Jocelyne Bourgon

Jocelyne Bourgon, (born September 20, 1950) is a former Canadian public servant. She was the first woman appointed as the Clerk of the Privy Council, serving from 1994 until 1999.

Life and career Born in Papineauville, Quebec, she studied in science (Biology) at the University of Montreal and then management at the University of Ottawa. She joined the public service of Canada as a summer student with the Department of Transport in 1974. She rapidly progressed through the ranks up to her first position as deputy minister in 1989. She served in several Departments including Consumer and Corporate Affairs, Cabinet Secretary for Federal-Provincial Relations, President of Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), and Transport Canada.

As Deputy Minister, she led major legislative reforms; organized a number First Ministers Conference; led the Constitutional negotiations that led to the Charlotetown Accord (1992); and prepared a major reform leading to the privatization of rail and airports.

Clerk of the Privy Council In 1994, she was appointed Clerk of the Privy Council and Secretary to the Canadian Cabinet becoming the first woman to exercise these functions in Canada.In this capacity she led some of the most ambitious public sector reforms in Canada since the early 1940s. She oversaw the Program review that led to the elimination of the budget deficit and the reduction of the public service by 47,000 positions, and introduced measures to enhance the policy capacity and the renewal of the Public Service (La Releve). This project aspires to transform the way people think about the role of government in a post-industrial era. She is also the author of A New Synthesis of Public Administration: Serving in the 21st Century.

Member of the Board of the Industrial Alliance Financial Group since 2014, she became Chair of the Board in May 2017, the first woman to occupy this position in the 125 years history of the company.(see IS press release)

Awards She received numerous awards and recognition including the Order of Canada, the Outstanding Achievement Award, six Honorary degrees from Canadian universities. In recognition of her contribution to her country she was summoned as member of the Queen Privy Council and granted the title of Honourable.

In addition to a very large number of articles in various administrative journals, she has published two books: The New Synthesis of Public Administration (2011) and The New Synthesis Fieldbook (2017)