Fantino in/out of VAC: changes in DM/other staff (merged)

[Rifleman62]

Rather than start a new thread:

http://winnipeg.ctvnews.ca/departure-of-top-staffer-marks-shake-up-underway-at-veterans-affairs-1.2101084

Departure of top staffer marks shake-up underway at Veterans Affairs

The Canadian Press
Published Thursday, November 13, 2014 3:47PM CST


OTTAWA - Veterans Affairs Minister Julian Fantino is losing a key staff member in yet another sign that a major shake-up is underway in the politically troubled portfolio.

Jacques Fauteux, Fantino's chief of staff and top adviser, revealed today that he is leaving, effective immediately.

His departure comes just days after retired general Walt Natynczyk, the country's former top military commander, took over as deputy minister, the department's top civil servant.

Natynczyk's appointment, announced by the prime minister at the end of October, was seen as a move by the Conservatives to get a handle on a file that has caused the government a lot of grief.

Angry veterans promised again this week to campaign against the Conservatives in next year's election, citing grievances about benefits and the closure of Veterans Affairs offices.

Fantino was involved in a testy exchange with ex-soldiers on Parliament Hill last winter and also walked away from an angry military wife last spring -- two televised incidents that made him appear less than sympathetic to the plight of the wounded and their families.

 

[PPCLI Guy]

Hmmm.  Chief of Staff is a political position.  This may have as much to do with Fantino's fading star as anything else.

 

[Monsoon]

Hmmm.  Chief of Staff is a political position.  This may have as much to do with Fantino's fading star as anything else.

Nah, no connection. Political staffers tend to move out in the year leading up to an election as more stable job prospects present themselves.

 

[Pieman]

How much power within the VA system does this position really give him? if he has no authority to change certain things then his hands are tied anyway, and there definitely will be no change.

 

[PPCLI Guy]

How much power within the VA system does this position really give him? if he has no authority to change certain things then his hands are tied anyway, and there definitely will be no change.

The Department is run by the DM on behalf of the Minister.  The DM exercises the financial authorities. accountabilities and responsibilities associated with the Department on behalf of the Minister.  Everyone in the Department (except the Minister's political staff) works for the DM.  In short, everything that does not require Cabinet approval will be directed by the DM.  He can have an enormous influence on how the Department functions, on its culture, etc. Can he direct that the New Veterans Charter be changed?  No.  Is he responsible for developing policy for the Minister's and ultimately Cabinet's approval?  Yes.

I would suggest that he can change many things within the Department.

 

[Pieman]

I would suggest that he can change many things within the Department.

Then I expect nothing less than a few heads on a pike outside the front entrance to the VA main office.

 

[Gunner98]

I have been reserving comment but following the previous posts in this thread.  Now that the bungle of the $200 million influx over 50 years for mental health care, who (still) feels that the Deputy Minister:

1) is taking down names;
2) is carving pike or spikes;
3) is he finding that the fire is hotter than expected;
4) may not have known what he was getting into;
5) is responsible for the bungle (inferred from PPCLI Guy's influence submission below);
6) will find a way to sort out the bungle and save face with veterans; or
7) will suddenly move to a different department, the third desk in 2 years. 

 

[Scoobie Newbie]

1) who's names and to what end
2)
3) most likely
4) not to this extent
5) I think PPCLI Guy said he would have positive guidance
6) the reason for his posting there was/is a smoke screen
7) not if he has anything to say about it

 

[Kat Stevens]

My inner cynic tells me this was an appeasement appointment.  Old bitter soldiers are more willing to take a big bite of the shit sandwich sans gravy if it's served up by one of our own. Same shit, different bread.

 

[Scoobie Newbie]

I'm not sure that's the case anymore. Esp with the Afg vets. They simply have no fucks to give

 

[The Bread Guy]

7) not if he has anything to say about it

In the end, not up to him.

He's a good man, so I hope for the best - within the lanes he's allowed to work within.

 

[Scoobie Newbie]

Oh yeah I get that

 

[Bruce Monkhouse]

I'm not sure that's the case anymore. Esp with the Afg vets. They simply have no fucks to give

Not even close...............a very loud vocal minority make it seem that way.

 

[Scoobie Newbie]

Well I don't care who they have in his position or what his background is. They all read from the same sheet of music provided by the PMO

 

[The Bread Guy]

Bumped with the latest from the Globe....

