It is time for Prime Minister Mark Carney to dismiss Christiane Fox before her actions become a stain on his own reputation. The deputy minister at the Department of National Defence broke a key ethics rule, offered a weak defence, and failed to grasp why helping an acquaintance secure a job in her department constitutes a serious problem.
Fox's Ethics Breach
Fox assisted Bjorn Charles, a university acquaintance, in obtaining a position for which he was unqualified while serving as deputy minister at Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada. An investigation by ethics commissioner Konrad von Finckenstein concluded that Fox used her authority to give Charles preferential treatment, including expediting meetings, seeking hiring updates, sharing internal information, and pushing for a higher job classification. The commissioner stated that her interventions aimed to help Charles find new employment, leading to the creation of a position tailored to his needs.
Questionable Defence
Fox claimed she was promoting diversity, noting that Charles is a Black man, and argued that his experience as a gym manager provided valuable customer service skills. However, her department already employed 1,539 Black individuals, representing 12.7 percent of its workforce. Charles ultimately failed in the role, though he remains employed elsewhere in the government. Fox's refusal to acknowledge her mistake compounds the issue, suggesting a lack of accountability.
Carney's Inaction
Carney has built a reputation as a demanding leader with high expectations, yet he has remained silent on the Fox matter. This silence undermines his portrayal of the Liberal Party as Canada's new government, echoing the ethics scandals of former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who was found in violation of ethics rules twice. Trudeau treated ethics violations like unpaid parking tickets, and Carney risks following the same path if he fails to set a better example.
Fox's conduct and her unwillingness to learn from her error indicate that she is not the star Carney believed when he appointed her to the defence role last December. To protect his reformist image, Carney must act decisively and fire Fox.
