The heart of the problem is that the tendency is towards a political system in which all decisions, be they legislative or executive, are made by a very limited number of individuals. Certain realities must be recognized. The Prime Minister of Canada appoints each and every member of its Cabinet. These individuals therefore owe their limousine, if you want to call it that, to this individual. They owe a certain gratitude to the person who appointed them. That has always been the way.
What distinguishes the Canadian system from others is that the Prime Minister or his office also appoints all of the deputy ministers. These individuals who manage the public service are they too grateful to the Prime Minister for the advantages that go along with their position. That in itself lends itself to a politicization of the public service, which I believe is a bad thing. There should at least be a better system for appointing deputy ministers than that of purely political appointments, done in secret, without any public competition whatsoever. In my report, I mention that the province of Alberta, that does not have the reputation of being a very liberal province, instituted a system of public and open competitions to fill these types of positions. The system works very well, and in a very conservative province.