Michael Sabia, Clerk of the Privy Council, sent a message to the federal public service in July that can be boiled down into a mantra of three words: focus, simplify and accountability.Chris Young/The Canadian Press

Allen Sutherland is the president and chief executive officer of the Institute on Governance.

On July 7, Canada’s new top public servant, the Clerk of the Privy Council and Secretary to Cabinet Michael Sabia, sent a message to the federal public service. Cut to its essentials, that message can be boiled down into a mantra of three words: focus, simplify and accountability.

The fate of the government – and, perhaps, even of the country – could well depend on the public service’s success in evolving to meet “the compelling opportunity” of the moment. That’s an opportunity that Mr. Sabia stresses Canada “cannot miss.”

On focus, his instruction is to stay on target to deliver on the seven missions outlined in Prime Minister Mark Carney’s mandate letters to his Cabinet Ministers and Secretaries of State.

In them, Mr.........

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