Senior public servants feel ill-equipped and fearful to provide fearless advice

Clearly something is amiss within the public services of our country. Having an open discussion on the barriers to fearless advice is both urgently required and essential if Canada to restore trust in its public institutions and to serve Canadians effectively to meet the challenges of today and tomorrow.

Michael Wernick, right, then clerk of the Privy Council, and Nathalie Drouin, deputy minister of justice, pictured on March 6, 2019, before the House Justice Committee. Wernick, who resigned over the SNC-Lavalin affair, offered advice to deputy ministers in his book: 'Your most important task is to secure and maintain the trust and confidence of the minister. That doesn’t mean telling ministers what they want to hear. On the contrary, you will want ministers to be confident that you will warn them of upcoming trouble and to trust you to give them the frank advice and full information.'The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade

Opinion

BY STEPHEN VAN DINE AND DON ABELSON

June 23, 2022

Canada’s public servants have a noble and proud heritage of "answering the call" to serve their country and communities. Professional, non-partisan, and highly trained, they work within our public institutions to help elected leaders make our communities safer, cleaner, healthier, and more pros...

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