Rita Burak Explained

Rita Burak, O.Ont (born 15 June 1946)[1] was the chair of the board of Hydro One until 2008 and a former Canadian public servant and independent consultant.

Public service

Burak was born in New Jersey, United States[2] and moved to Canada in 1968.[3] She started as a private secretary in industry, and then began as a secretary for the Ontario Legislative Assembly in 1970.[4] She returned to get her bachelor's degree in political science,[5] which she received from Atkinson College, York University in 1977.[6] By 1982 she was the executive director of finance and administration at the Ontario Ministry of Labor. In 1995 Burak was named as the head of civil service,[7] and she held the position of secretary of the Cabinet for the Government of Ontario from 1995 to 2000.[8] When Burak interviewed with Mike Harris, the newly-elected premier of Ontario for the cabinet secretary position, she brought a copy of his plan that had been written out as the Common Sense Revolution and said she could implement the plan.[9] Her being appointed as cabinet secretary has been described as "an expression of the confidence in the public service's professionalism".[10] Harris was impressed by her interest in working on his plans,[11] and she was appointed as cabinet secretary with five days of Harris's election and in her new job she guided the transition team.[12] She was the first woman to serve as Ontario's cabinet secretary.[13] She was known for her focus on reducing duplicative efforts across offices, consolidating services within the ministry,[14] and doing so in a financially responsible manner.[15] [16] While serving in the role of cabinet secretary, Burak opted to not vote in elections in order to maintain political neutrality in the public service. The Globe and Mail columnist John Ibbitson wrote in 2000 that "Cabinet secretaries are always powerful, if unquoted, figures in government, but few were more powerful than Ms. Burak."

Previously, she was Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs[17] and Assistant Deputy Minister in the Ministry of Housing.

When Burak stepped down as cabinet secretary she started a private consulting firm, The Network Executive Team.[18]

Burak was appointed chair of Hydro One in 2003, serving first as an interim chair,[19] [20] and ultimately as chair until she stepped down in 2008.[21] She also served as the chair of eHealth Ontario, stepping in to head the agency when issues arose about contracts with consultants,[22] [23] and continued to provide reports on means to improve the efficiency of agencies within the province of Ontario as recently as 2011.[24]

Awards

Burak is a recipient of the Order of Ontario (2001)[25] and the Canadian Public Policy Forum's Annual Testimonial Award (2004).[26]

Personal life

Burak's spouse, Peter Barnes, was secretary of the Cabinet of Ontario from 1989 to 1992.[27]

External links

Notes and References

  1. Book: Canadian Who's Who Search. Grey House Publishing Canada.
  2. News: Mittelstaedt . Martin . June 14, 1995 . Harris fills top post in civil service Appointment of new cabinet secretary signals less 'politicization' in bureaucracy . Globe & Mail (Toronto, Canada) . Gale.
  3. News: Brennan . Richard . 7 April 2000 . Ontario's top civil servant ready to retire; Cabinet secretary Rita Burak to step down in June . 1 . Toronto Star; Toronto, Ont. [Toronto, Ont] . ProQuest.
  4. News: 1982-01-04 . Women bankers push for the top . 17 . Red Deer Advocate . 2022-11-22 . Newspapers.com.
  5. News: 1981-12-28 . Women on rise in business . 10 . North Bay Nugget . 2022-11-22 . Newspapers.com.
  6. Web site: Rita Burak . https://web.archive.org/web/20080614005754/http://www.glendon.yorku.ca/publicaffairs/profiles/burak.html . June 14, 2008 . 2022-11-22 . York University.
  7. News: Brennan . Richard . 1995-06-14 . Woman named to head Ontario's civil service . 12 . The Sault Star . 2022-11-22 . Newspapers.com.
  8. Web site: Previous Secretaries of the Ontario Cabinet . ontario.ca . 22 November 2022.
  9. Book: Paikin, Steve . Steve Paikin . Paikin on Ontario's Premiers 2-Book Bundle: Bill Davis / Paikin and the Premiers . 2016-10-22 . Dundurn . 978-1-4597-3833-1 . en.
  10. Book: Collier . Cheryl N. . The Politics of Ontario . Malloy . Jonathan . 2017-01-01 . University of Toronto Press . 978-1-4426-0912-9 . 112 . en.
  11. Book: Ibbitson, John . John Ibbitson . Promised Land: Inside The Mike Harris Revolution . 1997 . Scarborough, Ont. . Prentice Hall Canada . 978-0-13-673864-0.
  12. Book: Cameron . David R. . Cycling into Saigon: The Conservative Transition in Ontario . White . Graham . 2011-11-01 . UBC Press . 978-0-7748-4019-4 . 104–105 . en.
  13. News: Brennan . Richard . 1995-06-14 . MPPs take parting shot at Tories . 8 . The Windsor Star . 2022-11-23.
  14. Book: Dean, Tony . Tony Dean (Canadian politician) . Building Better Public Services: A Guide for Practitioners . 2015-08-13 . FriesenPress . 978-1-4602-6974-9 . en.
  15. Book: Whiteside, Heather . Canadian Political Economy . 2020 . University of Toronto Press . 978-1-4875-2348-0 . 138 . en.
  16. Book: White, Randall . Ontario Since 1985: A Contemporary History . 1998 . Toronto . Eastend Books . 978-1-896973-12-8 . 247–249, 257.
  17. Book: Government restructuring and career public service in Canada . 2000 . Toronto . IPAC = IAPC . 978-0-920715-92-5.
  18. News: Hughes . Rick . 15 August 2001 . Burak lauded as impartial professional . A11 . The Spectator; Hamilton, Ont. [Hamilton, Ont] . ProQuest.
  19. News: 2003-06-05 . Wright quits after year as HydroOne chairman . 34 . National Post . 2022-11-23.
  20. News: 2002-06-12 . Board not arms-length from government, says Energy Probe . 22 . National Post . 2022-11-23.
  21. News: 2008-03-15 . Former Molson head to chair Hydro . 17 . The Sun Times . 2022-11-22 . Newspapers.com.
  22. Book: Metro International . Taxpayers 'owed' an apology: eHealth chair . 2009-10-22 . Metro Toronto -Atlantic Free Daily Newspapers Inc. . 4.
  23. Book: Metro International . McGinty solemn over eHealth . 2009-06-18 . Metro Toronto - Atlantic Free Daily Newspapers Inc..
  24. News: Benzie . Robert . March 16, 2011 . Government slashes redundant agencies; Liberals to reap $4.2M by closing bank account of Stadium Corp . The Toronto Star (Toronto, Ontario) . Gale.
  25. News: Perkel . Colin . 5 December 2001 . Order of Ontario honours for 27 . A7 . Expositor; Brantford, Ont. [Brantford, Ont] . ProQuest.
  26. Web site: Testimonial Award National . 2022-11-23 . Public Policy Forum . en.
  27. News: Ibbitson . John . John Ibbitson . A tough act to follow in cabinet? Yes, minister . 22 November 2022 . . 7 April 2000 . en-CA.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Rita Burak".

Except where otherwise indicated, Everything.Explained.Today is © Copyright 2009-2024, A B Cryer, All Rights Reserved. Cookie policy.