David Mulroney: The next PM must remind Canada’s public servants who really runs the show 

From former Harper era DM responsible for the Afghanistan Task Force and Ambassador to China. A mix of foreign policy advice and commentary on the public service as a whole. Should, as likely, the Conservatives win the election, the public service will face a considerable challenge, just as it did under Harper:

…Untangling this mess will require a combination of culture change and restructuring. We can no longer entrust our international affairs to ideologically rigid and determinedly non-accountable public servants. People need to be reminded that the price of fearless advice is loyal implementation.

We also need to recover the principle that foreign aid is an element of foreign policy, not the other way around.

Thinking about foreign aid should also include consideration of our own economic interests, opportunities for safeguarding Canadian health and welfare, and implications for Canada’s defence and security.

It’s also entirely reasonable to expect that our foreign aid will win us friends rather than lose them, something worth considering the next time we seek a non-permanent seat on the Security Council.

Repairing the damage will involve rebuilding capacity in the public service in general and in the foreign service in particular, something that will require vastly improved recruitment, personnel management, and training.

A new government should also commence replenishing the now almost empty pool of senior public servants with the experience in international affairs necessary to run the department whose business that is.

Above all, we need to recover some traditionally Canadian humility and respect for others. The objective of international assistance is not to transform a foreign country into a simulacrum of ultra-progressive Canada. We need to listen, to learn, and to help build local capacity, allowing our partners in the developing world to be responsible for their own futures.

Source: David Mulroney: The next PM must remind Canada’s public servants who really runs the show