1. Michael Wernick was born on September 1957 and is a Canadian retired public servant who served as the 23rd clerk of the Privy Council for Canada from 2016 to 2019.
26 Facts About Michael Wernick
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Michael Wernick was previously the deputy minister for the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development from May 2006 to July 11,2014.
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Michael Wernick has held several other positions in the Privy Council Office and as associate deputy minister for the Department of Canadian Heritage.
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Michael Wernick graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in 1979 and a Master of Arts in economics in 1980 from the University of Toronto.
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Michael Wernick has been a member of the board of governors for Carleton University in Ottawa.
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Michael Wernick is a recipient of the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal.
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Michael Wernick's sister is Rachel Wernick, now retired, who was a senior official at Employment and Social Development Canada responsible for skills training and youth programs underlying the WE charity controversy that unfolded in 2020.
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Michael Wernick joined the federal public service in June 1981 and worked at the Department of Finance until 1987.
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Michael Wernick worked at Privy Council Office from 1987 to 1990 and from 1991 to 1993 at the constitutional affairs unit of the Federal Provincial Relations Office, and in its successor unit when the Office was merged into the Privy Council Office in 1993, leaving in the summer of 1996.
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Michael Wernick was deeply involved in the process leading up the Charlottetown Accord of August 1992, supporting the Cabinet Committee chaired by Joe Clark and chairing the multi-jurisdiction committee that drafted the political accord.
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Michael Wernick was the Assistant Secretary, Constitutional Affairs at Privy Council Office in the period leading to and including the 1995 Quebec referendum on secession.
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From 1996 to 2002, Michael Wernick was an assistant deputy minister at the Department of Canadian Heritage.
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Michael Wernick attended the last meeting of the Chretien Cabinet, the first and last meetings of the Martin Cabinet and the first meeting of the Harper Cabinet.
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In May 2006 Michael Wernick was appointed deputy minister for the Department of Indian and Northern Affairs, where he remained for eight years until June, 2014.
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Michael Wernick was appointed Deputy Clerk of the Privy Council in October, 2014 and Clerk of the Privy Council in January, 2016.
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On March 18,2019, Michael Wernick announced that he would be retiring from his position as the clerk of the Privy Council amid the SNC-Lavalin affair.
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Michael Wernick retired from the federal public service on April 18,2019.
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Michael Wernick was criticized for his comments made in an email among Carleton University board of Governors members regarding a university student tuition protest that disrupted and prevented the March 30,2015 meeting of the Board from continuing.
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The New Democratic Party called for Michael Wernick to apologize for the comments, and the school's graduate student association called for Michael Wernick to resign.
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The article claimed that Michael Wernick had rebuked Wilson-Raybould for having suggested that politicians had engaged in doublespeak on Indigenous issues.
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Michael Wernick retired on April 19,2019 and was succeeded by Ian Shugart.
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On March 10,2020, Ethics Commissioner Mario Dion, released his report on an allegation of conflict of interest against Michael Wernick that had been referred to his office by the Public Sector integrity Commissioner.
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In October 2021, Michael Wernick published a book titled Governing Canada; A Guide to the Tradecraft of Politics.
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Michael Wernick described it as a "how to" rather than a tell-all style book, describing his audience as prospective politicians, public servants and academics.
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From August 2020 to June 2022, Michael Wernick was a fellow and adjunct professor at Carleton University's School of Public Policy and Administration.
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Michael Wernick has contributed articles on a range of topics to Policy Options, Canadian Government Executive, Global Government Forum and was interviewed for podcasts and articles by the Globe and Mail, Hill Times, OMNItv, CTV, CBC TV and Radio, TVO, CFRA radio, RadioCanada and Journal de Montreal.