{"id":78914,"date":"2024-04-11T03:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-04-11T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thehub.ca\/?p=78914"},"modified":"2024-04-11T07:05:27","modified_gmt":"2024-04-11T11:05:27","slug":"ian-brodie-on-justin-trudeaus-foreign-interference-testimony","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thehub.ca\/2024-04-11\/ian-brodie-on-justin-trudeaus-foreign-interference-testimony\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Nothing lifts the burden of accountability from the PM’: Ian Brodie on Justin Trudeau’s foreign interference testimony"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
Justin Trudeau provided testimony on Wednesday to the Foreign Interference Commission as part of the national public inquiry into foreign interference in Canada’s elections. Parts of his testimony concerned if and to what extent he had been briefed on matters related to the meddling. <\/em>The Hub\u2019s editor-at-large Sean Speer exchanged with Ian Brodie, the former chief of staff to Prime Minister Stephen Harper, to get an insider\u2019s perspective on the ins and outs of briefing a prime minister. You can find more of Brodie’s commentary and other writings at his Substack here.<\/a> <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n SEAN SPEER:<\/strong> As a general rule, the prime minister seems to have suggested that he doesn’t rely on written briefs. He and his office instead typically use oral briefings including for (but not limited to) intelligence and national security matters. My experience with Prime Minister Harper is that he received approximately ten written briefing notes from PMO staff and the Privy Council Office each day. Is that consistent with your own experience, and if so, what do you think is lost by minimizing the use of written briefs?<\/p>\n\n\n\n IAN BRODIE:<\/strong> It’s true, different prime ministers get their briefings in different ways. Mr. Trump responded to “killer graphics” as his CIA director said. In 2006, civil servants had to get used to Mr. Harper reading a lot of long, detailed written notes. Mr. Chretien liked short notes, to the point. Mr. Harper liked more background material. He got so many notes about the 2007 equalization reform, they filled an entire drawer of a filing cabinet! I really looked forward to days when we only got ten briefing notes from PCO.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Written notes had a big advantage. Mr. Harper initialized every note that he read. We knew the date he received every note and the date he returned it for filing. There was never any doubt about what he’d been briefed and when it had been briefed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Oral briefings are fine, but you need a notetaker to record what was said. With really critical information, I prefer to have a paper trail. Plus, if the PM reads the preliminary material ahead of time, the briefing is more productive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n