One change arising out of the Federal Accountability Act was the introduction of the accounting officer model and the impact it has had on the attention and care that deputy ministers pay to the management of their organizations. I don't want to overstate this, because I think deputy ministers have always paid attention to the management of their organizations. But the accounting officer model helped to clarify the roles of the minister and the deputy in their partnership in ensuring that departments of government are well managed.
I think about my days in Treasury Board. The current clerk and former secretary of the Treasury Board have said before various committees of the House of Commons that this was a significant shift in the symbolism and mentality of the systems of government. It recognized that it was important for deputy ministers to ensure that the best possible public policy advice was being provided to their ministers and that they were paying attention to the management of their organizations.