‘Far too much control’: Liberal MP Easter pleas for less PMO control, more ministerial responsibility

The former solicitor general said cabinet ministers aren't always held accountable when things go wrong in their departments anymore. 'That’s how things go astray in governments or departments.'

Liberal MP Wayne Easter, pictured Nov. 7, 2019, arriving at the Liberal caucus meeting at the Sir John A. Macdonald Building in Ottawa. 'I think there's far, far, far too much control in the Prime Minister's Office, right throughout the whole system,' said Mr. Easter, 72, during a July 8 interview on The Hill Times’ Hot Room podcast.The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade

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BY PETER MAZEREEUW

July 26, 2021

Veteran Liberal MP Wayne Easter, who served 28 years in the House and won nine consecutive elections, says the Prime Minister’s Office has too much control in Canadian federal politics, and individual cabinet ministers and backbenchers not nearly enough.

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