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Associate Deputy Minister  –  Department of National Defence  –  Sept 2010 Prime Minister appoints new Associate Deputy Minister for DND PMO Appointment/Backgrounder: Associate DM, Matthew King DND has a new Associate DM, the former DFO Associate DM, Matthew King.  Not exactly front-page news.  So,  the question for the handful Canadian citizens still reading is: What the heck is an Associate Deputy Minister ?  In a nutshell,  the Associate DM is the 'pitch-hitter' for the Deputy Minister.  In other words, the Associate DM steps in when  the DM is not available. Clear as mud? As in any Department, responsibility for decisions and actions lies with the Minister of National Defence. So, the MND reports to Parliament and takes any heat but he is backed up by the DM and Associate DM to whom all of the DND Assistant Deputy Ministers report. Put another way, the Associate DM is the deputy head of the DND bureaucracy. Why don't citizens hear about  these people?  Basically because, if they are doing they jobs, the Associate DM isn't news-worthy. If there is a screw up, the government and MND take the blame – as they should, since the politicians devised the policy being enacted. So, that's the bureaucratic chain of command. The Associate Deputy Minister supports the DM in managing the 'business' side of DND. The Associate DM also acts on behalf of  the DM when absent  – which explains why an Associate DM appeared in front of a Parliamentary Committee to answer questions about Afghan detainees.  Unusually, one Assistant Deputy Minister reports directly to the Associate DM instead of  to the DM. DND has 8 ADMs, all but one of  which reports to the DM.  The exception is the ADM for Information Management. Ever wondered how DND turned  'Access to Information' into an oxymoron? Look no further than the ADM(IM) and, thus, to the Associate DM. And yet, the Associate DM post was left vacant for the month of September. Former Associate DM, William F. Pentney, became the Deputy Secretary to the Cabinet  ( Plans and Consultation ) at  the Privy Council Office on 01 Sept. Obviously, the power that be felt confident that the citizenry would remain protected from troubling revelations in the absense of any senior oversight.  DND's culture of secrecy being what it is,  they were probably quite safe making such an assumption. Citizens who question why they must pay to uncover what government does in their name might disagree with the approach but can't argue with the efficiency with which it thwarts any AIA enquiry. So who are these guys?  Generally, they are career bureaucrats on a trajectory from the Privy Council Office to Associate DM to Deputy Minister or other senior appointment. Do they know anything about defence issues? No need. It is not really relevant to their job (eg: current DM Robert Fonberg, a bureaucrat with an economics background). [1] All this makes the former Associate DM something of an anomoly –  Bill Pentney came from the Faculty of  Law at the University of Ottawa where he was once Director of the Human Rights Research & Education Centre. In short, the ideal person to deal with the then-looming issue of Afghan detainees. That would have been the key problem facing incoming DM, Robert Fonberg. Within months,  he'd made former PCO staffer  Pentney his new Associate DM. And, perhaps, it's no surprise that Pentney now moves on to a PCO position once held by Fonberg. Those interested in the Afghan detainee issue will continue to rake these coals.  Those interested  in what goes on behind closed doors at NDHQ should be asking if it's a return to business-as-usual at the Department now that a career bureaucrat has, once again, taken up the reigns of Associate Deputy Minister. [1] William Pentney's precessor was an exception. Former MGen John Adams, a military engineer, became Associate DM in July 2005 having been the ADM (Infrastructure and Environment) after his retirement from the CF (where he held numerous staff positions). PMO Backgrounder  (excised for relevance and reformatted for brevity) Matthew King Education   •  Master of Public Administration, Harvard University   •  Bachelor of Social Science, University of Ottawa   •  Graduate Diploma, Public Administration, Carleton University Professional Experience   •  Since July 2009: Associate Deputy Minister, Fisheries and Oceans   •  2007 - 2009: ADM, Science and  Innovation Sector,  Industry Canada   •  2005 - 2007: Assistant Secretary to the Cabinet, Legislation and House Planning,      and  Democratic Reform, Privy Council Office   •  2004 - 2005: Assistant Secretary to Cabinet, Social Development Policy, PCO   •  2003 - 2004: ADM, Policy and Departmental Assessment, and Alignment Project,      Fisheries and Oceans   •  1999 - 2003: ADM, Oceans Directorate, Fisheries and Oceans   •  1997 - 1999: Director General, Strategic Policy Branch, Indian and Northern Affairs   •  1996: Director, Economic Development, Indian and Northern Affairs   •  1995: Senior Policy Advisor to the Deputy Minister, Indian and Northern Affairs   •  1994: Senior Policy Advisor to the ADM, Human Resources Development Canada   •  1993 - 1994: Director, Federal-Provincial Relations, Fisheries and Oceans