Rule Number One: The Boss is always right.Right now, you should have a look at a CBC Radio story today on the departure of the secretary of treasury board a month before the budget comes down. Florence Delaney has resigned in what is described by CBC Radio as a difference of opinion with the Premier over budget priorities.
Rule Number Two: If the Boss is wrong, see Rule Number One.
Incidentally, the official government news release, issued at 3:00 pm today, goes into a whole raft of other things. There is the appointment of a new assistant deputy minister who brings bags of potential with him. There is the appointment of Len Simms to a patronage job as head of the housing corporation - why not just absorb the corporation into something else as a cost cutting measure? It is hard to fight the drive to note that there are very few former Peckford cabinet ministers who are still alive who haven't received a patronage job in the new administration. (Yes I know, three are in Ottawa; one is reputedly sitting as a Liberal to boot.)
Then there is also an inexplicable game of musical chairs involving the deputy ministers of transportation and works and municipal and provincial affairs. Almost at the last bit, there are some confirmations of assistant deputy ministers (ADM) who have been "acting" until now.
Then lastly there is news that a treasury board ADM will oversee the budget process through the end of the fiscal year. That's all there is.
Now back to the story:
Public servants don't usually toss their teddy in the corner over minor issues or "differences of opinion".
Senior public servants don't usually get demoted unless they have really screwed up badly. In the ordinary course of things, unless Ms. Delaney had flat-out, blatantly refused to follow cabinet direction on the budget there really wouldn't be much cause to shift her to a new job; cause that is, unless there was a larger reorganization of assignments among the deputy ministers.
If Delaney refused direction then it would be cause to demand her resignation or simply fire her for insubordination.
Inherent in the job of being a senior public servant or a senior political staffer is the responsibility - the duty - to state considered opinions forcefully, even if those opinions run contrary to what The Boss wants. Bosses should tolerate some dissent for the health of the government and the decision-making process.
Once the decision gets made, then it is the duty of said staffer or public servant to carry out the orders, irrespective of their own views. Voluntary resignation is something that happens only in the most extreme circumstances, that is, "extreme" in the ordinary workings of government.
That's why this story is likely to unfold in interesting ways over the next 24 hours.
The last paragraph of the CBC story is a bit of a joke, by the way. Premiers are not in the habit of requesting people to do something. "Request" is a polite way of putting it. It suggests one can refuse with impunity: "No thanks, I kinda like it here and my office has a nice view." Uh huh. Sure.
The truth is that the premier assigns people to jobs and from the looks of it, that is what was done here.
For some reason, Ms. Delaney decided to exercise her option under Rule Three: Hand in your resignation.
Therein lies the real story: why did she go?
In closing, here's a poser:
Trivia question: Name the last deputy minister of the provincial government who resigned voluntarily in similar circumstances?
Answer: Truthfully, I can't think of anyone, although, undoubtedly, there have been. Any faithful readers who can come up with a verifiable answer will win my eternal gratitude.
