Esurio: Journal of Hunger and Poverty, Vol 1, No 2 (2009)

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The Influence of New Public Management on Three Ontario Municipal Governments and its Impact on Poverty Reduction and Social Service Programming

Zac Spicer

Abstract


New Public Management is a popular fiscal philosophy that has dominated governing institutions around the world for decades. Some, though, have argued that its ideals are on the wane and that the principles behind New Public Management have become discredited and seen as outdated. This paper examines the influence of New Public Management on municipal governance in Ontario and its impact on poverty reduction and social services programming. As such, the human services planning documents of three Ontario municipalities, specifically Toronto, Hamilton and Sudbury, will be examined to gauge the effect of New Public Management on their governance and human services planning. From examining these documents, five distinct trends are identified: volunteer sector partnerships, increased transparency, a renewed emphasis on delivery, resource targeting, and outsourcing of policy implementation. It is concluded that each of these trends are the direct results of New Public Management and that such ideals can still be found to be impacting poverty reduction and social service programming in Ontario.


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Esurio is published by the Ontario Association of Food Banks (OAFB).