John Mayne and the Origins of Evaluation in the Public Sector in Canada: A Shaping of Both Evaluation and the Evaluator

Abstract

John Mayne was one of the early pioneers of evaluation capacity building in Canada. Based in the newly formed Office of the Comptroller General of Canada (OCG) in the late 70s, John had an opportunity to help shape the practice of evaluation in Canada, instituting many ideas that have withstood the test of time. Equally though, the nature and expectations of the practice of evaluation with the introduction of the new government policy on the evaluation of Programs would resonate in John’s writings throughout his life—a practical bent striving to improve the practice and use of evaluation in organizations.