Cabinet shuffle 2013: new ministers given “enemy” lists

OTTAWA—Ministers in Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s newly shuffled cabinet are being armed with “enemy” lists of people and bureaucratic interests to avoid, according to a PMO email obtained by the Star.

The July 4 email, from Erica Furtado in the PMO’s issues-management department, directs government staffers on what to include in the transition booklets that are given to new ministers.

On the “Transition Binder Check List” are 10 items, such as: “What to expect soon” and “Who to appoint,” as well as “Who to engage or avoid: friend and enemy stakeholders” and “What to avoid: pet bureaucratic projects.”

Item No. 6 on the list is “Who to avoid: bureaucrats that can’t take no (or yes) for an answer,” but Furtado said in a later email that day — also obtained by the Star — that this list was “no longer required.”

The specific mention of bureaucrats and bureaucratic projects to avoid appears to confirm the ongoing tension between Harper’s government and the public service in Ottawa, which will now be in the midst of adjusting to a new, shuffled deck of ministers after the large-scale reset of the cabinet on Monday.

Former staff members in Harper’s government, reached on Monday about the email, said it was unusual, if not provocative, for Harper’s office to put such instructions in writing.

In an email sent to undisclosed recipients, Furtado details the expectations for what should be in the transition binders, the thick documents that help incoming ministers get up to speed on the issues in their new portfolio.

According to that list, the transition books will give ministers advice on what to say in question period, the “hot issues, legal actions and complaints” to expect in their departments plus an outline of “long-term issues forecast.”

Furtado is the executive assistant of issues management in the Prime Minister’s Office, the branch that oversees the handling of sensitive issues. Copied on the email was Nick Koolsbergen, issue manager in the same office.

Furtado did not respond to requests for comment about her email. However, Carl Vallée, a press secretary to Harper, did not deny the email’s authenticity.

“While we don’t comment on internal communications, we are collaborating with our ministers, especially new ministers, to ensure they are fully briefed so they can continue their work on behalf of Canadian taxpayers,” he said.

Original Article
Source: thestar.com
Author: Susan Delacourt, Bruce Campion-Smith