MUSICAL CHAIRS — The Friday press release sounds harmless enough: "The prime minister announces changes in the senior ranks of the public service."
When the PMO hit publish on that afternoon missive in the middle of summer, much of the country was distracted by a lack of internet. But these weren't tiny tweaks. Mostly, this kind of shuffle goes unnoticed. But it shouldn't. Here's what changed Friday after three major retirements prompted a rejigging of the upper ranks. — The still-rising star: The new deputy minister for immigration, refugees and citizenship (IRCC) is CHRISTIANE FOX. Her last assignment, which dates to 2020, was Indigenous services DM. Before that, she served the same role at intergovernmental affairs for three years. These aren't easy assignments. Before her run as department head, Fox served the first Trudeau Cabinet in the Privy Council Office as assistant secretary for communications and consultations. — Family ties: Fox comes from political stock. She's the sister of Navigator managing principal GRAHAM FOX, the former president of the Institute for Research on Public Policy and one-time chief of staff to then-PC leader JOE CLARK. Fox's dad is journalist-turned-Mulroney aide BILL FOX, who recently made waves in town with a new book on "seismic shifts in political media and technology." — Idle speculation: One veteran of public service moving and shaking mused that the current PCO clerk, JANICE CHARETTE, could be grooming the widely respected Fox as a future replacement. — A new top spook: As SHELLY BRUCE retires as chief of the Communications Security Establishment, Charette is slotting in CAROLINE XAVIER as replacement as of Aug. 31. Xavier's first gig as a senior public servant, back in 2004, was in infrastructure and operational services at CSE. She also spent a decade at CBSA, and then three years as assistant secretary to the Cabinet for security and intelligence. She's spent the pandemic toiling as an associate deputy minister at Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship. — What Charette might be plotting: The same vet of Wellington Street advancement mused that the clerk might see a future national security advisor in Xavier. — The top bureaucrat at Indigenous Services: That's now GINA WILSON, a public servant since 1996 who won the 2020 Indspire Award "for her leadership and her life-long work on Indigenous issues and supporting Indigenous employees." Wilson, an Algonquin woman who hails from the First Nation community of Kitigan-Zibi, leaves her post as Women and Gender Equality DM. She has worked several stints at various precursors to Indigenous Services. — Flashback: Back in 2019, JODY WILSON-RAYBOULD was said to have rejected the Indigenous Services post in Cabinet. At the time, MARY ELLEN TURPEL-LAFOND, director of the University of British Columbia's Indian Residential School History and Dialogue Centre, called the job offer "deeply humiliating" to JWR — who would be put in the position of administering an Indian Act most observers agree was founded in racism. HAYDEN KING, the executive director of the Yellowhead Institute, concluded the PMO came off as arrogant . For her part, Wilson appears to have no qualms heading up the department. — Transitional post: BENOÎT LONG is set to exit his post as chief transformation officer at Service Canada for a PCO role as a “senior official.” Translation: He's in between jobs, tasked with a special project or headed for the public service's exit sign. On LinkedIn, Long said: "I will miss ESDC and Service Canada but look forward to my next journey at Privy Council Office!" — Other moves: ERIN O’GORMAN will leave her post as associate secretary of the Treasury Board for a new job as president of the CBSA. FRANCES MCRAE is moving on from serving as the RCMP’s chief administrative officer and will start a new job as DM of Women and Gender Equality and Youth. Read the full list here. — Food for thought: In her 1989 book "Ottawa Inside Out," STEVIE CAMERON quotes former PCO clerk GORDON OSBALDESTON framing the various paths trod by mandarins who wield influence in the capital. "Some people go to Ottawa looking for power; some go and it almost descends on them. They acquire it because of a sense of mission."
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