Canada's former top bureaucrat says price of public life 'going up'

The country's former Clerk of the Privy Council says the last several years have shown that the price of entering into the political ring is 'going up.'

Michael Wernick, who made headlines during the SNC-Lavalin controversy in part for explosive testimony about the vile state of political discourse in Canada, said that while he is no longer privy to internal threats against politicians, public discourse suggests it’s only gotten worse.

“It’s not unique to Canada, it’s happened in the U.K., Germany and France – it’s simply a feature of modern politics. The question is not whether we have that virus of polarization, it’s do we have the antibodies to do something about it,” he said during an interview on CTV News Channel’s Power Play on Tuesday.

“As we continue to have elections, we’ve had eight in the last 21 years, I would be worried that it’s going to be harder to attract good people to come and serve the country.”

Wernick has penned a new book titled Governing Canada: A Guide to the Tradecraft of Politics, a guidebook for cabinet ministers and prime ministers.