$ 10,000 trips by (Federal) Bureaucrats.

[Guest Peeves]

http://www.canada.com/news/calls+review+high+flying+bureaucrats+program/5945254/story.html

"NDP calls for review of "high-flying bureaucrats" program", and so they should.

" Advanced Leadership Program," that entails for some reason, trips to 35 countries abroad, including such as India, Mexico, United States and of course the Islamic governing and leadership of The United Arab Emirates.

http://www.uaeinteract.com/government/political_system.asp

Now that causes me to consider two questions. The first being , do our leaders really need training in pork barreling, corruption, baksheesh or the like?

The second being wouldn't we taxpayers be feeling more secure with our leaders if contrariwise, leaders from those countries were coming here for leadership training?

Which caused me to consider two possibilities recently in the news. The ventured accusations of misconduct by Tony Clement, and by some First Nations political leaders.

Which caused me to consider two conclusions, add perk and ad nauseam!

[cybercoma]

Good for the fiscally consservative social democrats.

[Rick]

Hey the jet set crew honestly believes that after spending a decade bitching about Liberals doing it, that they're entitled to their entitlements too don't you know?

You forgot to mention the $1 million they've also wasted in making partisan announcements...it was in the news today.

[Guest Peeves]

Hey the jet set crew honestly believes that after spending a decade bitching about Liberals doing it, that they're entitled to their entitlements too don't you know?

You forgot to mention the $1 million they've also wasted in making partisan announcements...it was in the news today.

A million? I barely notice a million $ political expenditure unless it's in Tony Clement's riding.

[August1991]

I "liked" (that's an ironic "liked") Stephen Harper's response in his year-end CTV interview to questions about such expenditures. He said, "It's the cost of doing business." (I think that he was referring to Mackay's helicopter ride.)

I was floored. The cost of doing business? WTF?

-----

Stephen Taylor broke this story, criticizing this programme. You can read his blog report here. Note in particular, in the comments, the response of Ian Brodie (who was once Harper's Chief of Staff). I will quote it at length:

Stephen:

With the greatest of respect, your argument is not well thought through.

The Government of Canada is a massive operation - the single largest organization in the country. Regardless of how big or small you think it should be, it is essential for the public service to be well led by competent bureaucrats. And, in my experience anyway, the Government of Canada does, with one exception, a poor job of developing its leadership talent.

Things have improved since 2006, that's for sure. When we took office, we had a core of experienced senior leaders, most of whom were about to retire. Well over half the senior leadership team was to retire within two years. And there were simply no plans, whatsoever, to replace them. The Government of Canada had massively underinvested in training, especially at the most senior levels. And there was no succession plan, of any kind, as far as I could tell.

Kevin Lynch and the senior PCO group that PM Harper selected did a deft job of improvising, and the subsequent deluge of retirements was as well handled as it could have been, under the circumstances. I've never met most of the people now being appointed to the senior ranks of the public service, and I only left PMO in 2008.

The people selected for the Advanced Leadership Program are supposed to be en route to the very senior ranks of the public service - future deputy ministers and associate deputies. I've met with two of the cohorts that passed through the ALP and have known a handful of the participants more directly. They're good people who have succeeded in middle ranking roles, and benefit from training for much more senior roles in the future. Few of them have any kind of international experience, and getting that international experience is invaluable.

Humbug!

-----

I'm with Mark Steyn on this. When a US president has a motorcade of 40 cars to go to a Best Buy, a democratic State is taking the wrong path. (Our own PM now travels with a personal retinue of 15-20 RCMP guys always around him.)

Our federal bureaucracy now has hundreds if not thousands of ADMs, each with a Chief of Staff.

Once upon a time, we had public servants named, for example, Lester Pearson or Mitchell Sharp who carried their own luggage, and found their own rented accommodation when abroad.

And please don't tell me that the world was different then. When Pearson and Sharp were civil servants in the federal bureaucracy, Canada and the West confronted problems (the Depression, World War II, the Cold War) far more severe than anything this crew now faces.

