Canada’s Auditor General Ms. Sheila Fraser is one of my heroes. I now have another hero. She is Linda Keen, the head of the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission. This is an independent quasi-judicial tribunal that is responsible for the safety of the nuclear industry in Canada. Those decisions should not be made by elected partisan political operatives no matter how “accountable” they see themselves.
We see the Harper Cons interfering politically and inappropriately once again as the Honourable Gary Lunn, Minister of Natural Resource, thought it was his place to threaten Ms. Keen with termination for not toeing his partisan line.
The Cons should know better that to take such heavy handed approach and if they don’t know better, they are not ready for prime time governance. Sure the issue around the safety of the Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. Chalk River facility and the need for the production of the medical by product of radioactive isotopes is a political decision.
There should be no trade-off between these values and they should not have to compete. Good competent effective government provides both nuclear safety and necessary medical services. We did not have good competent and effective government in this situation and that is now obvious.
To resort to bullying Ms Keen because she was a “Liberal appointee” as a consequence of Harper’s personal and his governance incompetence is beyond the pale. To threaten an independent commission, which we all rely on to be political independent and to make sound decisions about nuclear safety, because she did not follow the directives of her political masters is dangerously irresponsible.
Character is a quality often overlooked when we reflect on those who govern us and who act on our behalf in governing agencies, boards and commissions. Thankfully we have people of exemplary character like Ms. Keen and Ms. Fraser to protect us from our governors. They both did their jobs on OUR behalf, especially when it counts and the stakes are high.
If anyone should give reasons why they should not be fired, it is Mr. Lunn. As for Mr. Harper, we know, given his patrician controlling leadership style Mr. Lunn was not acting alone but merely as the PM’s emissary. Before you can respect someone, you have to trust them. Before you can trust them you have to give them the benefit of the doubt. Mr. Harper’s has proven time and time again he is a flawed leader. It is time for him and his government” to go. Bring on the election so we can put the Cons out of our misery.
We see the Harper Cons interfering politically and inappropriately once again as the Honourable Gary Lunn, Minister of Natural Resource, thought it was his place to threaten Ms. Keen with termination for not toeing his partisan line.
The Cons should know better that to take such heavy handed approach and if they don’t know better, they are not ready for prime time governance. Sure the issue around the safety of the Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. Chalk River facility and the need for the production of the medical by product of radioactive isotopes is a political decision.
There should be no trade-off between these values and they should not have to compete. Good competent effective government provides both nuclear safety and necessary medical services. We did not have good competent and effective government in this situation and that is now obvious.
To resort to bullying Ms Keen because she was a “Liberal appointee” as a consequence of Harper’s personal and his governance incompetence is beyond the pale. To threaten an independent commission, which we all rely on to be political independent and to make sound decisions about nuclear safety, because she did not follow the directives of her political masters is dangerously irresponsible.
Character is a quality often overlooked when we reflect on those who govern us and who act on our behalf in governing agencies, boards and commissions. Thankfully we have people of exemplary character like Ms. Keen and Ms. Fraser to protect us from our governors. They both did their jobs on OUR behalf, especially when it counts and the stakes are high.
If anyone should give reasons why they should not be fired, it is Mr. Lunn. As for Mr. Harper, we know, given his patrician controlling leadership style Mr. Lunn was not acting alone but merely as the PM’s emissary. Before you can respect someone, you have to trust them. Before you can trust them you have to give them the benefit of the doubt. Mr. Harper’s has proven time and time again he is a flawed leader. It is time for him and his government” to go. Bring on the election so we can put the Cons out of our misery.
Sure Ken, an "independent" tribunal member who just happens to be a Liberal partisan appointment.
ReplyDeleteIf Keen was negligent in her job as the head of the commission, the government has a positive duty to terminate her position. Remember it was Keen who was in charge during the isotope shortage.
If Liberals really did believe that the Conservative government is so flow, they certainly would have voted against the government on all confidence votes. They did not as they feared an inevitable loss. Moreover, the recent surge in the polls in favour of the CPC almost guarantees that the government will survive until the budget. And I bet the budget will be another great one - this government could be here to stay until 2009.
It was her job to act for our safety by deal with an unsafe reactor, and in the extreme case here, made a recommendation to shut it down. Whatever went on behind the scenes with the reactor staff, whether she is a liberal appointee or not.... she did her job.
ReplyDeleteIt was equally Lunn's job to make sure the government weighed all the issues. However much he really did weigh public safety versus the costs of not getting those isotopes out to the people who need them, we trust to our politicians to make decisions like that, and he did his job at that point.
Unfortunately, he carried it one step too far. Whether he disagreed with her or not, Ms. Keen had done her bit in the process, done what we hire these people to do independent of government interference by shutting the reactor down after due warning to Mr. Lunn's office. Mr. Lunn was fully within his rights to finally weigh everything and decide that the public interest was best served by starting the reactor again...
However, he has unfortunately now muzzled that crucial independent voice that watches out for our safety, and that's a very bad precedent. He should have left it at "I've heard your opinion, and after weighing the risks and the benefits, it's worth the risk of restarting the reactor."