National Post (National Edition)
PM should heed O'Toole on GG
It's a rare moment in Canadian history
Erin O'Toole doesn't think that Justin Trudeau should have final say over who becomes Canada's next governor general. The Conservative leader has a point ... but not necessarily the point he thought he had.
O'Toole's argument makes perfect sense, on the face of it. The Liberals are obviously eyeing an election in the spring. Vaccine procurement woes may induce them to cool their jets, but for now, it's manifestly obvious that they are at least pondering an election, and there have certainly been moments when they've seemed outright eager. It's no wonder why: polls show them with a modest but consistent lead, and any incumbent government is going to prefer the thought of a vote now, while we're still somewhat wrapped up in the flag, as opposed to later, when all the inquiries into our pandemic response are landing, laying bare major mistakes.
This will also be when the bills for the COVID-related spending start coming due. A lot of the spending was arguably necessary. That doesn't mean there won't be a fiscal hangover that a Gatorade and a few Advil can't make a dent in.
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With the Liberals' interest in an election obvious, O'Toole says a hand-picked Trudeau appointee in the top job is an unfair advantage — a conflict of interest. We're already in a minority parliament and current polls suggest that another minority is certainly a live possibility. The GG has a lot of power here, and O'Toole worries that that could influence the PM's judgment in choosing a successor. “This is a small constitutional crisis caused by Mr. Trudeau's (office),” O'Toole said at a press conference this week. “He must consult the other parties to show Canadians that there's an assurance that there's no politicization of this important role.”
Let's be clear: no, he doesn't. There's an argument to be made that Trudeau should consult, and O'Toole is welcome to make it. But in actual fact, the actual process of appointing a governor general is clearly defined and uncontested. O'Toole has about as much input as the rest of us. That's to say, none.
But while O'Toole may be overstating what the prime minister is required to do, his advice is actually sound. The prime minister should consult the opposition. For two important, but separate, reasons.
The first reason, of course, is that O'Toole does have a point. This is a rare moment in Canadian history. The challenges before us are enormous, and we are in a minority government. We don't have to start overturning our entire constitutional order, but Trudeau probably should seek the advice of the opposition parties, or involve them in some way. He'll be loath to do that, and it's clear why — not all that we've seen from the opposition of late has been in good faith.
There's plenty of pot-stirring afoot, and the PM would no doubt prefer to ignore the other leaders as much as possible. But these are challenging times, Trudeau is a minority leader and with an election looming, it would be advisable to give an incoming GG as much credibility and legitimacy as possible. If the opposition parties can assure the government that they'll partake in any process in good faith (which might be too much to ask, alas), some kind of joint process is a perfectly good idea ... and one that might actually work to Trudeau's advantage, if it helps him effectively put this embarrassing episode behind him.
The other reason is related to that last bit — this is indeed an embarrassing episode for the prime minister, and he'd be wise to do literally the opposite of whatever he did last time.
The Julie Payette fiasco is being somewhat overhyped by the opposition — it's a bad look for Trudeau, and no doubt was absolutely awful for the staff working under these allegedly appalling conditions — but, as I noted in my column last week, if you're going to screw up an appointment, you're lucky if you screw up one most Canadians haven't heard of. The only thing that's helping Trudeau here is that most Canadians probably couldn't tell you what a governor general does or pick Payette out of a line up. (Not that she'd stand still for one, apparently, or allow herself to be subjected to the gaze of lesser folk.) But while the relative obscurity of the position will mitigate the damage to brand Trudeau, he shouldn't take too much comfort from that. He screwed up, badly. It's just a lucky coincidence, for him, that the screw up was regarding something most people won't care much about.
But he should care. This is a government, and a prime minister, that has repeatedly gotten itself into trouble by putting optics before substance. Trudeau is probably better known for the excellent work of his photographer than the oft-mediocre work of his advisers.
He's been prime minister more than five years now, during turbulent times, and this is an opportunity to apply some of that hardearned experience and wisdom and show Canadians that he can learn from his mistakes. Consulting with the opposition on a successor, in a way that preserves the constitutional structure of how GG's are chosen, is a good idea. It'll still be the Queen doing the appointing, on the advice of the prime minister, as required ... but the advice of the prime minister can be informed by whatever he chooses.
It doesn't have to be the opposition leaders. He can return to the prior system of a committee formed to recommend appointments, created and used by prime minister Stephen Harper. He can invent something totally new! That's his call. But he should do something to avoid the mistake he made with Payette, and bringing in the opposition is as good an idea as any, and given the challenging circumstances of today, probably better than most.