In August 2016, when the current government was less than a year old, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his cabinet gathered at Laurentian University in Sudbury, Ont. for a two-day retreat. The ministers bunked in the student dorms. The big story of the week concerned a $1,700 bill for car service incurred by Jane Philpott, health minister at the time.
Among their special guests were Michael Barber, the British guru behind “deliverology,” and David MacNaughton, the experienced Liberal adviser who was serving as Canada’s ambassador to the United States.
“All of the smart people in Washington were saying the Democrats were going to
