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OTTAWA – Linda Keen’s colleagues figured she was no pushover. Now they know it, and some are saying; “You go, girl.”
Keen, who was unceremoniously fired late Tuesday as president of Canada’s nuclear watchdog, is a longtime, respected public servant who clearly has a deep well of support within the federal bureaucracy, as well as among members of other quasi-judicial boards and commissions at both the federal and provincial level.
Of course, they weren’t talking on the record. “I’m not crazy,” said one colleague, referring to what many see as the Harper government’s growing penchant for trying to bully public servants into a “yes, sir” silence.
Speaking privately, however, they said Keen is a smart, tough and sometimes abrasive person who was good to work with because she spoke her mind. They portrayed her as someone with a ready laugh and a curious mind who values loyalty and enjoys other people’s successes.
“She doesn’t play the sexy game. She doesn’t play the charm game. She’s not like that. She’s a straight shooter,” said one former colleague.
Although ousted as president of the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, Keen remains a full-time member of the commission, earning $204,000 to $240,000 a year until her latest five-year appointment expires in 2010.
Several of Keen’s friends and colleagues were glued to a televised Commons committee hearingWednesday where Natural Resources Minister Gary Lunn defended his decision to fire Keen. It was the latest twist in a bruising, weeks-long battle over Keen’s order to shut down the Chalk River, Ont., nuclear reactor late last year.
The shutdown, blamed for a shortage of medical isotopes used for cancer and other medical treatments, was reversed after Parliament approved emergency government legislation to reopen the reactor.
Lunn told the committee that Keen, an Alberta native, was fired because she showed a lack of leadership in handling the “extended” reactor shutdown and had “lost the confidence” of the government.
Keen, who had been president of the regulatory body since 2001, was out of sight Wednesday. She declined interview requests and ditched earlier plans to testify at the committee after Lunn. The committee plans to invite her to appear later in the month.
MPs got a first-hand glimpse of her steely resolve, however, when she appeared at a special session of the Commons last month to explain her position on the Chalk River closure. She also took direct aim at Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s allegation that she was a Liberal lackey.
“I am saying that I am non-partisan. I serve with good behaviour,” she declared. “I have met every requirement of the ethics commissioner. I do my work on a a non-partisan basis and I have no political affiliation.”
Until her appointment to the nuclear commission, Keen had no previous experience in atomic energy. She earned an undergraduate degree in chemistry and a masters in agricultural sciences at the University of Alberta before taking on a series of jobs in West Africa, at Expo ‘86 in Vancouver, and in Ottawa, where she held senior jobs in the departments of agriculture, industry and natural resources. She is married to a retired senior public servant.
Shawn-Patrick Stensil, an energy and climate campaigner for Greenpeace, said that even though there is no love lost between environmentalists and the nuclear regulator, he has some time for Keen. Stensil credits her for taking “baby steps” towards ensuring environmental considerations play into nuclear regulatory decisions.
Stensil, who has appeared before Keen and the commission at many hearings, said she didn’t play favourites, and never hesitated to cut people off if they got too far off topic, including him. At a hearing last week in Oshawa, Ont., she even accused officials from Ontario Power Generation Inc. of being whiners.
Stensil said he saw a gentler side of Keen at the same hearing when she went out of her way to provide a welcoming environment for a gentleman who was obviously extremely nervous about delivering his own presentation to the commission.
In the meantime, the Harper government’s treatment of Keen has given her counterparts in federal and provincial tribunals pause.
“It sends a very chilling message. Quasi-judicial bodies are created for the purpose of making decisions independent of government,” said Paul LeBreton, chairman of the Appeals Tribunal for the Workplace Health, Safety and Compensation Commission of New Brunswick.
© Victoria Times Colonist 2008