Bill Casey’s 3 rules of dealing with the government

Over my seven terms in politics, I established three rules which always seem to apply. It doesn’t matter if you are applying for a disability pension, a funding program to build a factory, or assistance in repatriating indigenous artifacts. If you are seeking assistance from government, the best chance of success is to follow these three rules:

The Bill Casey 3 Rules Plan:

No matter how strong your proposal is or how carefully you’ve planned it, you never know what’s happening behind the scenes in the government office reviewing your application. A politician or official may already have a preconceived opinion or a competing priority. Even if your proposal makes perfect sense, it may get rejected for reasons you’ll never know. Decisions can be influenced by internal politics, undisclosed policies, competing projects, or personal bias.

If your application is turned down, don’t waste time trying to understand why. It is not possible to determine the real reason. Just assume it’s part of the process and immediately move on to Rules 2 and 3.

Whatever your proposal, remember that voices count. The more individual voices you can get in support of your idea or application will make a difference. Organized copies of letters do not have much of an impact. However, individual letters, emails, phone calls do definitely have an impact. Politics is about people and the more people that support your project, the better chance you will have of success. For example. if there is an organization that supports your proposal, ask each member to write a letter of support rather than one letter from the organization. Again, individual voices count more than you know.

It often appears to me that officials will automatically consider an project negatively on the first application and the second application. On the third or fourth application, sometimes they will take a closer look. Don’t take “No” for an answer and go home. Re-apply or appeal, until someone takes an interest in your application.

Two examples of projects which I supported along with many others, took over 20 years to finalize. One was having the federal government recognize the Acadian Village of Beaubassin as a National Historic Site. The second one was having the mysterious Isle Haute designated and protected as a Parks Canada Wilderness Preserve.

In my view, the Village of Beaubassin is one of the most intact original Acadian Villages on the planet. Archaeologists have now identified 53 foundations of buildings and uncovered over 7,000 Acadian artifacts. The site was almost lost. It took many years and many voices to have this site recognized as a National Historic Site.

The incredible Isle Haute island off of Advocate, Nova Scotia, was owned by the Government of Canada and served as a location for a key lighthouse in the Bay of Fundy. Years after the lighthouse burned down, a 2001 article in the Canadian Geographic Magazine titled “For Sale — One Island” caught my eye. The Government of Canada was proposing to sell Isle Haute to the highest bidder. This pristine island is just the same now as it was 1000 years ago when indigenous peoples held celebrations there. It is also the same as it was in 1604 when Samuel De Champlain landed there and named it Isle Haute, because of the very high cliffs.

Again, many voices and a lot of patience paid off when Isle Haute was formally designated a National Wildlife Area (NWA) under the Canada Wildlife Acton January 15, 2025, when the federal government announced its permanent protection. The Canadian Geographic article was dated January 2001. It took 24 years to finalize the protection of this island.

So, if you’re approaching government for a project, I suggest that you follow the three Bill Casey rules. “Rule One” always applies. I find rule 2 and rule 3 will eventually work, most of the time. It takes considerable patience.

Thanks for reading and good luck.

Bill Casey.