OTTAWA — Go back to a familiar place after time away and it won’t be how you left it. Returning to Ottawa after a long absence, what’s noticeable isn’t so much that the city itself has changed, but the atmosphere has. Always a grey and cautious place, the political precinct of our capital seems colder and less friendly than ever. Things have changed and, in many ways, not for the better.After eight years of mortal combat during successive minority Liberal and Conservative governments, a bitter residue remains that colours political life on Parliament Hill. The war wounds are deep on both victors and vanquished, and they are slow to heal.
Beyond that, the Harper government’s almost martial discipline has changed the way government is done. What must have seemed necessary during minority years now, with a solid majority, seems overdone.
It’s obvious that Stephen Harper didn’t get to be prime minister by slacking off or being nice. Determination, focus and a ruthless streak got him to where he is now. Sure, he shares those alpha-dog qualities with prime ministers of the past, but Harper takes it a few steps further.
Breaking with generations of democratic tradition, all cabinet meetings are scheduled in secret. No notice is given to reporters, who formerly would stake out the meetings in search of news or comment. There is little access to ministers, whose aides are also under orders to clam up.
As a result, journalists have scarce opportunity to question ministers and an important check on government power has been severely undermined.
All communications from government must be vetted and approved by the prime minister’s office, even the minor and mundane. Routine information that should be available to Canadians has been choked off. And no one even fights it anymore. It’s just the way it is.
Of course, the Harper administration isn’t the first to try extending centralized command and control throughout government. Pierre Trudeau tried it in the 1970s and Brian Mulroney in the 1980s. It didn’t work in either case, because government had become too complicated and Canada too diverse.
But more than any previous administration, the Harper Tories are determined to exert control over all aspects of government operations and communications. To cope with the demands of centralized power in a diverse and vast country, they have decided to hire and spend.
As a result, there’s been tremendous growth in the two central offices of the executive government: the political branch of the PMO and the bureaucratic branch, the Privy Council Office. Between them, they now employ 1,000 people. And they wield the big stick that is prime ministerial prerogative in Canada.
From those two command centres flows real power. Operating at the behest of the prime minister, they are able to generate fear and provoke action from the other organs of government. And apparently, it works. Centralized command and control got the Tories their majority, one they are determined to keep.
But the downside of such centralized control is that it undermines initiative in the ranks. People are afraid to make decisions or take action without direct orders from the centre. Over time, that will make government even slower and more cumbersome than it is now.
It’s a bit like an army that can’t make a move without the say-so of central command. The army might be trained and armed to the teeth, but it gradually becomes immobile, timid and therefore vulnerable. That’s happening now.
Robbed of initiative, the brightest public servants will inevitably get bored and frustrated. They will move on, leaving the docile and unmotivated to carry the load. This doesn’t serve Canada’s best interests.
The Conservatives are secure in their majority. Their best electoral insurance is running a competent government that responds to the needs of Canadians. But they should also respect traditions of openness and access that have served the country well. The paranoia so pervasive now on Parliament Hill doesn’t serve anyone’s interests, not even the government’s.
Origin
Source: the Chronicle Herald
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