Parliamentary Secretaries and more on Cabinet
Now that Harper has chosen his parliamentary secretaries, I thought I would give a few comments on them. Before I give the negative, I mention the few positive choices. I thought James Moore was a good choice for parliamentary secretary to the minister of public works and government services. He is a very competent member so I am sure he can answer all questions fielded on the department well in the House of Commons. It is too bad he wasn't given this ministry since there would be no need to appoint an un-elected senator Michael Fortier or David Emerson (James Moore is closer to Vancouver than Jim Flaherty is to Toronto). However I have two major criticisms. Rob Moore as parliamentary secretary to justice and attorney general is a staunch social conservative like Vic Toews and once again shows Harper's contempt for the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Helena Guergis is a very strong MP but her appointment as parliamentary secretary to International Trade and 2010 olympics when she has been one of the most vocal critics of floor crossing seems quite suspicious. She was about to issue a news release that she would re-introduce a bill to require floor crossers to seek a by-election when Harper then appointed her to the position. Seems like he wanted to shut her up.
On the Cabinet, after having a few days to think about it, I thought I would add a few more thoughts. I know there has been a lot of criticisms over Tony Clement, Jim Flaherty, and John Baird. While they are certainly controversial for some, they do have experience not to mention they were elected as Conservatives in their respective ridings. Also anyone who voted Conservative and is complaining about those three getting cabinet posts obviously wasn't watching the campaign closely since it was obvious to me that those three would get cabinet posts if they won their seats. Besides John Baird is more of a libertarian than staunch conservative so I am okay with him and Tony Clement is not quite as hard core a right winger as Jim Flaherty. On health care, I am all for a parallel private system, which would happen no matter who got in due to the Supreme Court ruling in Quebec, so I am not worried here. My only concern with Jim Flaherty is his rigidness and past confrontational attitude, which I don't see as good for a minority government, but besides Monte Solberg, they really had no other choice and having an Albertan for the top two positions would have been bad optics. As for Gordon O'Connor, this is a tough one. Having a former military person definitely makes sense for a defence minister, however has past lobbying efforts could be problematic. On the whole it is not really a big deal for me thought. As for Stockwell Day, my opinion is he should have been kept out of cabinet altogether, but at least Public Safety is a minor improvement over Foreign Affairs, still I am not too happy on this one. With Vic Toews I am less concerned about his violation of the election laws in Manitoba than I am about his contempt for the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. I value the Charter quite highly and worry that the Harper government wishes to undermine it so he can impose a socially conservative agenda should he someday form a majority government. On Law and Order I am conservative in terms of supporting tougher sentences for violent crimes, but on the issue of drug laws, I am quite liberal as I believe tougher drug laws only lead to a larger black market and more crime as seen in the United States.
On the Cabinet, after having a few days to think about it, I thought I would add a few more thoughts. I know there has been a lot of criticisms over Tony Clement, Jim Flaherty, and John Baird. While they are certainly controversial for some, they do have experience not to mention they were elected as Conservatives in their respective ridings. Also anyone who voted Conservative and is complaining about those three getting cabinet posts obviously wasn't watching the campaign closely since it was obvious to me that those three would get cabinet posts if they won their seats. Besides John Baird is more of a libertarian than staunch conservative so I am okay with him and Tony Clement is not quite as hard core a right winger as Jim Flaherty. On health care, I am all for a parallel private system, which would happen no matter who got in due to the Supreme Court ruling in Quebec, so I am not worried here. My only concern with Jim Flaherty is his rigidness and past confrontational attitude, which I don't see as good for a minority government, but besides Monte Solberg, they really had no other choice and having an Albertan for the top two positions would have been bad optics. As for Gordon O'Connor, this is a tough one. Having a former military person definitely makes sense for a defence minister, however has past lobbying efforts could be problematic. On the whole it is not really a big deal for me thought. As for Stockwell Day, my opinion is he should have been kept out of cabinet altogether, but at least Public Safety is a minor improvement over Foreign Affairs, still I am not too happy on this one. With Vic Toews I am less concerned about his violation of the election laws in Manitoba than I am about his contempt for the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. I value the Charter quite highly and worry that the Harper government wishes to undermine it so he can impose a socially conservative agenda should he someday form a majority government. On Law and Order I am conservative in terms of supporting tougher sentences for violent crimes, but on the issue of drug laws, I am quite liberal as I believe tougher drug laws only lead to a larger black market and more crime as seen in the United States.
posted by Monkey Loves to Fight at 5:19 PM
3 Comments:
I am enjoying your blogs. Much more insight than the bilge and uninformed crap I see in the mainstream media. It just shows how thin the Tory ranks are when they need to appoint Emerson -- who is an astute businessman who will be a great aid in cabinet, especially in helping solve the softwood dilemma -- and Fortier, who also appears to be among the brighter lights. At least Harper kept the extreme elements of the party off the roster for now.
Keep the Harperites' feet to the fire.
I am enjoying your blogs. Much more insight than the bilge and uninformed crap I see in the mainstream media. It just shows how thin the Tory ranks are when they need to appoint Emerson -- who is an astute businessman who will be a great aid in cabinet, especially in helping solve the softwood dilemma -- and Fortier, who also appears to be among the brighter lights. At least Harper kept the extreme elements of the party off the roster for now.
Keep the Harperites' feet to the fire.
Yeah I agree, they are pretty thin on talent. Not to mention some of the few they did appoint like Vic Toews or Stockwell Day are complete idiots. Stockwell Day shouldn't even be an MP let alone a cabinet minister. He should try running here in Vancouver instead of the interior and see how well has wacko views sell. I am sure he would get clobbered.
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