But while Page has gotten so deep under the skin of the Conservatives that they publicly treat him like an insufferable itch, Fraser has just been offered a three-year extension to his mandate.
When the Conservatives first took power in 2006, one would have bet on the reverse outcome.
After all, Page’s position is a Conservative brainchild. Fraser’s language watchdog assignment on the other hand is associated with official bilingualism, a federal feature for which the scorn of the Reform wing of the conservative movement once knew no bounds.
And yet while Page has spent his five years as budget officer shut out of the government loop, Fraser’s tenure is associated with some rare Conservative reversals, including a recent unanimous House of Commons vote in support of making proficiency in both official languages a mandatory requirement for those who seek to serve as officers of Parliament.
There is more than a difference in style and approach to their contrary fates.
The office of the commissioner of official languages harks back to the late 1960s and the introduction of the official languages act. Its first holder, Keith Spicer, was appointed in the spring of 1970, just months before the October crisis.
In many ways, Spicer tenure was as controversial as Page’s. It could be summed up as a seven-year uphill battle to carve out territory in the face of a reluctant federal apparatus and a polarized public.
The climate on the language front has mellowed since then and linguistic duality has become part of federal life. Solid language skills in French and English have been an asset on the climb up the promotion ladder for more than a few of the mandarins that Fraser deals with these days.
By comparison, the parliamentary budget office has yet to be integrated into the culture of a risk-adverse bureaucracy, and in particular that of the finance department. Traditionally, it is a ministry that has tended to be a kingdom unto itself.
Page’s office was introduced in the system at a time of minority rule, under a neophyte government whose penchant for secrecy was exacerbated by the dynamics in Parliament and within a civil service unsettled by the unfamiliar style of the new regime
It was not an environment conducive to making friends within the government caucus.
Fraser could always count on a small but solid contingent of supportive Conservative MPs starting with the Quebec caucus but also including a handful of francophone MPs from outside the province.
As a bonus, he has served the latter part of his mandate under James Moore, a heritage minister who happens to be one of the most bilingualism-friendly MPs on the Conservative benches.
And then there is Quebec — a province that has proven to be Harper’s biggest challenge.
As a journalist, Fraser was posted in the national assembly when the PQ first took power in 1976. His book on that era is a go-to source for francophone and anglophones alike. He has forgotten more about the Parti Québécois and the sovereignty movement than most of today’s Quebec journalists think they know.
Among péquistes, Fraser enjoys a reputation for fair-mindedness. Just recently, Diane De Courcy, the Quebec minister in charge of the language law, said she had accepted Fraser’s offer of advice as to what criteria should determine whether a municipality should offer bilingual services to its residents.
At a time when the PQ is determined to rekindle the language debate, re-appointing Fraser to keep watch on the language minefield will buy Harper some extra peace of mind. Empowering a fearless budget officer to shed light on the government’s opaque budget management would achieve the opposite result.
Original Article
Source: thestar.com
Author: Chantal Hébert
No comments:
Post a Comment