HEIMPEL: Mr. David Johnston, it is time to go

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Your report came with a bang.

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According to Angus Reid, those who believe you were the wrong choice to lead the government’s foreign meddling efforts are twice as big as those who believe you were the right choice.

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You spent almost five minutes detailing the circumstances of your Tremblant acquaintanceship with the Trudeau family in your press conference last week.

And yet you failed to mention that you were both regular table companions, as the Prime Minister did in a 2010 radio interview.

It has since been revealed that in your review, your lead attorney has donated about $7,000 to the Liberals over the last few years. The legal opinion you obtained regarding your own conflict of interest, based on your personal past with Justin Trudeau and your involvement with the Trudeau Foundation, was prepared by a Supreme Court Justice who was a mentor to the Trudeau Foundation.

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And now that Jagmeet Singh is moving to specifically tell you that the House of Commons has no confidence in you, one piece of advice remains for you, our most respected Canadian.

Go.

For the love of God, man, go.

There is no service you can render, there is no explanation you can give to save the utter mess you are in. You can, I think, rightly argue that you were doomed. Their mandate was too narrow. You have been entrusted with a task better reserved for someone with actual investigative experience. You were appointed to replace the Prime Minister’s judgement.

However, and I say this without ill will, you also played a role in this major handicap. You who have defended Canadian institutions so well in your writings and speeches should have known better than to besmirch your last and highest office by dragging it through partisan dung. It’s fair to say that you represented the crown better than most. Getting involved in the blood sport of politics like you has done both the Crown and the country a disservice. It will be largely thanks to your role here that Parliament should rightly seize the next opportunity to restrict the activities of future governors-general after the regency.

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Trying to move on, especially if the House of Commons votes against you, would be intolerable. You can see that for sure.

The man who wrote your book would certainly have no problem seeing it.

Go.

Retire in the way that suits you best.

For the first time in your long career, the country has examined your service and found it to be flawed in almost every way.

Go.

Let the politicians deal with the mess they’ve made.

Go.

Don’t let your time as governor-general offer further protection from the responsibility of those whose actions have failed their country.

Go.

Because you should never have been asked and you shouldn’t have agreed in the first place. Because Parliament would be right to sack you.

Go. And no more.

– Mitch Heimpel has led parliamentary affairs for Conservative parties on Parliament Hill and Queen’s Park and is Director of Campaigns and Government Relations at Enterprise Canada.

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