Veterans Affairs Minister Julian Fantino is being told to resign by opposition MPs who accuse him of deliberately lying to Canadians about the scope of the Conservative government’s investment in the mental health of former military men and women.

Mr. Fantino returned to the House of Commons on Monday after an official trip to Italy to face questions about an announced $200-million for mental-health initiatives that Veterans Affairs documents said would be spread over six years. Staff in his office later told The Globe and Mail that $140.1-million of the money will be spread over the duration of a program for operational stress injuries. And that, they said, could take 50 years ....

.... Hill Times (subscription needed) ....

Veterans Affairs Minister Julian Fantino has spent a total of $53,588 travelling abroad to attend commemorations at cemeteries or war monuments, from Korea through Europe, since Prime Minister Stephen Harper named him to his post last year, departmental records and Mr. Fantino’s ministerial public expense postings show.

The amount Mr. Fantino (Vaughan, Ont.) spent on the nine trips he has taken abroad from July 2013 to September 2014 dwarfs the $7,772 he spent travelling within Canada to attend meetings with Veterans Affairs Canada officials or to take part in events such as a one-day summit on homeless veterans the Canadian Legion held in Toronto ....

.... and the Ottawa Citizen:

When Julian Fantino was elected to Parliament in November 2010, he was seen as a star. A former Toronto police chief and Ontario Provincial Police commissioner, the hard-nosed cop had the credentials to shine in a Conservative government that billed itself as tough on crime.

Four years later, the view is very different.

When Auditor General Michael Ferguson released an explosive report detailing the hurdles many veterans still face trying to access mental health services, Fantino was an ocean away in Italy. His office defended the trip, which marked the 70th anniversary of the Second World War’s Italian campaign. But some questioned whether Fantino was running from the auditor’s findings. Or worse, whether Prime Minister Stephen Harper had decided to keep him out of sight ....

.... and word of a change of face on the Minister's staff:

An aide to Prime Minister Stephen Harper has taken over as chief of staff to embattled Veterans Affairs Minister Julian Fantino as opposition MPs call for his resignation.

Stephen Lecce, the director of media relations for Harper, will now also serve as interim top aide to Fantino as the Conservative government struggles to get a grip on a file that has turned into a political nightmare.

The staff shuffle comes just weeks after Walt Natynczyk, a retired top general who headed the Canadian Armed Forces, was named deputy minister of Veterans Affairs after a short stint heading the Canadian Space Agency.

The twin moves are seen as an attempt by the Conservatives to turn around a struggling department that has angered veterans and dragged down the government politically.

In the Commons Monday, the New Democrats and Liberals pressed Fantino to resign over criticism the department is failing veterans in need ....

 

[ModlrMike]

Lest no one be mistaken, there's no party in the house that has veteran's best interests in mind. All this noise is pure politics with little regard for those it affects in the end.

 

[Scoobie Newbie]

THANK YOU!

 

[PuckChaser]

Lest no one be mistaken, there's no party in the house that has veteran's best interests in mind. All this noise is pure politics with little regard for those it affects in the end.

Absolutely agree, great post.

 

[OldSolduer]

Lest no one be mistaken, there's no party in the house that has veteran's best interests in mind. All this noise is pure politics with little regard for those it affects in the end.

I think you are correct, although its a sad state of affairs when you send people to fight our enemies, then fail to support them in their times of need.

 

[The Bread Guy]

The latest:  the PM stands by his man ....

Prime Minister Stephen Harper came to the defence of his embattled veterans affairs minister Tuesday as calls continued for Julian Fantino to resign and for the government to apologize for misleading veterans.

The decision to make a senior member of Harper’s media team Fantino’s new chief of staff makes it clear the minister has lost control of the veterans file, Opposition Leader Tom Mulcair declared during question period.

“The prime minister doesn’t trust the minister to manage his own office, he puts in one of his own henchmen but he lets him take care of thousands of veterans,” Mulcair said.

“Since the prime minister clearly no longer trusts his minister, what is he waiting for to throw him out?”

The move wasn’t a big deal, Harper retorted, saying all ministers have chiefs of staff.

“I gather even the leader of the NDP has a chief of staff, obviously watching over the slow descent of that particular party,” he deadpanned, to the delight of the Tory caucus ....