Older Government = More Leaks

| Ian Hanna

It’s one of the inevitable truths in politics. The older an administration, the more confident they get in their abilities and skills. More often than not, that confidence is unwarranted.

Length of service in any government narrows perceptions, changes attitudes and reinforces the belief there is a single way of doing business—the way we have been doing things so far. This was all explored fully by the organizational theorist Karl E. Weick. Old governments are overconfident in the inadequacy of current practices. Opposing points of view and expert advice are no longer accepted.

The bureaucracy and even the general public responds with the tool it has available: leaks. We saw it a lot on the last session of the Saskatchewan Legislature: leaks about weapons in hospitals. Leaks about closures and short staffing. Leaks about SaskPower’s costing of extending coal powered electrical generation.

The same thing happened in Saskatchewan during the lead-up to the 2007 provincial general election. The political climate changed. People became less tolerant of government mistakes and incompetence.

Back in those days, the leaks came in brown envelopes.

Now there are secure drops and websites that assure the anonymity of the sender.

Today, the Saskatchewan NDP launched just such a site: openthebooks.ca

This is where the public can provide tips, attach documents and reqeust call backs from MLAs.

All information provided to the site is kept confidential, and is only released publicly with the approval of the sender.

This is what happens when the normal transmission lines of democratic discourse break down. This is what happens when governments use their authority to shut down questions in the Assembly and in Committee.

People find a way.

Ya, he’s cooked.

| Ian Hanna

The results from local elections weren’t as bad as the worst case scenario. So 24 hours of talk about how Keir Starmer might hang on. But now, his own cabinet ministers don’t want this anchor around their necks. Now, it’s only a matter of time.