Clerk of the Privy Council Michael Wernick is retiring after 38 years of public service. He will replaced by the current Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Ian Shugart. #cdnpoli
Of course, he will be known to the wider general public for recent role in the SNC-Lavalin affair. JWR said she felt like a conversation with him in Dec. 2018, on a DPA, was akin to the Watergate-era "Saturday Night Massacre." He has denied undue pressure. cbc.ca/news/politics/…
He's our first writethru on the story from @cattunneycbc — Michael Wernick retiring as clerk of the Privy Council. CBC.ca/1.5060834 #cdnpoli
In letter to the PM, Wernicks says: "Recent events have led me to conclude that I cannot serve as Clerk of the Privy Council and Secretary to Cabinet during the upcoming election campaign. Therefore, I will be taking steps to retire from the public service well before the writ."
"One of the key roles of Privy Council Office is to be ready to assist whichever government Canadians elect in October ... it is now apparent that there is no path for me to have a relationship of mutual trust & respect with the leaders of the Opposition parties," Wernick says.
"Furthermore, it is essential that during the writ period the Clerk be seen by all political parties as an impartial arbiter of whether serious foreign interference has occurred," Wernick says.
"The timing of my retirement is something we should discuss, as your Government will have a busy Cabinet agenda until the end of the Parliamentary session, and you will want to seek advice on how best to address succession," Wernick says.
"I will have more to say later, but I would be remiss if I did not use this letter to thank you for the confidence you have placed in me over the past three years & the opportunity for extraordinary personal & professional experiences in the service of my country," Wernick says.
PM scrums quickly before #QP on Wernick. "He will be missed but we look forward to working with (inaudible)." (I think he said the new clerk's name, Ian Shugart.)
PMO says Trudeau did *not* ask for Wernick's resignation but rather says it was the clerk's idea. (As the letter pretty clear indicates, he simply couldn't work with a possible Cons/NDP PM after the fractious relationship he's had with opposition amid SNC-Lavalin affair.)
PM announces former Liberal deputy minister and attorney general Anne McLellan will examine the bifurcation of the justice/AG roles & "provide independent recommendations to us." #cdnpoli
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