Parliament can regain trust by decentralizing power of PMO

Simple changes can help, say Kevin Lynch and Dale Eisler.

Retiring Liberal MP Wayne Easter has strong views about centralization of power in government. The former cabinet minister, chair of the Commons finance committee and parliamentary veteran should know of what he speaks: “I think there's far, far too much control in the Prime Minister's Office, right throughout the whole system,” he recently told the Hill Times.

Why does this matter? Parliamentary systems are extolled for their capacity to balance democracy and efficiency, authority and accountability, and stability with the ability to adapt to change. That balance lies at the heart of public trust in our institutions of governance, and it can be eroded by excessive centralization of power in the prime minster and his staff.

Prime ministers have become much more than first among equals at the cabinet table. They control appointments — cabinet ministers, senators, judges, governors general, and senior public servants. They control the agenda.

The PMO's role has expanded enormously in recent years. It now develops and screens government policy initiatives, devises communications strategies, appoints ministerial chiefs of staff, and vets ministerial communications. It is the locus of authority where all decisions are made. It has also become the primary access point to government for media and the social media hub for the government.

The cabinet has become, as a result, a shadow of its former self. We have moved from cabinet government, where cabinet was the main forum for discussing and responding to the key issues facing the country and the government, to a hybrid form of executive government centred on the prime minister and PMO. Even the unique role of the finance minister around the cabinet table has been diminished as the PMO exerts much more control over fiscal matters.

The non-partisan public service has increasingly become an “administrative service” and less the provider of fearless, non-partisan and evidence-based policy advice that is core to good policy-making. The policy advice role is increasingly the domain of political aides in the PMO and ministerial offices. This ever-stronger “political service” is effectively supplanting the public service rather than complementing it.

Parliamentary committees are meant to hold the government to account. However, too often parliamentary committees are weakened by government pressure to follow narrow, partisan agendas. Few observers would describe the committee system today as working as intended, to the detriment of public accountability.

It is almost impossible to overstate how social media has affected government. The perceived political need for governments to “control the agenda” in a social media world has led to the PMO becoming the funnel through which all government communication flows.

The overall result is an excessive centralization of control and power, where our public institutions of governance no longer play the roles for which they were designed and public trust in government has been eroded.

The good news is that renewal is possible and does not require constitutional amendments or complex legislative reforms. What it takes is the commitment of all political parties to reject excessive centralization.

Echoing the recommendations of a Public Policy Forum Report entitled Time for a Reboot: Nine Ways to Restore Trust in Canada's Public Institutions, issued after the 2015 election, this means: restoring effective cabinet government, where the big issues are explored, policies are debated, and decision-making is both collective and ministerial; allowing ministers to be ministers again, inputting into their mandate letters, selecting their political staff, and accountable to Parliament and the public for their portfolios; restoring a PMO that supports the prime minister while respecting balance across the institutions of government; re-empowering a strong and impartial public service to provide fearless, evidence-based advice on policies; creating accountability for the political service similar to that of the public service; and equipping parliamentary committees with the tools, resources and independence to hold government to account.

After the election, the government should table its intent to reinvigorate our parliamentary system. Balance in governance benefits all Canadians.