Roundup: Say no to a Consultant Commissioner

Posted on by

Because a lot of people continue to be wringing their hands over government contracts to outside consultants, we’re starting to hear a few…less than stellar ideas. One of them came from Paul Wells yesterday, while on the CBC’s Front Burner podcast (Wells’ portion starts at 20:46). While there is some good context from Carleton University professor Amanda Clarke on the size of the problem (thread here), Wells is wrong about two particular portions, and he would have avoided this had he listened to my conversation with professor Jennifer Robson on my YouTube channel last week.

The first is the notion that when these consultants’ job is done, nobody is accountable for the work because most of their agreements mean that it can’t be subject to Access to Information rules, which is wrong. Fundamentally the minister is accountable no matter what. It wouldn’t matter if the work was done by outside consultants or the civil servants in the department, the minister remains responsible, and people seem to be forgetting this in their rush to condemn the consultants. The other part where he’s wrong is his idea to create a “consultant commissioner of Parliament” or other such independent officer.

No. Absolutely not.

We already have way too many gods damned independent officers of parliament, who are unaccountable, and to whom MPs have completely abandoned their constitutional responsibilities of oversight. Sure, the media and the opposition want someone independent they can quote on command to say mean things about the government, but that winds up just creating more bureaucracy, and doesn’t help the overall situation, especially as it drags us further down the road to technocracy rather than parliamentary oversight. The absolute last thing we need are more independent officers, and I wish to gods people would stop proposing them.

Ukraine Dispatch, Day 335:

Russian forces have continued to pound the Donetsk region in the country’s east. Russians are also claiming Ukrainians are storing Western weapons in the country’s nuclear power plants, but have provided no proof. Meanwhile, president Volodymyr Zelenskyy is promising personnel changes at both senior and lower levels after high-profile graft allegations, as part of the country’s attempt to clean up its corruption problem.

Good reads:

  • Justin Trudeau has reiterated his position that governments should not pre-emptively invoke the Notwithstanding Clause.
  • Trudeau gave no indication if Canada would contribute Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine (not that we could spare enough to make a difference).
  • Trudeau has asked the Clerk of the Privy Council to look into the ArriveCan contract where a two-person firm won the bid, and then subcontracted the work.
  • There are hopes that there will be news on health transfers out of the Cabinet retreat in Hamilton.
  • The Cameroon government is now denying that Canada will be leading a peace process in that country. Mélanie Joly’s office stands by their statement.
  • Sean Fraser disputes that higher immigration will dilute French in this country, and says francophone immigration levels have been on target.
  • The union representing CRA employees wants a 30 percent raise over the next three years, citing inflation (and nobody is taking it seriously).
  • CBC has been digging into the shake-up at the Business Development Bank of Canada, and lo, there is some pearl-clutching about a McKinsey contract in there.
  • Here is a look at the problem of fire codes on First Nations, and the federal government’s difficulty in getting buy-in to create legislation or regulation.
  • The Business Council of Canada has a report saying that casts doubt on the government’s plans to grow the economy given fiscal commitments.
  • The PBO wants to review the F-35 procurement.
  • Some senators have taken to TikTok to engage a younger demographic.
  • Toronto suburbs are freaking out about proposed riding boundary changes.
  • Danielle Smith claims the review found no evidence of prosecutorial interference from her office—never mind it was a narrow search with no interviews done.
  • Surprising absolutely nobody, Alberta is also expanding use of private surgical clinics, particularly for hip and knee surgeries.
  • Kevin Carmichael give the lay of the land with respect to monetary policy in advance of this week’s Bank of Canada rate decision.
  • Susan Delacourt’s interview with Justin Trudeau touched on hints about what to expect with the upcoming visit by President Biden.
  • Paul Wells has some thoughts about the state of healthcare transfer negotiations.

Odds and ends:

The Globe and Mail has an obituary of the late political scientist David E. Smith (to whom I owe so much of my own political knowledge and writing).

Want more Routine Proceedings? Become a patron and get exclusive new content.