Well, Premier Dwight Ball returned from his mainland trip to save the day.
In his absence, a report into the conduct of one of his ministers — Christopher Mitchelmore, at the time the minister responsible for tourism — found Mitchelmore to have committed “gross misconduct” by stuffing a Liberal-connected appointee into a high-paying gig at The Rooms.
By the time Ball stood up to take all the questions in Tuesday’s question period in the House of Assembly, he’d already announced a solution to the problem.
His answer? Essentially, that the system is broken. Not that the minister who used that flawed system was wrong to hire a Liberal insider who didn’t meet the basic qualifications for the job. Not that bumping up that insider’s pay up by tens of thousands of dollars a year was wrong. Not that removing a qualified person from a position they’d been hired for was wrong. Not even that changing the nature of the job to try and bypass hiring rules, was wrong.
No, it was the system that was wrong.
It’s classic bait and switch — get caught red-handed stealing your neighbour’s Christmas ornaments, and claim you were just bringing them inside to protect them from marauding teens. Get caught with your hand in the petty cash tin, and claim it’s the company’s fault for leaving the cash box unlocked.
Ball’s solution? Kick it down the road. As a news release from his office said on Tuesday, “The Honourable Dwight Ball, Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador, today announced an independent review into the movement of executive staff within the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador.”
His claim, repeated again and again in the House of Assembly, is that a decades-old process is what is flawed, not the ethics of the minister involved. (I am reminded of the saying “a poor carpenter blames his tools.”)
I am reminded of the saying “a poor carpenter blames his tools.”
So, an independent review it will be — perhaps, to add insult to injury, run by some Liberal insider who’s short of cash at Christmas time.
I’d like to help by saving the premier the trouble — though I am absolutely certain he will neither like nor accept my independent review.
The issue with executive staff is that they are hired on contracts that bypass all the regular hiring rules in government, and that they begin and end at the whim of the provincial cabinet.
It means a campaign chairman can suddenly end up running Newfoundland and Labrador Housing, that party faithful can magically appear as deputy ministers, and even that anyone who’s seen as too cosy with a past government can be flicked out by the latest party to win an election and be replaced by someone who, shall we say, is more politically compliant.
Some parts of that process make sense. A new Tory government, for example, should not be handicapped by having to keep a deputy minister or other executive who extolls the policies of the past Liberal government.
So, keep the contracts as flexible as they are now — allow governments the ability to remove senior executives who they feel are not onside with the goals and policies of the duly elected representatives of the people.
But other parts should clearly change.
To prevent the kind of self-dealing that sparked this whole mess, remove the ability for cabinet to simply pick who they want, regardless of that person’s skills, abilities, education and experience. Have the Public Service Commission vet candidates for all provincial positions, executive or not — and have that vetting focus on the professional abilities and qualification that applicants can bring to bear in the job. In other words, hire the people best suited to do the job, not the people with the best connections.
On another note, Ball seems intent on believing that moving people around in executive positions — without proper hiring processes — is some kind of professional development. I’d like to see some proof of that — putting a pharmacist behind the wheel of a fire engine might be eye-opening for the pharmacist, but it won’t put fires out any faster.
We’re a small province with big problems; particularly, big financial problems. The day is long past when senior positions can be a parking space to reward the party faithful.
Finally, to Ball and Mitchelmore: if the system is broken, that’s no defence for using it to your own political advantage.
To quote former prime minister Brian Mulroney, “You had an option, sir.”
Russell Wangersky’s column appears in SaltWire publications across Atlantic Canada. He can be reached at [email protected] — Twitter: @wangersky
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