Michael Wernick
Michael Wernick | |
|---|---|
| Clerk of the Privy Council and Secretary to the Cabinet | |
| Assumed office January 22, 2016 | |
| Prime Minister | Justin Trudeau |
| Preceded by | Janice Charette |
| Deputy Clerk of the Privy Council and Associate Secretary to the Cabinet | |
| In office October 6, 2014 – January 21, 2016 | |
| Preceded by | Janice Charette[1] |
| Succeeded by | Serge Dupont |
| Deputy Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development | |
| In office May 5, 2006[2] – July 11, 2014 | |
| Minister | Jim Prentice Chuck Strahl John Duncan James Moore Bernard Valcourt |
| Succeeded by | Colleen Swords |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Michael Wernick 1957 (age 66–67) |
| Alma mater | University of Toronto |
Michael Wernick (born September 1957)[2] is a Canadian public servant and currently the Clerk of the Privy Council of Canada. Wernick was previously the deputy minister for the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development from May 2006 to July 11, 2014.[3] Before being the clerk for the Privy Council office, Wernick was the deputy clerk under predecessor Janice Charette.[4] He has held several other positions in the Privy Council office and as Associate Deputy Minister for the Department of Canadian Heritage.[2]
On October 1, 2014 the Public Policy Forum held a reception to recognize Wernick's eight year tenure at Aboriginal and Northern Affairs. (Link to PPF web page needed)
As Clerk of the Privy Council he is a member of the Advisory Council to the Order of Canada
Personal life
Born in Montreal, Quebec, Wernick attended Nelson High School in Burlington, Ontario, graduating in 1975. Wernick graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in 1979 and a Master of Arts in economics in 1980 from the University of Toronto. He is a member of the board of governors for Carleton University in Ottawa.[5] He is a recipient of the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal. On leaving Aboriginal and Northern Affairs he was presented with an eagle feather and a medicine pouch.
Controversy
Wernick was criticized for his comments made in an email among Carleton University board of Governors members regarding a university student tuition protest that disrupted and prevented the March 30, 2015 meeting of the Board from continuing. In the email exhange Wernick deplored the tactics as authoritarian, similar to those used by brown shirts and Maoists to intimidate their political opponents by disrupting gatherings. This was reported in social media as labelling the protesting students as Nazis.[6] The New Democratic Party called for Wernick to apologize for the comments, and the school's graduate student association called for Wernick to resign.[7] Wernick was later elected to serve as Vice Chair of the Board of Governors for the 2016-17 term and the Board of Governors defeated a motion tabled in September 2016 to revisit the controversy.
References
- ^ Fekete, Jason; May, Kathryn. "Janice Charette faces challenges as new Clerk of Privy Council". Ottawa Citizen. Retrieved 7 April 2016.
- ^ a b c "Archived - Prime Minister announces changes in the senior ranks of the Public Service". News Release - Office of the Prime Minister. Government of Canada. Retrieved 7 April 2016.
- ^ Tasker, John Paul (20 January 2016). "Trudeau names Michael Wernick new Clerk of the Privy Council". CBC News Politics. CBC News. Retrieved 6 April 2016.
- ^ "Trudeau names Michael Wernick as new clerk of Privy Council". The Globe and Mail. The Canadian Press via the Globe and Mail. Retrieved 6 April 2016.
- ^ "Michael Wernick - Board of Governors". Carleton.ca. Carleton University. Retrieved 6 April 2016.
- ^ "Canada's new Head of the Public Service compared students protesting tuition fees to Nazis". Press Progress. Broadbent Institute. Retrieved 7 April 2016.
- ^ Lum, Zi-Ann. "Trudeau Grilled Over Top Bureaucrat's Remarks About Students, Nazis". The Huffington Post. Retrieved 7 April 2016.