Abstract

NGO RESTRUCTURING – CONSTRAINTS AND CONSEQUENCES

Ted Richmond and John Shields

Many are aware of declining capacity in the NGO sector with respect to advocacy and community development, but to date there has been relatively little analysis of the causes and consequences of this alarming trend. As this paper will demonstrate, however, much more is at work in the service-providing sector than simple "overload" due to expansion of service demands beyond available funding.

We will document and analyse the ways that the NGO service sector is being deliberately restructured through the shift from "core" to "program" funding, the de-legitimization of community development work as a fundable service, and the imposition of complex and burdensome accountability schemes disguised as evaluation measures. We will also examine the consequences of this restructuring in terms of growing monopolisation within the sector and the consequent reduction of diversity of service alternatives, as well as reduced capacity for public education and community development.

The paper will also examine the paradox inherent in the fact that such restructuring is being imposed without public debate in the name of the public good, and propose potential solutions related to this crucial issue of Canadian public policy. As essential background to the analysis we will provide an overview of the growing and changing role of the "third sector" as the preferred delivery agent for human services within a downsized and globalized economy.

Bios

Ted Richmond is Program Manager at the Community Social Planning Council in Toronto. Previously he worked as Coordinator at the CERIS immigration research centre in Toronto, and prior to that as Research Coordinator at the Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants (OCASI).

Ted has a Master's degree in measurement and evaluation from OISE, University of Toronto. He has done extensive publishing and speaking on the topic of appropriate evaluation methods for community organizations, including presentations at the annual meeting of the Canadian Evaluation Society (Montreal, 2000) and the National Settlement Conference (Kingston, Ontario 2001). Ted has also been actively involved for many years with developing community-based research capacities, and effective NGO use of the new technologies; in this capacity has served on numerous community boards and advisory committees.

John Shields is a Professor of Politics and Public Administration at Ryerson University and an Associate Director with the Joint Centre of Excellence for Research on Immigration and Settlement - Toronto (CERIS). He has published extensively in the areas of Canadian public policy and public administration focusing on labour market, third sector and welfare state change. He has co-authored four books and over twenty published articles and papers. His most recent books are: Restructuring and Resistance: Canadian Public Policy in an Age of Global Capitalism (co-editted with Mike Burke and Colin Mooers) Halifax: Fernwood, 2000; Shrinking the State: Globalization and the "Reform" of Public Administration (with B. Mitchell Evans) Halifax: Fernwood, 1998; Dismantling a Nation: The Transition to Corporate Rule in Canada, 2nd edition (with Stephen McBride) Halifax: Fernwood, 1997.

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