Case Study: “I don’t support what you’re doing”: What Happens When a Senior Executive Disagrees with Government Policy?
Most of the power relations in Ottawa play out behind closed doors, in the privacy of offices and meeting rooms. And it is rare for senior officials—deputy ministers, heads of Crown agencies, and their senior staff—to resign over policy disagreements with elected ministers. In the vast majority of cases, public servants will typically bow to the wishes of the democratically elected politicians.
But there are exceptions to this rule.
In June 2010, the Harper government announced that it would be eliminating Statistics Canada’s mandatory long-form census. This form could be perceived as intrusive, as its questions delved into personal details. In it a citizen was called upon to respond to queries about ethnicity, employment, income, family status, housing, transportation, health, education, and language.
Canadians who received the form had a legal duty to complete and return it and could be charged with an offence for failing to do so. As part of the new policy, the mandatory form would be replaced by a much shorter, voluntary form that asked far fewer detailed questions.
Industry Minister Tony Clement, the minister then responsible for Statistics Canada, defended the government’s decision to move to an all-voluntary census. “The government took this decision because we do not believe Canadians should be forced, under threat of fines, jail, or both, to divulge extensive private and personal information.”
Likewise, John Baird, then minister of transport, defended the government’s plans by saying that lots of Canadians had complained: “They find it really offensive that big government steps into their lives, asking how many bathrooms they have in their house. I think it’s ridiculous.”
But the long-form census had its defenders. The opposition parties rallied to its defence, as did many academics and labour leaders. And most interestingly, many interest groups, including business associations, called for the long form to be retained due to the quality of data it produced.
A mandatory census is the gold standard of survey research. The data that Statistics Canada got back from such a survey were used by all levels of government to develop policies on everything from health care to education planning, from promoting new transportation links to planning services for everyone from seniors to new immigrants.
And businesses also used the data. Information such as the types of homes we have, how we commute to work, and how much disposable income we have can be a treasure trove as entrepreneurs plan future business ventures aimed at particular segments of “the market” as discerned through the census.
And the continuation of the long-form census was defended within Statistics Canada by its senior executives, including the then head of the agency, Munir Sheikh. Senior officials in Statistics Canada expressed the concern to their minister that a voluntary census simply could not replicate the depth and quality of research and information produced by a mandatory census form.
On this point, Tony Cement, John Baird, and Dimitri Soudas, a spokesperson for the prime minister, disagreed. According to the Harper government, the long-form census was an unnecessary and intrusive violation of privacy. Statistics Canada was told to scrap it.
At this point, in late July 2010, Munir Sheikh tendered his resignation to the prime minister. And in a media release, he directly challenged the position of his minister.
“I want to take this opportunity,” Sheikh wrote, “to comment on a technical statistical issue which has become the subject of media discussion. This relates to the question of whether a voluntary survey can become a substitute for a mandatory census. It cannot. Under the circumstances, I have tendered my resignation to the prime minister.”
Assistant chief statistician Wayne Smith was named the interim head of Statistics Canada. In November 2015, the newly elected Liberal government announced it would reinstate the long-form census, beginning in 2016.
What is the core lesson about power relations between ministers and their senior officials? When there is a profound policy disagreement between the two, elected ministers are entitled to have their way. And there can be honour in a principled resignation.
Sources:
CBC News http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/2010/07/21/statistics-canada-quits.html
CBC News http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/canada-liberal-census-data-1.3305271
Globe and Mail http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/statistics-canada-chief-falls-on-sword-over-census/article1647348/
