Rita Burak,

O.Ont The Order of Ontario is a civilian honour for merit in the Canadian province of Ontario. Instituted in 1986 by Lieutenant Governor Lincoln Alexander, on the advice of the Cabinet under Premier David Peterson, the civilian order is administered ...

(born 15 June 1946) was the chair of the board of

Hydro One Hydro One Limited is an Electric power transmission, electricity transmission and distribution Electric utility, utility serving the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. Hydro One traces its history to the early 2 ...

until 2008 and a former Canadian public servant and independent consultant.

Public service

Burak was born in

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

, United States and moved to Canada in 1968. She started as a private secretary in industry, and then began as a secretary for the

Ontario Legislative Assembly The Legislative Assembly of Ontario (OLA; ) is the legislative chamber of the Canadian province of Ontario. Its elected members are known as Members of Provincial Parliament (MPPs). Bills passed by the Legislative Assembly are given royal as ...

in 1970. She returned to get her bachelor's degree in political science, which she received from Atkinson College,

York University York University (), also known as YorkU or simply YU), is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's third-largest university, and it has approximately 53,500 students, 7,000 faculty and staff, ...

in 1977. 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, and she held the position of secretary of the Cabinet for the Government of Ontario from 1995 to 2000. When Burak interviewed with

Mike Harris Michael Deane Harris (born January 23, 1945) is a retired Canadian politician who served as the 22nd premier of Ontario from 1995 to 2002 and leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario (PC Party) from 1990 to 2002. Taking the PC ...

, 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 The phrase Common Sense Revolution (CSR) has been used as a political slogan to describe conservative platforms with a main goal of reducing taxes while balancing the budget by reducing the size and role of government. It has been used in places ...

and said she could implement the plan. Her being appointed as cabinet secretary has been described as "an expression of the confidence in the public service's professionalism". Harris was impressed by her interest in working on his plans, and she was appointed as cabinet secretary with five days of Harris's election and in her new job she guided the transition team. She was the first woman to serve as Ontario's cabinet secretary. She was known for her focus on reducing duplicative efforts across offices, consolidating services within the ministry, and doing so in a financially responsible manner. 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 ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Newspapers in Canada, Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in Western Canada, western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of more than 6 million in 2024, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on week ...

'' columnist

John Ibbitson John Ibbitson (born 1955) is a Canadian journalist. Since 1999, he has been a political writer and columnist for ''The Globe and Mail''. Career Ibbitson graduated from the University of Toronto in 1979 with a B.A. in English. After university, ...

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

Awards

Burak is a recipient of the

Order of Ontario The Order of Ontario is a civilian honour for merit in the Canadian province of Ontario. Instituted in 1986 by Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, Lieutenant Governor Lincoln Alexander, on the Advice (constitutional), advice of the Executive Council ...

(2001) and the Canadian

Public Policy Forum The Public Policy Forum (PPF) is an independent, non-profit Canadian think tank for public-private dialogue. The organization's stated vision is "good policy for a better Canada, where everyone has an opportunity to flourish individually and toge ...

's Annual Testimonial Award (2004).

Personal life

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

References

External links

Public Policy Forum speech
{{DEFAULTSORT:Burak, Rita 1946 births Members of the Order of Ontario Living people Ontario civil servants York University alumni