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/ Canadian Government Executive
// May 2016
Jonathan
Craft
Partisan Advisers and
the Politics of Policy Work
P
eople caught a glimpse of the
work of partisan advisers in
ministerial offices in 2013 when
an email sent from the PMO to
ministers’ offices was leaked. The email
requested that political staff prepare a
transition binder in advance of an im-
pending cabinet shuffle. This was hardly a
new practice—it is a common instrument
to help orient new ministers to their new
departments and files. It was the tone
and nature of the requests that surprised
many. Binders were to include “sword”
and “shield” issues: a list of weapons min-
isters could use to promote the govern-
ment agenda or attack opponents. Also
included in the kit were tools to deflect
criticisms and defend the government.
Not least in the package was a list of de-
partment-specific policy “to do” lists. The
full checklist included:
Policy
in Canada
It was items 5,6 and 9 that were strik-
ing. The alerts to ministers on who their
friends and enemies were, in a policy and
political sense, were frank. The list re-
vealed the adversarial nature and tensions
inherent in the political-administrative
nexus. It showed that ministers should
guard not only against stakeholders—the
paid and unpaid advocates and lobbyists
from various organizations and policy sec-
tors outside of government—but also the
public service who could potentially be
“enemies” of the government with particu-
lar policy preferences or “pet projects” of
their own.
The memo also shed light on the extend-
ed range of functions performed by the
policy advisers who work in the PMO or in
ministerial offices. Debate on the purpose
and utility of Canadian federal ministerial
“exempt” staff has endured for forty years
with some calling for a reduced role for ad-
visers while others suggest more capacity
is needed.
My research in this field shows that, in
most instances, partisan advisers are now
active policy workers. We thus need more
complete categorizing of how partisan ad-
visers, as components of the political arm
of government, engage in policy work and
of what impact that work has. I argue that
advisers perform four principles policy
functions serving as buffers, bridges, mov-
ers, and shapers
I interviewed ministers, their partisan
1.
What to say at Question
Period
2.
What to expect soon,
hot issues, legal actions,
complaints.
3.
What to expect later,
longer-term forecast.
4.
What to do, status of mandate
items, off-mandate items.
5.
What to avoid: pet
bureaucratic projects.
6.
Who to avoid: bureaucrats
that can’t take no (or yes)
for an answer
7.
What to attend: upcoming
events, meetings and
Federal/Provincial/Territorial
meetings.
8.
Who to appoint: outstanding
Governor in Council
[appointments] and hot
prospects.
9.
Who to engage or avoid:
friend and enemy
stakeholders
10.
Private Members Bills –
lines and Caucus packages