Micromanagement run amok

The Cons have rightly been receiving almost nothing but bad press this week for a particularly egregious combination of bad government and bad politics. But Tony Clement may have managed to beat out Harper, O'Connor, Baird and all the rest in both departments...albeit with much less fanfare:

Health Minister Tony Clement was put in a tight spot yesterday at a children's health summit in Ottawa where he was a keynote speaker.

After his speech, Mr. Clement declined an invitation to sign a document called "Canada's Child Health Declaration."

Fielding questions from reporters afterwards, Mr. Clement said it was his job to collect feedback and take it from there.

"I'm the messenger. So I get to take the declaration and, of course, present it to the prime minister," he said.

The declaration, three paragraphs long, states that children's health must be a national priority.

"While Canada offers outstanding opportunities for growth and development, children in Canada face many health challenges that threaten their ability to reach their full potential. Addressing those challenges and ensuring that the children of Canada have the best possible health must be a national priority," says the declaration.

"As Child Health Champions, we share a vision that all children in Canada have access to a safe and secure environment; opportunities for optimal health and development; and access to a full range of health services and resources," it continues.

"We, the undersigned, are committed to working together to realize this vision, so that the children of Canada will be among the healthiest children in the world."

It's hard to imagine a more innocuous or easily-supported declaration. But Clement's response seems to indicate that there's a need to "collect feedback" before the government could possibly consider signing on. Which would seem to reflect an assumption on Clement's part that there's an anti-healthy-children lobby which needs to have its voice heard as well.

Of course, the complete refusal to make a decision as a government representative can be taken as simply an abundance of caution on Clement's part. But on that level, Clement's action hints at the deeper problems within the Cons' internal structure, suggesting that Harper's micromanagement has reached the point where a cabinet minister can't so much as sign a non-controversial and non-binding declaration without getting a go-ahead from the PMO. And if PMS really can't stand to allow anything to happen within his organization without personal approval, then it's long past time to return him to the type of entity where that's at least reasonably possible.