Civil Circles

What the Durham Report can teach us about avoiding the spread of partisan politics in Canada

When it comes to the politicization of public officials, Canada has so far met the challenge, but the public service has to stay firm in its quest for impartiality.

The resignation of former Privy Council clerk Michael Wernick amid the SNC-Lavalin furor, as he recognized his impartiality could no longer be trusted, was an extraordinary sign of dignity, writes Pascal Desbiens, though it was surprising that Canada’s most senior public servant would get so close to politics.The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade

Opinion

BY PASCAL DESBIENS

May 22, 2019

No, this is not about the British Lord Durham, who was elected to Parliament in the United Kingdom in 1812, named the U.K. ambassador to Russia, and came to Canada in 1838 as governor general to investigate the Lower Canada rebellion of Papineau. It’s John Durham, the U.S. attorney for the Distri...

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