The wizard of Ottawa, behind the curtain
Brian Laghi, Ottawa Bureau Chief Globe and Mail Monday, Aug. 10, 2009 12:00AM EDT
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He helped push through the most important budget of the decade, oversaw Canada's strategy on Afghanistan and caused stirs when he decided to leave public life.
Yet Kevin Lynch, the former public service chief with unparalleled access to Stephen Harper, wonders if Canadians really knew what he did for a living. "One thing I'm kind of struck by is just how well or poorly folks actually understand the role," Mr. Lynch, the former clerk of the Privy Council, said in a rare interview recently, just weeks after leaving his job. "I worry that that there isn't as much broad-based understanding about our core institutions."
While it may be peculiar that such a powerful individual is barely known outside the few square kilometres that surround Parliament Hill, when it comes to Privy Council clerks, Mr. Lynch is an out-and-out celebrity. Over 3½ years of advising Mr. Harper, Mr. Lynch handled the rebranding of the Canadian civil service, directed the bureaucracy in pursuing the country's first major war in more than 50 years, helped shift Canada's foreign affairs focus and dealt with the most frightening economic crisis since the Great Depression.
And all of it was done under a minority government, a form of administration that is notoriously bad for long-term planning. "I think folks have forgotten how big a change it is doing public policy in a minority context," Mr. Lynch said. "It's not the same. That's not to say it's good or bad, but it is different, and I think all of us have to learn a little bit about how do you do, from the public service side, public policy in a minority."
Mr. Lynch had to become a quick study upon being appointed in February of 2006, not only in dealing with a minority, but with a neophyte Prime Minister and a group of cabinet ministers, most of whom had never been part of a governing executive.
By all accounts, Mr. Lynch was deeply relied upon by the PMO and cabinet in the early days. And despite the Prime Minister's concerns about the public service's Liberal inclinations, the two men were a good match. Like Mr. Harper, Mr. Lynch is a cerebral workaholic and trained economist, and was one of only a handful of bureaucrats that the Prime Minister would telephone directly. "They had economics in common, so that was a huge help," a PMO source said. "There was a massive flow of paper from Kevin to the PM and, as we know, the PM consumes written material at a voracious rate."
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Brian Laghi, Ottawa Bureau Chief Globe and Mail Monday, Aug. 10, 2009 12:00AM EDT
Article Link
He helped push through the most important budget of the decade, oversaw Canada's strategy on Afghanistan and caused stirs when he decided to leave public life.
Yet Kevin Lynch, the former public service chief with unparalleled access to Stephen Harper, wonders if Canadians really knew what he did for a living. "One thing I'm kind of struck by is just how well or poorly folks actually understand the role," Mr. Lynch, the former clerk of the Privy Council, said in a rare interview recently, just weeks after leaving his job. "I worry that that there isn't as much broad-based understanding about our core institutions."
While it may be peculiar that such a powerful individual is barely known outside the few square kilometres that surround Parliament Hill, when it comes to Privy Council clerks, Mr. Lynch is an out-and-out celebrity. Over 3½ years of advising Mr. Harper, Mr. Lynch handled the rebranding of the Canadian civil service, directed the bureaucracy in pursuing the country's first major war in more than 50 years, helped shift Canada's foreign affairs focus and dealt with the most frightening economic crisis since the Great Depression.
And all of it was done under a minority government, a form of administration that is notoriously bad for long-term planning. "I think folks have forgotten how big a change it is doing public policy in a minority context," Mr. Lynch said. "It's not the same. That's not to say it's good or bad, but it is different, and I think all of us have to learn a little bit about how do you do, from the public service side, public policy in a minority."
Mr. Lynch had to become a quick study upon being appointed in February of 2006, not only in dealing with a minority, but with a neophyte Prime Minister and a group of cabinet ministers, most of whom had never been part of a governing executive.
By all accounts, Mr. Lynch was deeply relied upon by the PMO and cabinet in the early days. And despite the Prime Minister's concerns about the public service's Liberal inclinations, the two men were a good match. Like Mr. Harper, Mr. Lynch is a cerebral workaholic and trained economist, and was one of only a handful of bureaucrats that the Prime Minister would telephone directly. "They had economics in common, so that was a huge help," a PMO source said. "There was a massive flow of paper from Kevin to the PM and, as we know, the PM consumes written material at a voracious rate."
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