Letter to Harper patronage appointees asks them to 'voluntarily' choose 'to not serve'

Then-prime minister Stephen Harper answers a question during question period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Tuesday, June 16, 2015. (Sean Kilpatrick / THE CANADIAN PRESS)

A letter sent out by the government to dozens of people appointed to federal agencies and Crown corporations during the twilight of the previous Conservative administration asks them to consider "voluntarily choosing to not serve," and offers them a chance to participate in the new selection process that would follow.

In the note obtained by CTV News, the Liberal government says that it has made a "commitment" to establish an "open, merit-based appointment system," and asks the recent appointees to step aside.

"I am therefore asking that you consider voluntarily choosing to not serve pursuant to the appointment approved by the previous government.

This will allow for a new selection process in which you are welcome to participate," says the letter.

The note requests that they make their decision before Dec. 18, 2015.

The letters were sent to 33 patronage appointees who were assigned the posts or had prior contracts renewed by the Harper government in the run-up to October's federal election.

The Liberals say that Harper's maneuvers have hamstrung them because there were so many appointments, and many of them are long-lasting.

A number of the contracts extend into and beyond Trudeau's four-year mandate, and some of them weren't set to expire until next year.

Many of the positions also command six-figure salaries, and it could cost the government up to $18.5 million to buy them out should they refuse to step aside.

Among the names on the list of appointees:

• the president of Canada Post, Deepak Chopra;

• director of Via Rail Canada, Stephen J. Mallory; and

• Veterans Ombudsman, Guy Parent.

But on Monday, Conservative Interim Leader Rona Ambrose said the Liberals should review the appointees' qualifications before making any decisions.

"Just because it was a Conservative government doesn't mean these people aren't qualified," she said.

"I think the government should give them the respect to just look at each of them individually and see if they merit the appointment. That's what we did, and they should do the same thing.”

Robin Sears, former national director for the NDP, told CTV's Power Play that the Conservatives’ last-minute appointments were "totally undemocratic" and violated a "democratic principal."

"It is not acceptable in a democracy for a government that clearly knew it was going to be defeated -- or it wouldn’t have done this -- to decide to try and extend its grip on decision making into the future -- you don’t do that," he said.

Edward Goldenberg, Chief of Staff to former Prime Minister Jean Chretien, echoed Sears' comments calling the moves "reprehensible," and added that they likely contributed to the public's "cynicism" about politics.

Traditionally, governments have avoided awarding the positions before their mandate has been renewed.

However, former Liberal Prime Minister John Turner was accused of making dozens of patronage appointments that went into effect before the 1984 election campaign. The controversy over the appointments contributed in part to former Progressive Conservative Prime Minister Brian Mulroney's landslide election victory.

Despite the letter, Goldenberg said the government could still decide to retain some of the appointees.

"Some of them may be very good public servants and some of them the government may decide very well should stay. You have to look at each case individually," he said.

He added that he would be "really surprised" if they asked for compensation.