The Dalt & Don Show

The Dalt outsources his job to Don Drummond:

Some procedures simply won’t be available, such as the arthroscopic knee surgery he wants removed from OHIP lists. (“No value,” he says; it just delays knee replacement for a year.) Fees paid to doctors for cataract surgery and radiology would come down because the time required has been slashed, but not compensation to physicians.

There’d be fewer Caesarean sections and hysterectomies. “The numbers are off the charts in Ontario,” says Drummond. “You’re not going to say to a doctor, please take less money, but that needs to be reflected in the fee schedule.”

For years I've been saying that Medicare will be dismantled in Canada, not through direct and open action but by stealth through the process of delisting. Well, here you go. If a Conservative Health Minister had suggested such cuts, he'd be flayed alive by the Toronto Star. Since a non-partisan, politically moderate economist, working at the behest of a Liberal government made these suggestions, well it's just one of those things.

Dalton McGuinty's great success in political life, at least in the sense of winning two majority and one near majority governments, is due in no small part to his sheer nebbishness. Canada's least threatening politician. He could walk right past you on the street and not be noticed. The second most powerful man in Canada is a non-entity. When he faced a credible competitor, like Mike Harris and even Gerard Kennedy, he either lost or barely scrapped a victory.

This lack of substance, which in theory should be fatal to a major political figure, has worked brilliantly for McGuinty. He's a hard man to hate, because there ain't much there to hate. People could take sheer delight in despising Pierre Trudau, Mike Harris or Brian Mulroney. It would seem positively cruel to direct anywhere near the same level of vitriol at Ontario's  current Premier.

It therefore seems very fitting, with the province's finances looking ever more Greek as the time passes, that rather than man-up and face the crisis square on, the Dalt has decided to bring in a pinch hitter from the private sector. This isn't the first time that a provincial government has asked for expertise from the productive sector of the economy. John Robarts tapped high-level executives for advice in the late 1960s on making the public sector more efficient. This is a wee different.

Certainly the Dalt has made it very, very clear that he will make the final decision. OK. So why make such a fuss about hiring Don Drummond? He even created a secretariat for Drummond with a staff and three other commissioners. This isn't to say that Mr Drummond is not an able man with an excellent reputation both in Ottawa (where he worked for 23 years) and on Bay Street (where he worked for TD Bank). Bright fellow. But there are lots of bright fellows with advanced degrees in economics. More than a few work in the public service of Ontario.

I have a dark suspicion that much of what Don Drummond is recommending has already been suggested by the Mandarins who hover around Queen's Park. Cheap jokes aside, the chaps running the public service aren't foolish or ignorant. They are, however, quite careful about keeping a low profile. High profile public servants run the risk of being viewed as political creatures. That makes their jobs that much harder. So they make the suggestion and let the politicians handle the flack.

Let's say, however, you are an especially spineless politician, with a credibility gap the size of the Canadian Shield. Before you is an epic fiscal crisis. The markets are beginning to regard your promises to balance the books a bit warily. Even the wider electorate thinks you are the lesser of two more bumbling evils. You also don't like taking the blame for things. Entering into office you promised to be kinder and gentler than your predecessors. In government there is nothing more expensive than kindness. Now you need to cut, you need to be cruel to be kind.

Enter Don Drummond, celebrity economist with no obvious partisan or political ties. A high browed, large brained technocrat who loves to read government reports and find "waste." There is, as this blog has often observed, no waste in government as all spending benefits someone. Still, who is going to question a former TD Bank economist, hard nosed chap that he is, about what is and what is not waste? 

Dalton McGuinty has found excellent political cover. It might be his decision, but you see he is just following the advice of a top-flight neutral technocrat, so no malice or political calculation is involved. Just doing what is practical and necessary. The Premier has outsourced his job, which is making tough decision as opposed to signing off on them, while providing himself a perfect scapegoat.

The Dalt is not a highly intelligent man, but he is a very clever one. 

Comments

[nomdeblog]

“so no malice or political calculation is involved"

Except that it makes Dalton a liar. It makes Hudak just as bad because he also knew what was coming down.

Former Bank of Canada David Dodge’s statement last October said both Hudak and McGuinty were lying to the voters by not tabling the necessary cuts coming down in the Drummond Report. They treated the matter as Kim Campbell would have, i.e. too serious to be discussed during an election. They both deserve to go the way of Kim Campbell.

[Publius]

Dalt a liar? Is water wet too?

Now let's say that Tim Hudak had admitted the truth to the electorate, what would have happened? Because of the oil sands boom people in Ontario don't realize just how screwed we really are. Anyone telling the truth is unlikely to win. Certainly the politicians deserve to be blamed for lying, but what about voters willing to swallow lie after lie for years?

[John Chittick]

Honesty in politics and winning elections aren't necessarily mutually exclusive. Certainly, honesty as related to Canadian Medicare would be a non-winner.

This is what it would sound like:

I realize that most of you like Medicare because you think you can beat the odds and get something for nothing but the reality is we have to tax the shit out of you and increasingly ration the system because you don't have the courage to call yourselves your family's death panel and would rather outsource your conscience to the state.

You all over-use the system because all costs are third party covered and you have no skin in the game.

Because we are a monopoly delivery system we have little control over the unionized workforce and every increased dollar into the system gets eaten up in bureaucracy and labour costs. Forget shortening waiting lists. That bad attitude we all enjoy comes from the unions.

Because patients are least costly when they are dead and use of the system eats into how much it can deliver, you are never to be treated as a customer but instead a burden to society and you should feel guilty for everything you cost us.

Now vote for me and I will eliminate this system and force you to pay for your own health care through private insurance or cash or your employer, except for the truly botched and bungled (means-tested) who can apply for vouchers.

How do you like me so far?

[nomdeblog]

“Anyone telling the truth is unlikely to win.”

But Hudak lost anyway.

Had he come out swinging on changes that needed to be made by pre-empting the Drummond report, yes he might have lost. But maybe not, Harris won by laying out what needed to be done.

Even if Hudak had of lost because he told the truth about what needed to happen, he would have established a credible path and could now point to McGuinty and the Drummond Report as being déjà vu Health Care taxes and thus Hudak would have better positioned himself for the next election. As it is, Hudak and McGuinty are what David Dodge said.