The Weight of Office/Offence

"Ministers must not intervene, or appear to intervene, with tribunals on any matter requiring a decision in their quasi-judicial capacity, except as permitted by statute."
"...it is inappropriate to attempt to influence the outcome of a specific decision of a quasi-judicial nature."
Accountable Government: A Guide for Ministers and Ministers of State

 It is there, writ large, not possible to overlook, and surely well known to all the Right-Honourables and Cabinet members that federal rules on ministerial responsibility frown on certain interventions. Ministers must refrain from using the power of their elevated political office to impress upon those engaged in the granting of permits or any other favours of any kind, their personal views.

A command performance, as it were, from a minister to a granting body, emphasizing the minister's wishes and inclinations are forbidden as counter to democratic fairness. Undue influence, or attempts at such undermine the fair democratic system. It is a practise best left to autocratic regimes, not governments like Canada's.

The current Conservative-led government of Prime Minister Stephen Harper certainly believes that to be so; the document in question had its guidelines updated just two years ago, and is posted on the website that the prime minister maintains. "Ministers must not intervene, or appear to intervene, with tribunals on any matter requiring a decision in their quasi-judicial capacity, except as permitted by statute."

The otherwise eminently sensible Minister of Finance Jim Flaherty, insists it is his right and his duty as a Member of Parliament to support the needs and aspirations of his constituents. And he is perfectly correct. But not to do so as the Minister of Finance, which position clearly eliminates him from approaching any authorities for the advancement of a constituent.

"Durham Radio has a strong track record for providing excellent service for their listeners and this puts them in a solid position to offer this new service" wrote Mr. Flaherty, Minister of Finance in a letter to the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission, parising the station, which in the end was unsuccessful in its bid to obtain a licence to operate a new FM station for the Toronto area.

"As the MP for Whitby-Oshawa, I support their proposal and their application", insisted Mr. Flaherty. If he had taken the precaution of writing that letter on Member of Parliament stationery, signing it as a Member of Parliament, perhaps. Is he becoming too accustomed to throwing the weight of his sturdily influential presence around too liberally...?