If a prime minister of whatever political stripe issues a directive, as Mr. Obama did on his first day in office, that will definitely be helpful. However, the fact remains that it lies with government employees to deliver the goods, to ensure that the spirit and the letter of the law are respected. I worked with a number of ministers in my former position in the Department of National Defence. Ministers are not involved in the day-to-day administration of this act. The people responsible for ensuring that the spirit and the letter of the act are respected are the public servants within the departments, starting with the deputy minister. I'm absolutely convinced that so far not only have there been no penalties if someone fails to comply with the act or asks for a 210-day extension, there have been no consequences at all.
Should a very clear, categorical directive from the clerk or deputy ministers be issued very broadly? Based on my 25 years of experience with the act, I would say no. So far, public servants do their best, but they know that if they fail to meet the deadline by one or two months, there will be no consequences for them at all.