Virtual event
Debate | Government Efficiency: No Pain, No Gain?
Exclusively for public servants and policymakers
Wednesday, Jun 11, 2025
Time is displayed in your local time zone
Speakers
What to do next
- Catch up on the 8-minute highlights above, or dive into the full recording
- Check out the Government Efficiency and Effectiveness Academy
- Check out our upcoming event Using Insights to Inform Policy
Resources
Check out the Government Efficiency and Effectiveness Academy
The Government Efficiency and Effectiveness Academy is an online space created to equip public servants to lead change, unlock better systems, and deliver more effective outcomes at speed and scale.
Event Description
Governments everywhere are under pressure to deliver better outcomes — faster, fairer and with greater impact. Efficiency is no longer a bonus; it’s the central focus. But the path from bureaucratic process to agile delivery is anything but straightforward; how should it actually be achieved?
At this event, we’ll debate and explore the defining puzzle that governments across the world are striving to solve: how to transform systems, cultures and structures to work smarter for the people they serve. Is efficiency about speed, skills, technology or all of the above? What trade-offs must be made, and how do we maintain a public service that is human, responsive and fair for those who work within it?
Join us to hear from thought-leaders with distinct perspectives on achieving government efficiency, and add your voice to the global conversation on the future of government.
Interested in how Apolitical can support you and your organisation? Learn about collaborating with us.
Image Credit: UnSplash
Speakers
Graham Flack
Former Secretary of the Treasury Board of Canada and founding chair of the Deputy Minister Committee on Innovation
Canada
Yamini Aiyar
Former President and Chief Executive of the Centre for Policy Research (CPR), and Visiting Senior Fellow at the Saxena Center for Contemporary South Asia
United States
Graham Flack, is a recently retired federal public servant who held deputy minister positions in five different departments. He is currently a Commissioner on the Judicial Compensation and Benefits Commission. He joined the federal government to work on the Quebec referendum and Secession Reference. He contributed to issues ranging from Canada’s first National Security Policy to the international response to the Global Financial Crisis to the provision of timely supports to Canadians during COVID. His final position was Secretary of the Treasury Board. Graham was the founding chair of the Deputy Minister Committee on Innovation and helped establish the Recruitment of Policy Leaders program. He serves on the Board of the Public Policy Forum, the Advisory Board of the Banff Forum and is a Senior Fellow of the C.D. Howe Institute. He received degrees in political science and economics from Dalhousie University and the University of Oxford where he was a Rhodes Scholar. He is a former law clerk of the Supreme Court of Canada and graduated with an LL.B. from Dalhousie University and an LL.M from Harvard University.
