MacKay was mostly on the defensive while at defence, writes David Pugliese,
ANALYSIS: While a staunch defender of Canadian troops, the embattled minister spent much of his six years at DND on the defensive over F-35 fighters and personal helicopter rides. DAVID PUGLIESE reports.
Peter MacKay said last week that his time as defence minister reflected “the best work I have done in my career.”
While that may be true, his almost six years overseeing the Department of National Defence have left his reputation somewhat battered, say analysts, as well as political foes and supporters. His name has become associated with a series of boondoggles, ranging from the problemplagued F-35 fighter jet purchase to MacKay’s now infamous use of a military search-and-rescue helicopter on his vacation.
MacKay, one of the longest-serving defence ministers in decades, was moved from his job Monday in a cabinet shuffle. He has been named justice minister. Rob Nicholson, the former justice minister, takes over the defence portfolio.
When MacKay was sworn in as minister in August 2007, military analyst Doug Bland wrote in the National Post that the defence portfolio “has shipwrecked every politician who ever had ambitions to be prime minister or longed to hold a senior government post afterwards.”
Over the last two years political pundits continued to predict MacKay would be yanked because of his mismanagement.
But the ambitious 47-year-old is seen as a political survivor.
He was well-liked in the halls of National Defence headquarters, and was seen as a minister who rarely questioned the generals and gave them what they wanted, including billions of dollars’ worth of new equipment.
But critics point out it’s the taxpayers who ultimately suffered from that unquestioning attitude.
“A good minister is supposed to be there to challenge what he has been told by military and the civilians in the department and in my view MacKay didn’t do that,” said Alan Williams, the former head of procurement at DND. “The F-35 file has been one of his major snafus, certainly a huge one.”
MacKay was seen as the driving force at the Cabinet table behind the purchase of the controversial F-35 stealth fighter.
Even as U.S. military officials and lawmakers warned that the cost of the problem-plagued jet was spiralling out of control, MacKay was adamant the project was proceeding smoothly.
But as problems mounted, the Conservative government eventually had to restart the jet procurement process.
But it was what some have dubbed “Cormorant-gate” that even MacKay’s supporters privately acknowledge severely hurt him in the court of public opinion.
In September 2011 details emerged about MacKay’s use of government aircraft, with media outlets reporting nearly $3 million was spent to shuttle the minister around the country and overseas.
Shortly after, it was revealed MacKay’s office had requested a Cormorant search-and-rescue helicopter pick him up at a private fishing lodge near Gander, N.L., in July 2010.
MacKay later used a government Challenger to fly to his riding in Nova Scotia to attend a lobster dinner.
The total cost of the helicopter pickup was estimated at $16,000, while the Challenger flight cost about $25,000.
Critics called for his resignation after accusing him of using military assets for personal reasons.
Both Conservative insiders and opposition party officials agree the incident would have eventually disappeared had MacKay apologized.
Instead, the minister embarked on what would become a disastrous public relations plan: he insisted he had done nothing wrong. At first MacKay claimed the helicopter ride was part of a planned military search-and-rescue demonstration.
But Defence Department emails later emerged admitting that labelling the flight as a demonstration was a “guise.” Documents obtained by the Citizen showed that shortly before using the helicopter, the minister had been warned that Cormorants were in short supply for search-and-rescue missions.
In Newfoundland and Labrador the incident sparked angry denunciations after it was revealed the Canadian military declined to immediately send a helicopter to help search for a missing boy, later found dead. Protesters, fuming over that incident, carried signs stating “One Call Was Good Enough For Peter MacKay” — a reference to the phone call which summoned a helicopter to transport the minister while the plight of a boy missing in a snowstorm was ignored.
Last year, MacKay once again found himself under fire after it was revealed the cost of Canada’s participation in the Libyan war was more than $100 million, double what the minister had earlier suggested. That prompted another round of questioning about MacKay’s abilities.
MacKay countered that he was the victim of a deliberate attempt by the media and opposition MPs to “confuse the public and then blame the confusion on me.”
And MacKay continues to maintain that on all issues — from the F-35 to the helicopter flight — he did not mislead anyone and has always been honest and forthright in any dealings.
Those in his office praise him as one of the best defence ministers Canada has ever had. Some serving generals have also sung his praises, pointing out that he has obtained more funding for mental health issues affecting veterans.
Those who sit on the opposite side of him in the Commons, not surprisingly, have a different view. “He just didn’t seem to understand his portfolio that well,” said Liberal defence critic John McKay.