Trust but verify: Ministerial policy advisors and public servants in the Government of Canada

Political advisors in Canada are comparatively numerous and highly differentiated in role. Based on a recent survey, this article examines how senior ministerial policy advisors, a subset of the political staff community, perceive their support for ministers and their relationships with public serva...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Canadian public administration 2016-09, Vol.59 (3), p.337-356
Main Author:	Wilson, R. Paul
Format:	Article
Language:	eng
Subjects:	Accountability Advisors Analysis Cabinet officials Canada Domestics Influence Ministerial responsibility Political consultants Political culture Political science research Politics Powers and duties Public administration Public officials Staff Trudeau, Justin
Online Access:	Request full text
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Summary:	Political advisors in Canada are comparatively numerous and highly differentiated in role. Based on a recent survey, this article examines how senior ministerial policy advisors, a subset of the political staff community, perceive their support for ministers and their relationships with public servants. It finds that they increase ministers' policy capacity, encourage greater responsiveness from public servants, and generally feel that they enjoy good relations with officials and respect their role. Since much depends on advisors' personal maturity, however, the paper endorses the Trudeau government's release of a code of conduct for ministerial‐exempt staff as a means of embedding accountability more deeply within political staff culture. Sommaire Au Canada, les conseillers politiques sont comparativement nombreux et ont des rôles fortement différenciés. Basé sur un récent sondage, cet article examine la question des hauts conseillers politiques ministériels, un sous‐ensemble du personnel ministériel, et la manière dont ceux‐ci perçoivent leur soutien aux ministres et leurs relations avec les fonctionnaires. Selon l'article, les conseillers politiques permettent aux ministres d'accroître leur capacité en matière d’élaboration de politiques, promeuvent le développement de la réceptivité chez les fonctionnaires, et ils ont généralement l'impression d'entretenir de bonnes relations avec les dirigeants et de respecter leur rôle. Cependant, comme beaucoup de choses dépendent de la maturité personnelle des conseillers, l'article soutient la publication par le gouvernement Trudeau d'un code de conduite pour le personnel ministériel exonéré, comme moyen d'ancrer l'imputabilité plus profondément dans la culture du personnel ministériel.
ISSN:	0008-4840 1754-7121