Increasingly, the feeling I'm left with after reading your interviews and listening to your podcasts is one of sadness. So much wisdom, knowledge, and leadership left untapped in this country. I'm not even looking for visionaries anymore - just competent, thoughtful, women and men making the country, and the lives of its citizens, better.
Wonderful interview Paul. I have great respect for our first astronaut and the MP for NDG and Westmount. He has given a lot of himself to Canada, I hope he enjoys his coming time with family!
Thanks Paul. It’s exactly what I had in mind when I flagged his resignation.
This PMO staffing practice - as I see it - would get about half the value out of a Minister like Garneau.
Not only does PMO assign and mark the homework (mandate items), they get to tell you how to do the homework. And also approve any extra work you want to undertake. All Ministers - and in Garneau’s case someone trained to run serious things - get a daily feeding of egg sucking lessons.
That’s not good for any system. Let alone a Westminster cabinet.
It’s such a shame that people like Mr. Garneau, understated and interested primarily in getting stuff done, aren’t running the Show in Ottawa; instead we get (mostly) charismatic people who don’t know how to get things done and who are interested mostly in self gratification and getting re-elected. Small wonder that Mr. Garneau is getting out. Thanks for the interview Mr. Wells.
I flew back from the Quebec City summit (Mulroney-Reagan) with Garneau and we had plenty of time to talk as the airspace was shut down for Airforce One. He admitted that the "take me to your leader" thing was highly embarrassing but said that he would do almost anything to get back into space. He did go back, of course, and served with distinction in progressively more senior roles on the Shuttle.
Mr. Garneau harkens back to a time in the not too distant past when good, accomplished people were drawn to politics by a sense of public duty with the hopes of doing positive things.
Only Mr. Garneau can assess his record for achieving his goals, but if he ended up frustrated who could blame him? The Transport Ministry is a complicated file, consisting of roads, rails, airspace and seaways. As near as I can tell, Garneau stayed out of trouble and his efforts run circles around the current Minister.
The upgrade to Global Affairs seems like a poison pill, where Garneau became part of the revolving door of Ministers who barely get started and then moved elsewhere. To get dumped out of Cabinet unceremoniously says far more about the character of the one naming the Cabinet than it does for Garneau. Garneau took his lumps and quietly drifted home to retire.
I sincerely hope Mr. Garneau enjoys a long retirement, he’s earned it.
Now if only you could do an interview with Andrew Leslie, another hero of mine, who lasted only one term and then chose not to run again. A great waste of talent.
What a wonderful testament to the talented Marc Garneau. He served our country well. We, as Canadians would do well to try to emulate his service to our country. I would have liked having him as my PM. We are all enriched by his service and bereft at what his moving out of office means for our quality of government.
Hard not to like and admire Garneau, but I feel let down by the failure of figures such as him to speak up forcefully on the issues. It is this silence that has allowed so much to fester over the last 8 years.
I don't begrudge him a happy retirement but I would admire him a whole lot more if he spoke some serious truths.
Thank you Mr. Wells, for this great interview. This type of writing is the reason I subscribe to your site. I had the joy to meet with Mr. Garneau on regular occasions; he was invariably gracious, good-humoured, and ready to listen. In 2015, he needed information about ways to help bring 25,000 Syrian refugees to Canada. He called my office, as I led a refugee sponsoring agency, and he wanted my input on the best ways to move forward. Mr. Garneau is a wonderful Canadian, and I would have liked to see him a leader of the Liberal Party. "Take me to your leader" would have made sense...
Increasingly, the feeling I'm left with after reading your interviews and listening to your podcasts is one of sadness. So much wisdom, knowledge, and leadership left untapped in this country. I'm not even looking for visionaries anymore - just competent, thoughtful, women and men making the country, and the lives of its citizens, better.
Wonderful interview Paul. I have great respect for our first astronaut and the MP for NDG and Westmount. He has given a lot of himself to Canada, I hope he enjoys his coming time with family!
Thanks Paul. It’s exactly what I had in mind when I flagged his resignation.
This PMO staffing practice - as I see it - would get about half the value out of a Minister like Garneau.
Not only does PMO assign and mark the homework (mandate items), they get to tell you how to do the homework. And also approve any extra work you want to undertake. All Ministers - and in Garneau’s case someone trained to run serious things - get a daily feeding of egg sucking lessons.
That’s not good for any system. Let alone a Westminster cabinet.
It’s such a shame that people like Mr. Garneau, understated and interested primarily in getting stuff done, aren’t running the Show in Ottawa; instead we get (mostly) charismatic people who don’t know how to get things done and who are interested mostly in self gratification and getting re-elected. Small wonder that Mr. Garneau is getting out. Thanks for the interview Mr. Wells.
I flew back from the Quebec City summit (Mulroney-Reagan) with Garneau and we had plenty of time to talk as the airspace was shut down for Airforce One. He admitted that the "take me to your leader" thing was highly embarrassing but said that he would do almost anything to get back into space. He did go back, of course, and served with distinction in progressively more senior roles on the Shuttle.
Mr. Garneau harkens back to a time in the not too distant past when good, accomplished people were drawn to politics by a sense of public duty with the hopes of doing positive things.
Only Mr. Garneau can assess his record for achieving his goals, but if he ended up frustrated who could blame him? The Transport Ministry is a complicated file, consisting of roads, rails, airspace and seaways. As near as I can tell, Garneau stayed out of trouble and his efforts run circles around the current Minister.
The upgrade to Global Affairs seems like a poison pill, where Garneau became part of the revolving door of Ministers who barely get started and then moved elsewhere. To get dumped out of Cabinet unceremoniously says far more about the character of the one naming the Cabinet than it does for Garneau. Garneau took his lumps and quietly drifted home to retire.
I sincerely hope Mr. Garneau enjoys a long retirement, he’s earned it.
Wonderful interview....thanks so much. I can't help but lament at how much better off Canada would have been had Marc Garneau become PM.
Excellent interview--candid and appreciated. There’s a reason Liberal Party is sacrificing itself. Thanks for this
Thank you very much.
Now if only you could do an interview with Andrew Leslie, another hero of mine, who lasted only one term and then chose not to run again. A great waste of talent.
What a wonderful testament to the talented Marc Garneau. He served our country well. We, as Canadians would do well to try to emulate his service to our country. I would have liked having him as my PM. We are all enriched by his service and bereft at what his moving out of office means for our quality of government.
Hard not to like and admire Garneau, but I feel let down by the failure of figures such as him to speak up forcefully on the issues. It is this silence that has allowed so much to fester over the last 8 years.
I don't begrudge him a happy retirement but I would admire him a whole lot more if he spoke some serious truths.
I enjoyed this read; it was subtly revealing. 'Me thinks he may have been a good PM, devoid of numerous scandals'
I wish he'd won the leadership. <sigh>
A very good interview with a very good Canadian. Thanks.
THAT is a Paul Wells column. Fabulous.
Thank you Mr. Wells, for this great interview. This type of writing is the reason I subscribe to your site. I had the joy to meet with Mr. Garneau on regular occasions; he was invariably gracious, good-humoured, and ready to listen. In 2015, he needed information about ways to help bring 25,000 Syrian refugees to Canada. He called my office, as I led a refugee sponsoring agency, and he wanted my input on the best ways to move forward. Mr. Garneau is a wonderful Canadian, and I would have liked to see him a leader of the Liberal Party. "Take me to your leader" would have made sense...