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2014-05-31 01:33:16 UTC
Wednesday, 05/28/2014 - http://www.hilltimes.com
Hilltimes.com:
PARLIAMENT HILL—The Prime Minister’s Office is one of the least trusted
branches of the federal government, a new poll has found.
The Forum Research survey of the trust Canadians have in federal
institutions found only one place that rivals the level of distrust
Canadians have toward Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s PMO—the Senate.
And, in the battle over public opinion during the recent dispute between
Prime Minister Harper (Calgary Southwest, Alta.) and Supreme Court of
Canada Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin, it appears the Supreme Court
came out on top—with a public trust level four times higher than that of
the PMO.
______________________
By: Chantal Hébert National Affairs, Published on Fri May 30 2014
When historians look back on Stephen Harper’s (first?) decade in power,
what will they make of the trail of institutional wreckage that his
government is leaving in its wake?
Will they conclude that a mastermind determined to change the course of
the ship of state at all costs was in charge, or just a bunch of drunken
sailors?
The Conservatives came to power in 2006 as institutional reformers. But
three mandates later, one would look in vain for a method to the
self-destructive madness that they are presiding over.
The Senate: Earlier this week, Liberal Senator Roméo Dallaire announced
that he is leaving the upper house, the better to pursue his
humanitarian work. Tory Hugh Segal has also moved on this spring to
became the new master of the University of Toronto’s Massey College.
Think of those two as canaries in an increasingly toxic mine shaft.
Not only have Harper’s reform plans for the Senate wilted on the
constitutional vine, but some of his appointees have inflicted damage on
its reputation, on par with the partisan benefits the prime minister was
hoping to reap from milking their high profiles.
In the future, it may take uncommon persuasive skills to convince
candidates of the calibre of Segal and Dallaire to join a discredited
institution, or even to convince some of those who are still in the
Senate to stick around until retirement.
~ The Supreme Court: The Conservatives promised to make its appointment
process more transparent. Instead, they used the measure of opacity that
it offered to toy with the eligibility rules, as part of a
judge-shopping spree. When they were called out on it, the best they
could do was to engage in a lose-lose unseemly shootout with the chief
justice.
~ Statistics Canada: The agency that collects the essential basic
information that used to inform public policy in this country was an
early target of the Conservative wrecking ball. The elimination of the
long-form census — a move for which no coherent policy rationale was
ever offered — turned out to be only the first step in the gutting of
what was once was an institution of international repute. It would take
years to restore it and its data to its former status.
~ CBC/Radio-Canada: The Conservatives believe that Canada does not need
a public broadcaster or at least not one that plays as central a role as
CBC has in the country’s conversation. Fair enough. But instead of
launching a national discussion on the way forward, the government is
leaving the corporation to die the death of a thousand cuts.
In every instance, the logic, if there is any, is hard to fathom. For in
failing to at least do no harm to these institutions, the prime minister
is doing harm to himself and to his government.
The diminishment of CBC/Radio-Canada’s role is helping to ensure that
Canada’s broadcasting environment — in particular in French — is
increasingly dominated by a media empire owned by an ambitious
sovereigntist politician.
The government is pursuing policies on structural fronts such as
immigration and labour force management based on data whose quality
falls well short of the material it had at its disposal before it tore
off Statistics Canada’s wings.
For obvious reasons of poor political optics, Harper has not filled a
Senate vacancy since the spending scandal broke. The expectation is that
the upper house will continue to empty out at least until next year’s
federal election.
At the same time, he is trying to farm out part of the responsibility
for a now urgent Supreme Court appointment to Quebec’s relatively
untarnished Liberal government.
But as to what process Harper will be guided by for future Senate and
Supreme Court appointments, your guess is as good as mine.
A Forum Research survey revealed this week that the PMO has become one
of Canada’s least trusted political institutions, almost on par with the
maligned Senate.
It may not yet have dawned on its occupants that what Canadians think of
the PMO is usually not divorced from their opinion of the leader who
runs it.
