and
efficiency to tax payers – high standards of
service
Contract creates a formal relationship
grounded in ASD best practices between two
organizations committed to public service
Precedent-setting model of ASD for other
jurisdictions





Brochures available
Volunteer forms available to join the Red
Cross Emergency Response Teams
One meeting a month (2 hours)
Lots of free training
Lots of opportunity to make a difference in
your community












Aucoin, Peter. “Lesson 12: Collaborative Structures”, PUAD 5100 Lessons. Dalhousie University, 2005, 12.112.21
Boston, Jonathan. “Organizing for Service Delivery: Criteria and Opportunities”, B. Guy Peters and Donald J.
Savoie (eds) Governance in the Twenty-first century. Montreal: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2000, 281331.
Canada, Treasury Board Secretariat (1995). Framework for Alternative Program Delivery. Ottawa: Minister of
Supply and Services. Available [Online]: http://epe.lac-bac.gc.ca/100/201/301/tbs-sct/tb_manualef/Pubs_pol/opepubs/TB_B4/dwnld/frdoce.doc
Canada, Treasury Board Secretariat (2002). Policy on Alternative Service Delivery. Ottawa. Available [Online]:
http://www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/asd-dmps/index_e.asp
Canadian Red Cross. About the Red Cross. 2006. Available [Online]:
http://www.redcross.ca/article.asp?id=000318&tid=019 November 21, 2006
Comfort, L., B. et al. “Reframing disaster policy: The global evolution of vulnerable communities.”
Environmental Hazards, June 1999, 1:1, 39-44.
Commonwealth of Australia. Department of Finance and Administration. “Competitive Tendering and
Contracting Group”, Competitive Tendering and Contracting: Guidance for Managers, March 1998, 7-32.
Dollery, Brian E. and Joe L. Wallis, “Chapter 7: Public Policy Toward the Voluntary Sector” The Political
Economy of the Voluntary Sector: A Reappraisal of the Comparative Institutional Advantage of Voluntary
Organizations Northampton, MA: Edward Elgar, 129-164.
Ford, Robin and David Zussman, eds. 1997. Alternative Service Delivery: Sharing Governance in Canada. The
Institute of Public Administration of Canada and KPMG Centre for Government Foundation.
Government of Canada. Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Canada. Modernization of the Emergency
Preparedness Act: Consultation Paper July2005. Available [Online]:
http://www.psepc.gc.ca/pol/em/fl/Modernization_EPA.pdf
Government of British Columbia. Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General. “What do ESS volunteers do?”
Available [Online]: http://www.ess.bc.ca/people.htm#what
Government of the Province of Nova Scotia. Department of Community Services, Emergency Social Services
Available [Online]: http://www.gov.ns.ca/coms/emergency_ss.html
















Government of the Province of Nova Scotia. Subsection 2 (b) Emergency Measures Act. 1990. Available [Online]:
http://www.gov.ns.ca/legislature/legc/statutes/emergmsr.htm
Hall, Michael H. and Paul B. Reed, “Shifting the burden: how much can government download to the non-profit
sector?” Canadian Public Administration, Spring 2000, 41:1, 1-20.
Kovacs, Paul and Howard Kunreuther, Managing Catastrophic Risk: Lessons From Canada Prepared for the
ICLR/IBC Earthquake Conference March 23, 2001, Simon Fraser University, Vancouver. Available [Online]:
http://opim.wharton.upenn.edu/risk/downloads/01-09-HK.pdf
Langford, J.W. “Power Sharing in the Alternative Service Delivery World”. Ford, R. and Zussman, D. (Eds)
Alternative Service Delivery: Sharing Governance in Canada. Toronto. Institute of Public Administration Canada.
1997, 59-70.
Langille, Ancel. Red Cross Field Associate, Central District. Canadian Red Cross Email, November 24, 2006
Langille, Ancel 2006. Red Cross Field Associate, Central District. Canadian Red Cross. Personal Communication.
Manuel, Barry. Presentation to Red Cross Emergency Response Team, Dartmouth Nova Scotia, November 14,
2006.
Panet, Philip De L. and Michael J. Trebilcock, “Contracting-Out Social Services,” Canadian Public Administration,”
Spring 2000, 41:1, 21-50.
Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Canada. 2006. Online:
http://www.psepc.gc.ca/media/nr/2006/nr20060508-en.asp
Red Cross and Department of Community Services Agreement. 2000.
Savas, E. S. “Alternative Arrangements for Providing Goods and Services” Privatization and Public-Private
Partnerships New York: Chatham Home Publishers, 2000, 63-106.
Savas, E. S. “Contracting for Public Services” Privatization and Public-Private Partnerships New York: Chatham
Home Publishers, 2000, 174-210.
State of Washington Department of Revenue. Excise Tax Advisory. January 28, 2006.
http://dor.wa.gov/docs/rules/eta/2007r05.pdf November 9, 2006.
United Nations. “Terminology” International Strategy for Disaster Reduction. Available [Online]:
http://www.unisdr.org/eng/library/lib-terminology-eng%20home.htm
Webb, John. Director, Nova Scotia Department of Community Services, Emergency Social Services Personal
Communications, November 17, 2006.
Williams, B. 2005. The Federal Charter of the American Red Cross. American Red Cross. Online
http://www.redcross.org/museum/history/charter.asp Retrieved November