By Leslie MacKinnon, CBC News

It was the first time anyone could remember a gala dinner to honour a public servant, a being that, after all, the public sometimes thinks of as grey and anonymous, but who can be incredibly powerful behind the scenes, as Kevin Lynch was.

Lynch was appointed clerk of the Privy Council and secretary to the cabinet by Prime Minister Stephen Harper. Lynch was, in effect, a deputy minister to the prime minister, the top civil servant in the land. He retired, some say, a little suddenly last summer. (There were rumours in Ottawa that he and Harper's chief of staff Guy Giorno clashed).

Lynch, who is from Cape Breton, had a 33-year career in public service and was a deputy minister in both Industry and Finance in the Chrétien years. He was described last night as having given more service to Canada than anyone, elected or unelected.

The sold-out dinner, held in the elegant dining room of the Château Laurier hotel, attracted luminaries such as Harper (in a video tribute), former prime minister Jean Chrétien, former deputy prime minister John Manley and former New Brunswick premier and now deputy chair of TD Bank Financial Group, Frank McKenna.

One of the first speakers up was Chrétien, who, by the way, referred to McKenna as a "banker." Chrétien was greeted by a standing ovation and raucous shouts of "four more years."

The former prime minister began by saying Canada has the best public service in a world, a line that went over thunderingly well with the crowd. He said he told public servants they were his partners and his memos to them were always brief: "OK, JC," was a compliment. If a question mark followed, they knew they were in trouble.

Manley talked about how Kevin Lynch was his deputy minister in two portfolios for almost eight years, but he also spoke a bit about his own experience as a cabinet minister. He was given two pieces of advice: Get the book, not the TV series, of Yes, Minister, and stay away from a certain German-Canadian businessman by the name of Schreiber. He did both.

Why was Lynch such a great public servant? He championed scientific research and innovation, helping to reverse the brain drain, some said. He stick-handled the elimination of the deficit under Chrétien, as well as the financial crisis and fiscal stimulus under Harper, and personally delved into the war in Afghanistan by visiting Kandahar twice and bunking with the troops.

Much was made by various speakers of Lynch's legendary reputation as a workaholic. Heather Munroe-Blum, principal and vice-chancellor of McGill University, said she tried for ages to get a meeting with Lynch until finally he suggested a time: Dec. 26.

Eddie Goldenberg, who was Chrétien's top political advisor, recalled that Lynch once called a meeting about work-life balance on a Saturday afternoon. Some spoke of Lynch's "cold, calculating stare" that signalled you were on the wrong track, his quick grasp of complex issues, and, also, that when asked by his wife to turn on the oven to 350 degrees, came out of the kitchen and confessed he didn't know how.

Kevin Lynch thanked everyone for their "exaggerated stories" and quoted Yogi Berra to the effect that "half the lies you hear aren't true."