A Dumb Defence of Dingwall (Or Pissing Off the PCO)

No cabinet minister wants to defend the indefensible. Which is why people are tempted to feel sorry for Revenue Minister David McCallum.

In the Commons yesterday, when pressed about what legal reasons the government had for giving David Dingwall severance pay, McCallum fumbled on two points.

Point number one, he cited from sources that couldn't be looked up in a hurry:

"Mr. Speaker, as I explained several times, the government has taken legal advice from the Privy Council Office ... I cited three pieces of legislation that are pertinent to this advice. In addition, there is the case law and the policy framework. Taken together, this body of law, according to our legal advisers, is such that the government does have an obligation to pay severance, but as I have said several times, we are paying the minimum that is required by law."

The acts McCallum cited the day before were the Royal Canadian Mint Act, the Financial Administration Act, and the crown corporation general regulations. The legislation is pertinent, yes -- but not explicit enough to warrant justifying Dingwall's severance.

McCallum didn't respond directly when the Opposition challenged him to table the PCO legal opinions. This led to his second fumble, according to the Globe and Mail:

Only when questioned later by reporters did Mr. McCallum disclose that he could not table the legal opinion. "I received the advice verbally, so there is nothing to table."

In other words, a PCO lawyer told him, without writing it down or taking any notes, that the law said Dingwall was entitled to severance. In effect, McCallum is shifting the blame to those PCO lawyers.

One problem with this move: PCO lawyers are not anonymous. An enterprising journalist can find out which one by checking out the government's Direct500 service. Here is the appropriate link. (And even if this information weren't available on the Net, most public libraries carry a government phone directory.)

Note that PCO's legal department is divided into two divisions: one for Cabinet consultations, the other for more general legal operations. It's one of these counsel listed who gave Mr. McCallum his or her legal opinion, which he paraphrased yesterday.

By stating it was an oral opinion, on the record, Mr. McCallum has just opened the door for the PCO Counsel's Office to be beseiged by political reporters, commentators and unscrupulous bloggers, trying to get them on the record to explain their reasoning.

It's pretty safe to say that Mr. McCallum won't be visiting the Blackburn Building for a while ...