National Post (National Edition)
Butts blind to his own hypocrisy
Gerald Butts, in the statement he issued upon resigning as principal secretary to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, spoke in righteous terms. He said that in his experience, Canadian politicians and government employees put service of country beyond self … not just sometimes, but every single day. “The Prime Minister of Canada’s Office is much larger and more important than any of its staff,” he also said.
It was a strange tack to take under the circumstances. As the Snc-lavalin story has unfolded, the Conservatives and the NDP have urged Trudeau to waive his solicitor-client privilege in the case so that Jody Wilson-raybould can speak freely about what occurred. He hasn’t done so, the most definitive answer we’ve gotten on the subject being Attorney General David Lametti promising to share his legal opinion on the privilege issue “in due course.”
Remind yourself for a moment of Butts’ hot air about respect for the office of the prime minister and selfless political service.
Then consider that anyone who took these ideas the least bit seriously would have an obvious and simple action at their disposal, one that might very well imperil them personally, but would strengthen our government institutions and restore public respect for politicians in the middle of the Snc-lavalin mess: waiving solicitor-client privilege so Wilson-raybould could talk.
It was awfully good of Butts to sacrifice himself, waxing eloquent about the self-immolation he and other government officials endure (on a regular basis) for the sake of the country — God bless them all and what a marvel that they’re still standing.
But might I suggest that instead of setting himself on fire, Butts would have accomplished more (though garnered fewer headlines) if he had instead whispered quietly in Trudeau’s ear that the truly al- truistic thing to do here would be to voluntarily relinquish the claim to a legal gag on the other side of the Snc-lavalin story.
As the client in the relationship with then-attorney-general Wilson-raybould, Trudeau (as leader of the Liberal cabinet) has every right to do this. The privilege exists for his protection, no one else’s — and sacrificing it would be a truly principled thing to do.
Even if Wilson-raybould is using solicitor-client privilege as a handy excuse for staying quiet, as some have charged, Trudeau waiving his privilege would clarify the situation.
Yet high-minded blather won the day over high-minded action.
That seems to me to be a good explanation for why, as Butts put it in his statement, “it is fashion-
TRUDEAU WAIVING HIS PRIVILEGE WOULD CLARIFY THE SITUATION.
able sometimes in some quarters to denigrate politicians and public servants.” In case Butts was wondering.
Butts’ statement was full of baloney — or at the very least hypocrisy — in a broader sense, too, if one thinks about his team’s record.
If “Canadians are rightly proud of their public institutions,” as Butts claimed, how does he imagine Canadians have felt watch- ing the Liberal government trying to politicize those institutions right from day one?
The appointment of partisan political Liberals in senior positions in the senior public service (including putting a person who helped write the Liberal election platform in a No. 2 position in the Privy Council Office) was the beginning. Then things proceeded apace with highlights including the brilliant idea to require employer-applicants for the Canada Summer Jobs program to pass a values test and attest to respecting abortion rights before benefiting from the federal funding.
The Liberals walked that one back after an outcry — removing the requirement that employers specifically profess their faith in Charter rights.
But there’s so far been no rescue from the terrifying policy of the government distributing $600 million in aid to news organizations of its choice — er, sorry, the choice of an “independent panel” of journalists — thereby politicizing the country’s free press (or the part of it that wasn’t already working for the government). Not even our private institutions are safe.
As far as Butts’ contention that at “all times, I and those around me acted with integrity and a singular focus on the best interests of all Canadians,” I have but two words of rebuttal: supply management.
Butts has now removed himself from the picture … or, I guess, disembowelled himself with his own sword in a ritual suicide to restore the honour of the nation, to keep the metaphor more in keeping with his sense of self-importance.
But that doesn’t change the fact that a simpler, less ridiculous and more effective way to meet the needs and wishes of Canadians exists.
Unless Trudeau waives his privilege in order to let WilsonRaybould talk, none of us should take the idea seriously that our politicians put “service of country beyond self.” Because the evidence to the contrary will be right before our eyes.