Saturday, December 30, 2006
Kingsley had all the power. He ran.
What many seem to be missing about Jean-Pierre Kingsley's resignation is that, in any dispute between himself and the prime minister, it's Kingsley that holds all the cards, not the other way around. Kingsley is an independent officer of Parliament. The prime minister has no power to dismiss him or demand his resignation. Kingsley serves at the pleasure of Parliament, not the prime minister. In other words, he's a pretty powerful guy who has the means to make life difficult for Harper, and Harper can't do a thing about it.
That's why I find it a bit strange that so many are focusing on Harper's role in the resignation when, in fact, they probably should be asking why Kingsley chose to abandon all his powers in order to run off into the sunset.
Kingsley had all the formal levers of power in this apparent showdown. Why aren't people asking about his motivations for leaving so abruptly? Why aren't people asking why he chose to abandon his duties when the law says he had no obligation to do so?
Why did Kingsely willingly choose to run?
