Le Devoir‘s Alec Castonguay has led on the Rights and Democracy story from the start, and he’s still at it. (If you’re new to the story, just order out for food and hit the “Rights and Democracy” tag under this blog post for a good six or eight hours’ reading.) Alec reports that Lawrence Cannon, the foreign minister, has dispatched an associate deputy minister to figure out what’s going on at the benighted Montreal GONGO.
Le Devoir‘s Alec Castonguay has led on the Rights and Democracy story from the start, and he’s still at it. (If you’re new to the story, just order out for food and hit the “Rights and Democracy” tag under this blog post for a good six or eight hours’ reading.) Alec reports that Lawrence Cannon, the foreign minister, has dispatched an associate deputy minister to figure out what’s going on at the benighted Montreal GONGO.
Now, here’s the curious thing. The ADM in question is Gérald Cossette, whom I don’t know but who seems to be highly regarded at Fort Pearson and who has been tested under fire. He was in charge of passports when U.S. security worries led to a policy change that produced the largest ever surge in demand for Canadian passports. So he seems a serious fellow. But what strikes me as odd is that Cossette has also been co-chairing twice-daily meetings of a whole-of-government Haiti Crisis Team since the earthquake there. (The link takes you to a generally excellent overview of government response to the Haiti crisis, from Jeff Davis at Embassy. OK, OK, near Embassy at the Hill Times. )
It’s said that if you want something done, you should assign it to a busy man. Cossette certainly seems to fit that description. He’ll be reporting to the minister, which means the rest of us may or may not ever learn what he finds at Rights and Democracy.