OTTAWA -- Newly appointed Auditor General Michael Ferguson was pilloried for not being able to speak French, but government documents reveal the Conservatives were also concerned its choice for auditor general would be perceived as a partisan appointment.
Notes to Treasury Board President Tony Clement indicate the Conservatives were prepared to defend newly-appointed auditor Michael Ferguson beyond the attacks they were already fending off concerning his inability to communicate in both official languages.
"Although no one has made this criticism, the Opposition might claim the appointment is partisan," emails released under Access to Information read.
The concern was three-fold.
A line could be drawn, the emails read, between Prime Minister Stephen Harper's choice and the fact that Conservative New Brunswick Premier Bernard Lord appointed Ferguson to auditor general of the province.
Alternatively, that line could go from Harper to the fact that Ferguson was "very critical" of the Liberal Shawn Graham government, or to the fact that he was appointed deputy finance minister by another Conservative New Brunswick Premier, David Alward.
"Now he's being appointed by another Conservative government," the internal notes read. The person within Clement's office who requested to have the English talking points translated into French also noted, "Media haven't gone this way yet, but they might."
The Conservative government nominated Ferguson to fill the federal position left vacant after Sheila Fraser completed her mandate.
Coming off a decade of public service to the only officially bilingual province in Canada, many seemed to assume Ferguson was bilingual.
More to the point, the opposition argued, proficiency in both official languages was a stated qualification for the 10-year, $334,500-annual-salary appointment.
A firestorm quickly erupted when the opposition parties realized Ferguson couldn't speak French.
If the Auditor General of Canada is not bilingual, and if the Conservatives didn't follow guidelines for hiring a prominent Officer of Parliament, opposition members wondered -- how bilingual is Canada, and how much do the Conservatives even care about the answer to that?
Talking points were drawn up for Clement to fight off potential partisanship allegations the week after the first lines to defend the language issue were sent through the vetting process.
A spokesperson for the New Democrats confirmed Tuesday that the language issue was "the big thing for us."
The NDP voted against the nomination, while Liberal MPs and senators went so far as to boycott the vote.
The opposition parties never questioned Ferguson's abilities as an auditor general, which outgoing auditor general Sheila Fraser had praised.
Rather, concern and hesitance were based solely on the fact that the position is very prominent, often with a spokesperson quality to it.
In an effort to turn the tide and respect the bilingual nature of the job, Ferguson has been taking intensive French classes for two hours every day, he recently said.
Original Article
Source: global news
Author: Tom Clark
Notes to Treasury Board President Tony Clement indicate the Conservatives were prepared to defend newly-appointed auditor Michael Ferguson beyond the attacks they were already fending off concerning his inability to communicate in both official languages.
"Although no one has made this criticism, the Opposition might claim the appointment is partisan," emails released under Access to Information read.
The concern was three-fold.
A line could be drawn, the emails read, between Prime Minister Stephen Harper's choice and the fact that Conservative New Brunswick Premier Bernard Lord appointed Ferguson to auditor general of the province.
Alternatively, that line could go from Harper to the fact that Ferguson was "very critical" of the Liberal Shawn Graham government, or to the fact that he was appointed deputy finance minister by another Conservative New Brunswick Premier, David Alward.
"Now he's being appointed by another Conservative government," the internal notes read. The person within Clement's office who requested to have the English talking points translated into French also noted, "Media haven't gone this way yet, but they might."
The Conservative government nominated Ferguson to fill the federal position left vacant after Sheila Fraser completed her mandate.
Coming off a decade of public service to the only officially bilingual province in Canada, many seemed to assume Ferguson was bilingual.
More to the point, the opposition argued, proficiency in both official languages was a stated qualification for the 10-year, $334,500-annual-salary appointment.
A firestorm quickly erupted when the opposition parties realized Ferguson couldn't speak French.
If the Auditor General of Canada is not bilingual, and if the Conservatives didn't follow guidelines for hiring a prominent Officer of Parliament, opposition members wondered -- how bilingual is Canada, and how much do the Conservatives even care about the answer to that?
Talking points were drawn up for Clement to fight off potential partisanship allegations the week after the first lines to defend the language issue were sent through the vetting process.
A spokesperson for the New Democrats confirmed Tuesday that the language issue was "the big thing for us."
The NDP voted against the nomination, while Liberal MPs and senators went so far as to boycott the vote.
The opposition parties never questioned Ferguson's abilities as an auditor general, which outgoing auditor general Sheila Fraser had praised.
Rather, concern and hesitance were based solely on the fact that the position is very prominent, often with a spokesperson quality to it.
In an effort to turn the tide and respect the bilingual nature of the job, Ferguson has been taking intensive French classes for two hours every day, he recently said.
Original Article
Source: global news
Author: Tom Clark
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