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Vicki Harnish has called their bluff |
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Written by Al Hollingsworth
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Thursday, 26 March 2009 |
Nova Scotians will soon learn whether the members of the Standing Committee on Economic Development are full of beans or bluster. When deputy minister of Finance Vicki Harnish chose to ape the Speak No Evil monkey during her subpoenaed appearance before the committee, she not only frustrated the members, she basically called their bluff.
New Democrat member Graham Steele believes she was instructed to remain mute.
Her display frustrated the committee to the point that they are seeking legal advice to determine if she was in contempt. When they receive and review the opinion we will then be able to determine if their bravado is for real. Or will they, as so many before them have done, let the deputy minister rule the day.
Facing the media after her appearance, she offered this; “I ‘m amazed at the political foolishness, to tell the truth. And I am exhausted, and I suspect no other comment is in my best interest right now.” No kidding, Holmes!
When Harnish laughed at a reporter’s legitimate question and walked away from the scrum, it simply cemented the belief that I have always held: most deputies think they are the government and pay little if any heed to their elected bosses.
The irony in this exercise is, if the NDP wins the next election, Graham Steele will be the finance minister and Vicki Harnish’s boss. She might want to think about early retirement. Rhodes Scholar Steele is nobody’s fool and is not easily sidetracked by the bull and baffle of bureaucrats.
There is a school of thought that believes she should not have been brought before the committee in the first place. Her political master, in this case Jamie Muir, should have been on the hot seat. I tend to agree.
However, she was subpoenaed and did appear.
It is our tax dollars she deals with. Those tax dollars pay her salary and her expenses, and we are entitled to know the state of our finances. She is duty bound to be forthright, not skate around legitimate questions.
Steele put it this way; “I am not asking you what is in the minister’s head, I would expect you to tell me, through me to the people of Nova Scotia, the facts that are within your knowledge.” Exactly.
Can any thinking individual dispute that? I hope not because I don’t like to think what kind of a state they would rule.
By failing to answer legitimate questions, she deserves everything she gets. The only question remaining is if the committee members have the intestinal fortitude to press on.
(Al Hollingsworth is a retired journalist and broadcaster)
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