Thank you very much for the question.
On partisan appointments, I understand the purpose of a partisan appointment. There are times in Canadian history when the Government of Canada wants to be represented on an issue that matters by someone with the ear of the prime minister directly.
For example, when Canada was on the UN Security Council in 1989-90, Prime Minister Mulroney thought that it was a very important role, and he wanted to make sure that the Canadian permanent ambassador could speak to him directly and not have to go through a foreign minister or any other bureaucracy. He appointed Yves Fortier, a personal friend.
Mr. Fortier had his cellphone number—and we didn't have a lot of cellphones back then. As a result, when Canada was trying to make a difference on that file, which mattered personally to the prime minister, the prime minister had better access than he would have had otherwise.
I am comfortable with partisan appointments like that. I do not believe that any prime minister could have six, seven, eight or nine files that are that important on the international stage at the same time.
As a result, when the number of partisan appointments starts exceeding two, three or four, all I see is a diplomatic core that becomes disillusioned with the fact that the best diplomatic appointments in the country are not available to them. This undermines morale, and it undermines the idea, which I believe in, that generally speaking, an experienced diplomat is much better able to handle a mission and advance Canada's interest than a partisan appointment is.
I am hopeful that at some point, some government of some stripe will make an active effort to limit its diplomatic appointments to one, two or three. The recent trend is not in that direction, but I will retain my hope.
On the deputy minister file, I do personally believe strongly that managing an element of the public service that has to travel and often lives outside of the country requires a different skill set than managing people who spend their careers in Ottawa. There are issues with your spouse, if you have one, and so on.