Prime Minister Stephen Harper has dismissed a number of key recommendations made by the head of the federal sponsorship inquiry that would have reduced some of the power of the Prime Minister's Office and protected civil servants from political interference.
It's not surpising that Harper has rejected some Gomery recommendations but one would think that after years of criticizing the previous Liberal government for having too much power centralized in the PMO's office and the conflicts that constantly arise over matters of political interference that he would have tread more carefully so as not to give the appearance of endorsing impropriety.
Harper targeted Gomery's recommendation of changes to the role of the Clerk of the Privy Council, which would see the position's duties split to prevent the bureaucrat responsible for the prime minister's department from also being in charge of rating the performance of other senior civil servants.
"[T]he Clerk's role as Deputy Minister to the Prime Minister and Head of the Public Service are also vital to the sound functioning of our system of government," he wrote.
Harper said a modern prime minister "faced with a sweeping range of complex demands" needs the clerk to offer "co-ordinated, professional" public service advice on policy and operations.
That sounds like a rather weak reason to not support splitting the duties. It seems the managerial responsibility for the civil service could easily be done by someone apart from the political process. Just ask any human resource officer in the corporate world.
Harper also said it would not be "an appropriate role" for deputy ministers — the senior bureaucrats in government departments — to be insulated from political control by making them answerable to Parliament if laws or government rules are broken.
So, we're supposed to trust the ministers alone to deal with any problems because the deputies are unelected civil servants? How effective has that been to this point? I kind of understand why Harper is taking this position but it seems that if Justice Gomery suggested changes in that area, it was for a good reason.
What do you think?
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