Hilltimes.com:
PARLIAMENT HILL—The Prime Minister’s Office is one of the least trusted
branches of the federal government, a new poll has found.
The Forum Research survey of the trust Canadians have in federal
institutions found only one place that rivals the level of distrust
Canadians have toward Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s PMO—the Senate.
And, in the battle over public opinion during the recent dispute between
Prime Minister Harper (Calgary Southwest, Alta.) and Supreme Court of
Canada Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin, it appears the Supreme Court
came out on top—with a public trust level four times higher than that of
the PMO.
______________________
By: Chantal Hébert National Affairs, Published on Fri May 30 2014
When historians look back on Stephen Harper’s (first?) decade in power,
what will they make of the trail of institutional wreckage that his
government is leaving in its wake?
Will they conclude that a mastermind determined to change the course of
the ship of state at all costs was in charge, or just a bunch of drunken
sailors?
The Conservatives came to power in 2006 as institutional reformers. But
three mandates later, one would look in vain for a method to the
self-destructive madness that they are presiding over.
The Senate: Earlier this week, Liberal Senator Roméo Dallaire announced
that he is leaving the upper house, the better to pursue his
humanitarian work. Tory Hugh Segal has also moved on this spring to
became the new master of the University of Toronto’s Massey College.
Think of those two as canaries in an increasingly toxic mine shaft.
Not only have Harper’s reform plans for the Senate wilted on the
constitutional vine, but some of his appointees have inflicted damage on
its reputation, on par with the partisan benefits the prime minister was
hoping to reap from milking their high profiles.
In the future, it may take uncommon persuasive skills to convince
candidates of the calibre of Segal and Dallaire to join a discredited
institution, or even to convince some of those who are still in the
Senate to stick around until retirement.
~ The Supreme Court: The Conservatives promised to make its appointment
process more transparent. Instead, they used the measure of opacity that
it offered to toy with the eligibility rules, as part of a
judge-shopping spree. When they were called out on it, the best they
could do was to engage in a lose-lose unseemly shootout with the chief
justice.
~ Statistics Canada: The agency that collects the essential basic
information that used to inform public policy in this country was an
early target of the Conservative wrecking ball. The elimination of the
long-form census — a move for which no coherent policy rationale was
ever offered — turned out to be only the first step in the gutting of
what was once was an institution of international repute. It would take
years to restore it and its data to its former status.
~ CBC/Radio-Canada: The Conservatives believe that Canada does not need
a public broadcaster or at least not one that plays as central a role as
CBC has in the country’s conversation. Fair enough. But instead of
launching a national discussion on the way forward, the government is
leaving the corporation to die the death of a thousand cuts.
In every instance, the logic, if there is any, is hard to fathom. For in
failing to at least do no harm to these institutions, the prime minister
is doing harm to himself and to his government.
The diminishment of CBC/Radio-Canada’s role is helping to ensure that
Canada’s broadcasting environment — in particular in French — is
increasingly dominated by a media empire owned by an ambitious
sovereigntist politician.
The government is pursuing policies on structural fronts such as
immigration and labour force management based on data whose quality
falls well short of the material it had at its disposal before it tore
off Statistics Canada’s wings.
For obvious reasons of poor political optics, Harper has not filled a
Senate vacancy since the spending scandal broke. The expectation is that
the upper house will continue to empty out at least until next year’s
federal election.
At the same time, he is trying to farm out part of the responsibility
for a now urgent Supreme Court appointment to Quebec’s relatively
untarnished Liberal government.
But as to what process Harper will be guided by for future Senate and
Supreme Court appointments, your guess is as good as mine.
A Forum Research survey revealed this week that the PMO has become one
of Canada’s least trusted political institutions, almost on par with the
maligned Senate.
It may not yet have dawned on its occupants that what Canadians think of
the PMO is usually not divorced from their opinion of the leader who
runs it.