“Honesty brings excellence “. I agree with his opinion that “ ‘fessing-up“ for mistakes is respected more by the electorate than lies and obfuscation. So sad this needs to be said. We citizens are not as dumb as our political elites think we are.
Excellent interview, Paul. Particularly noteworthy is that, in response to your pointed question about “when the bloom went off the rose” of that new Liberal government in 2015, after Garneau’s first response -- “Christmas with the Agha Kan” -- his second was the broken promise of electoral reform, which he continued to discuss at length (starting at about the 20m mark). Waiting nine years for JT to be "honest" with people (as Garneau wishes everyone would always be) and confess that he fibbed back then (first in the interview with Justin Ling in April, and two weeks ago with Nate Erskine-Smith), pretending proportional representation was an option -- that's more than bloom-gone, it is the poison that is now doing this government in.
I admit I’m a voting reform diehard but they went in the doghouse after that broken promise and for good reason. It was not an afterthought policy plank. They reaffirmed it about a hundred times during the campaign. And some wonder why people can be so cynical about politics…
The episode also nicely illustrated Minister Gould’s political flexibility. She was once in favour of PR but took up the burying of it with gusto.
Marc and I were classmates at the Canadian Forces Command and Staff College In 1982/83. Marc was a class act then and has remained so over these many years.
“if you let the good ideas come up from below …. ultimately you end up with a government that serves the interests of the country ..” Why do we squander the best minds of our nation?
As I was listening, I was thinking a lot about governance. What is the right role for each Minister, each deputy Minister, the prime minister as well as the Privy Council and the PMO.
I think it's a very tricky balance. You want strong bureaucracy and strong individual leaders, so that you can give them a mandate and then leave them to it. But you do want these ministers to have policies that complement each other, like housing and immigration. So a strong Cabinet too.
And while I ground it easy to decry the controls from the PM and the PMO, they do have a responsibility to make sure that things are aligned and the agenda of the government is moving forward.
And in all honesty, I feel that today's working world, there is a high degree of top down control. Both in the for profit world and the non for profit, there is a lot of decisions made by a single person or a couple of people, with limited access to the information on the ground. I think that comes from a place of fear, which erodes trust. And that is certainly something I see in this current government. And while I am a big advocate of let the mjnisters do their jobs, I also struggled to think of a recent example of where such an approach was successful over a long period of time.
That was an excellent conversation with Marc Garneau. Thank you.
Honesty is the Best policy.........thank you!
Enjoyed this podcast. Garneau rightfully earned his place among the “I is what I is” crowd.
Wonderful hearing Separation is not a priority with Quebec youth.-Deo Gratias.
“Honesty brings excellence “. I agree with his opinion that “ ‘fessing-up“ for mistakes is respected more by the electorate than lies and obfuscation. So sad this needs to be said. We citizens are not as dumb as our political elites think we are.
Excellent interview, Paul. Particularly noteworthy is that, in response to your pointed question about “when the bloom went off the rose” of that new Liberal government in 2015, after Garneau’s first response -- “Christmas with the Agha Kan” -- his second was the broken promise of electoral reform, which he continued to discuss at length (starting at about the 20m mark). Waiting nine years for JT to be "honest" with people (as Garneau wishes everyone would always be) and confess that he fibbed back then (first in the interview with Justin Ling in April, and two weeks ago with Nate Erskine-Smith), pretending proportional representation was an option -- that's more than bloom-gone, it is the poison that is now doing this government in.
I admit I’m a voting reform diehard but they went in the doghouse after that broken promise and for good reason. It was not an afterthought policy plank. They reaffirmed it about a hundred times during the campaign. And some wonder why people can be so cynical about politics…
The episode also nicely illustrated Minister Gould’s political flexibility. She was once in favour of PR but took up the burying of it with gusto.
Marc and I were classmates at the Canadian Forces Command and Staff College In 1982/83. Marc was a class act then and has remained so over these many years.
What a lovely tribute.
“if you let the good ideas come up from below …. ultimately you end up with a government that serves the interests of the country ..” Why do we squander the best minds of our nation?
Excellent interview!! Thanks.
As I was listening, I was thinking a lot about governance. What is the right role for each Minister, each deputy Minister, the prime minister as well as the Privy Council and the PMO.
I think it's a very tricky balance. You want strong bureaucracy and strong individual leaders, so that you can give them a mandate and then leave them to it. But you do want these ministers to have policies that complement each other, like housing and immigration. So a strong Cabinet too.
And while I ground it easy to decry the controls from the PM and the PMO, they do have a responsibility to make sure that things are aligned and the agenda of the government is moving forward.
And in all honesty, I feel that today's working world, there is a high degree of top down control. Both in the for profit world and the non for profit, there is a lot of decisions made by a single person or a couple of people, with limited access to the information on the ground. I think that comes from a place of fear, which erodes trust. And that is certainly something I see in this current government. And while I am a big advocate of let the mjnisters do their jobs, I also struggled to think of a recent example of where such an approach was successful over a long period of time.