Chief of Staff to Prime Minister Stephen Harper (2006 to 2008)

Prime Minister Stephen Harper with his former chief of staff Ian Brodie.
Deb Ransom/PMO

What surprised you the most about your time in government?

I was surprised by the tremendous power of the federal government, even in a minority Parliament. In my career as a political scientist, I heard a lot of arguments about how globalization is weakening governments around the world. That is a lot of nonsense.

What are you most proud of in terms of your contributions there?

One of the first issues we faced in government was filling a vacancy on the Supreme Court. The Prime Minister wanted to have a committee of MPs question the prospective judge in public before the appointment was made. The Canadian Bar Association was very critical of the Prime Minister's proposal, but I had been thinking through this issue since I was an undergrad at McGill and knew it was an important reform. In the end, the Prime Minister took advice from the public service and his political staff and decided how to proceed. The reform was a great success.

What issue/situation do you wish you could have had another crack at?

I wish I had spent less time sweating the small stuff. If I had spent less time in the office and more time with my family, I would have been a better chief of staff.

Who is your political hero?

Sir John A. Macdonald and John Diefenbaker were both great political leaders. Sir Robert Borden is an underappreciated prime minister. When we took over, we put his bust outside the Cabinet Room in Centre Block.

What do you admire the most about the Prime Minister you worked with?

Stephen Harper is a great unifier. He united the Canadian Alliance after it had splintered in pieces, and then brought together the Alliance and the Progressive Conservative Party. As prime minister, he's worked with Liberals like John Manley (on Afghanistan) and Michael Kirby (on mental health). He's united the country more than anyone else in my lifetime.

What do you say to people who are cynical about politicians and their motivations?

Everyone should be skeptical about politicians and their motivations—I certainly am! But cynicism is the lazy person's way out. Democratic politics can be crude, but it's the least-bad way to run a country.

What is your favourite movie/TV show about politics? What's the worst?

CBC once had a show called Snakes and Ladders about a young staffer on Parliament Hill. Each week, she spent almost the entire show trying to figure out what was really going on behind all the posturing on the Hill. I found that very realistic. I didn't enjoy Dave, the Kevin Kline movie. It pretended that if only you could put an honest man in the White House then everything else would be fine. I hope someday someone makes a movie of Tom Clancy's book Executive Orders. It has a better story of how the virtuous man works out as president.

What current issue do you think politicians should spend more time focusing on?

Reforming the Senate, one way or the other. The Prime Minister has some interesting legislation before Parliament to elect senators, but none of the opposition parties are even willing to consider the possibility. That's a shame, because Canadians should have an effective Senate, and it will never be effective until it's elected.

Did your time at McGill prepare you in any way for life in government?

Yes, in two important ways. Professor James Mallory's lessons about parliamentary democracy and minority government were great preparations for the "real world" of minority government. And Professor Christopher Manfredi's lessons on the power of the courts and judicial appointments were constantly helpful.

Ian Brodie recently left the Prime Minister's Office and looks forward to "enjoying politics from the bleachers." He is an associate professor of political science at the University of Western Ontario (currently on leave) and the author of Friends of the Court: The Privileging of Interest Group Litigants in Canada.