----

Brodie is wrong on this. Turmel is right. I'm sure she has known her share of ADMs and DMs in her life but I don't think she's right because she was a simple civil servant, PSAC member. My criticsm is not based on populist outrage.

This programme is wrong because senior civil servants, and politicians, take for granted their status and right to spend other people's money.

Edited January 6, 2012 by August1991

[Guest Peeves]

I "liked" (that's an ironic "liked") Stephen Harper's response in his year-end CTV interview to questions about such expenditures. He said, "It's the cost of doing business." (I think that he was referring to Mackay's helicopter ride.)

I was floored. The cost of doing business? WTF?

-----

Stephen Taylor broke this story, criticizing this programme. You can read his blog report here. Note in particular, in the comments, the response of Ian Brodie (who was once Harper's Chief of Staff). I will quote it at length:

Humbug!

-----

I'm with Mark Steyn on this. When a US president has a motorcade of 40 cars to go to a Best Buy, a democratic State is taking the wrong path. (Our own PM now travels with a personal retinue of 15-20 RCMP guys always around him.)

Our federal bureaucracy now has hundreds if not thousands of ADMs, each with a Chief of Staff.

Once upon a time, we had public servants named, for example, Lester Pearson or Mitchell Sharp who carried their own luggage, and found their own rented accommodation when abroad.

And please don't tell me that the world was different then. When Pearson and Sharp were civil servants in the federal bureaucracy, Canada and the West confronted problems (the Depression, World War II, the Cold War) far more severe than anything this crew now faces.

----

Brodie is wrong on this. Turmel is right. I'm sure she has known her share of ADMs and DMs in her life but I don't think she's right because she was a simple civil servant, PSAC member. My criticsm is not based on populist outrage.

This programme is wrong because senior civil servants, and politicians, take for granted their status and right to spend other people's money.

Today everyone seems to have a personal expectation under the rubric of ENTITLEMENTYou are correct it wasn't like this a couple of generations ago.

[Rick]

When a US president has a motorcade of 40 cars to go to a Best Buy, a democratic State is taking the wrong path. (Our own PM now travels with a personal retinue of 15-20 RCMP guys always around him.)

Remember a couple of years ago when Harper prorogued Parliament the 1st time and had to go from his residence at 24 Sussex to meet with the GG at her residence directly across the street...

Harper chose to make that 2 minute walk using a motorcade of no less than 4 gas guzzling SUV's....

[CPCFTW]

Remember a couple of years ago when Harper prorogued Parliament the 1st time and had to go from his residence at 24 Sussex to meet with the GG at her residence directly across the street...

Harper chose to make that 2 minute walk using a motorcade of no less than 4 gas guzzling SUV's....

Probably wasted at least $50 of gas. Someone stop this tyrant!!!

[August1991]

Harper chose to make that 2 minute walk using a motorcade of no less than 4 gas guzzling SUV's....

I didn't know that.

I generally disdain the Western/Reform/Manning populism as naive politics. It is too easy to be another Huey Long and pretend to be ordinary.

Probably wasted at least $50 of gas. Someone stop this tyrant!!!

The gas is cheap. The tyranny less so.

----

Recently, I met a foreigner who showed me a picture of himself standing beside Stephen Harper, taken abroad. I was astonished to learn that the foreigner only knew of Harper because Harper had about 20 RCMP guys standing around him. That's why the foreigner asked for the photo! As my foreign friend explained, "I knew that he was important because of all those guys in suits."

Been there, done that.

-----

Harper should stop this nonsense. If Harper's afraid of a terrorist attack and dying, then he's in the wrong business. (Queen Victoria survived about eight assassination attempts.) If Harper thinks that he's an important symbol to be protected, he should think of Churchill flying to Tehran or Quebec during WWII.

Harper, Mackay, Flaherty, the bureaucrats, the other cabinet ministers - all of them - are public servants. Harper should get rid of most of his bodyguards, and Mackay doesn't need military helicopters.

And Stephen Harper should have at least the courage of Pierre Trudeau, who stayed on the balcony of Montreal's library on Sherbrooke on 24 June 1968. This is true public service. Others leave, but watch Trudeau stay and push the security people away.

Edited January 8, 2012 by August1991