Exhibit A is Premier Doug Ford, kept in the dark by his Chief of Staff and Deputy Chief of Staff. They had both been informed on December 4 that the then Finance Minister, Rod Phillips, would be in the Caribbean from December 12 to January 19, but did not tell the Premier. He somehow learned about it later in the month, before the Minister’s absence became public on December 29. Once the news broke, Ford ordered the Minister home, while expressing regret that he had not done so sooner (presumably before the issue became a public embarrassment). The Minister promptly returned, and resigned on January 1. But, according to the Premier, his office didn’t keep track of the whereabouts of members of the Conservative caucus (even Cabinet members) – which is odd given that back in December the government was urging Ontarians to stay home and not travel because of the pandemic.
Trudeau and the Misbehaving Military
Exhibit B concerns the saga of former Chief of the Defence Staff, Jonathan Vance. When accusations of sexual misconduct were raised with the Cabinet Minister responsible (Harjit Sajjan), he found reasons to take no action. The result was that Vance remained in charge of the military and was made responsible for an operation designed to investigate sexual misconduct in the military. An image of the fox guarding the henhouse comes to mind. Minister Sajjan’s Chief of State notified the PMO (Prime Minister’s Office) of the allegations and it was recently disclosed that this information was shared with Katie Telford, the Chief of Staff of the PMO and the most senior advisor to the PM. But, just like those secretive staff within the Ontario government, she (supposedly) kept this information from her political boss.
Hogan’s Heroes, the Sequel
One can’t help comparing these two situations to the performance of Sergeant Schultz in the 1960s comedy “Hogan’s Heroes.” When confronted with evidence of misbehaving inmates, his standard response was “I know nothing, nothing.”