Canada’s top public servant Michael Wernick announces surprise retirement

Thestar.com
March 19, 2019
Alex Boutilier

Canada’s top public servant is stepping down after opposition MPs openly questioned his neutrality and demanded his resignation for his role in the SNC-Lavalin affair.

Privy Council Clerk Michael Wernick announced Monday he will “retire” from the public service before the coming federal election.

Clerk of the Privy Council Michael Wernick has announced a surprise retirement in an open letter to the prime minister.

Wernick has been under intense criticism by opposition MPs over his actions in the SNC-Lavalin affair, and accused of partisanship for his defence of the Prime Minister’s Office attempts to influence Jody Wilson-Raybould’s on the SNC-Lavalin file.

“Recent events have led me to conclude that I cannot serve as clerk of the Privy Council and secretary to cabinet during the upcoming election campaign,” Wernick wrote in a letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, released publicly Monday afternoon.

Wernick said it’s “now apparent” that “there is no path for (him) to have a mutual trust and respect with the leaders of the opposition parties.”

“It is essential during the writ period the clerk be seen by all political parties as in impartial arbiter of whether serious foreign interference has occurred,” Wernick added. “Therefore, I wish to relinquish these roles before the election.”

In two remarkable appearances before the House of Commons’ justice committee, Wernick sparred with opposition MPs over his actions on the SNC-Lavalin file.

Wernick met three times with former attorney general Jody Wilson-Raybould about a potential plea deal for SNC-Lavalin, the Montreal construction and engineering firm facing criminal fraud and bribery charges.

Wilson-Raybould said Wernick and the PMO attempted to improperly pressure her to grant the company a deferred prosecution agreement. Wernick repeatedly and forcefully denied any of the interactions were improper.

Part of the issue is the dual nature of the role of minister of justice and attorney general. As justice minister, Wilson-Raybould could consider the political implications of a company like SNC-Lavalin being banned from public works projects. As attorney general, any decision on prosecution must be above political considerations.

On Monday, Trudeau appointed former Justice Minister Anne McLellan as a “special adviser” to examine the question of whether or not the two roles should be made separate.

“The events of the last few weeks have raised important questions about the relationship between the federal government and the minister of justice and Attorney General of Canada,” a statement from Trudeau’s office read.

“Ms. McLellan will assess the structure that has been in place since Confederation of a single minister holding the positions of minister of justice and Attorney General of Canada … She will also analyze the operating policies and practices across the cabinet, and the role of public servants and political staff in their interactions with the (minister).”

Opposition MPs also took issue with Wernick’s alarming statements on foreign interference in the upcoming election, as well as the tone and tenor of political discourse in Canada.

Wernick said he is concerned somebody will be assassinated in the upcoming campaign. He also tabled seven angry messages sent to him after his first committee appearance, saying they constituted “intimidation of a witness.”

As clerk, Wernick was the most senior member of a five-person committee tasked with assessing possible foreign intervention in the upcoming election -- and whether or not the Canadian public should be warned.

Last week, the opposition parties expressed no confidence in his ability to do that.

The task now falls to Ian Shugart, who Trudeau named as Wernick’s replacement on Monday. Shugart is a lifelong bureaucrat and the current deputy minister of foreign affairs.

Global Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland told reporters that Shugart is “someone I trust completely, someone who is 100 per cent devoted to the Canadian national interest, and someone with excellent judgment.”

“I can’t think of a better person to fill the role,” Freeland said.

“I want to thank Michael Wernick for his extraordinary service to Canada over many, many decades,” Trudeau told reporters outside the House of Commons.

“We’ve accomplished a lot as a government over these past three and a half years, and it was definitely in large part because of extraordinary public service and Michael Wernick’s leadership.”