Cabinet Shuffle
Today Stephen Harper made his much awaited cabinet shuffle. On the whole it was not bad as last February since he avoided any serious mistakes. Still it could have been better. Also with an election looming, I suspected he would try and choose ones who would be better choices for their portfolios or at least do a better job of selling it electorally.
The Big One: John Baird replaces Rona Ambrose as minister of environment, while Rona Ambrose goes to intergovernmental affairs. In the case of Rona Ambrose I think she has far more expertise in that area than the environment. On the other hand I don't think John Baird was a particularly good choice. I would have gone for either Lawrence Cannon or Josee Verner who are from Quebec where the environment is extremely important and are more progressive on it than Harper. My problem with Baird is he is too partisan, which I have no problem with as a whole, but I would rather than environment minister be someone who can bring people together not be an attack dog.
Best Choice: Rob Nicholson replaces Vic Toews as Justice minister while Vic Toews went to the Treasury Board. Considering how socially conservative Vic Toews is and how far right he is on justice issues, I am glad he was moved out of that portfolio. Rob Nicholson is a former Progressive Conservative so while I expect the party to maintain a right leaning view on justice issues, at least hopefully, he won't be a hardliner like Vic Toews.
Worst Choice: Making Jason Kenney secretary of state for multiculturalism and Canadian identity. While a good debater in the house, he is a hard core ideologue much like Vic Toews and Stockwell Day and should preferably be kept away from the cabinet table altogether. But at the very least kept away from any ministry that deals with social issues. Besides I find his values going against much of what I see as the Canadian identity. If anything he seems more American in his views than Canadians. Now he is entitled to those views, but I don't think one can claim they are representative of most Canadians. Besides I think Diane Ablonczy would have been a better choice than Jason Kenney.
Who I wished was dropped from cabinet: David Emerson should have been dropped from cabinet as he has achieved what he was brought into do; end the softwood lumber dispute, although he got a really really bad deal IMO. He is going to get beaten badly in the next election anyways so they should have cut their losses here.
Who should have been included in cabinet: I think James Moore should have been added as he is a young and one of the brighter lights in the party. He is also from the Greater Vancouver area where the Conservatives are weak and unlike Emerson he was democratically elected and is well liked.
In terms of changes, I suspect little will change as at the end of the day Stephen Harper still calls all the shots, so by and large this was window dressing. Only when I see a change in policy will I start praising the changes.
The other issue is Wajid Khan is rumoured to be defecting to the Conservatives tomorrow. At this point, it is only a rumour, so until I see it I won't comment on it.
The Big One: John Baird replaces Rona Ambrose as minister of environment, while Rona Ambrose goes to intergovernmental affairs. In the case of Rona Ambrose I think she has far more expertise in that area than the environment. On the other hand I don't think John Baird was a particularly good choice. I would have gone for either Lawrence Cannon or Josee Verner who are from Quebec where the environment is extremely important and are more progressive on it than Harper. My problem with Baird is he is too partisan, which I have no problem with as a whole, but I would rather than environment minister be someone who can bring people together not be an attack dog.
Best Choice: Rob Nicholson replaces Vic Toews as Justice minister while Vic Toews went to the Treasury Board. Considering how socially conservative Vic Toews is and how far right he is on justice issues, I am glad he was moved out of that portfolio. Rob Nicholson is a former Progressive Conservative so while I expect the party to maintain a right leaning view on justice issues, at least hopefully, he won't be a hardliner like Vic Toews.
Worst Choice: Making Jason Kenney secretary of state for multiculturalism and Canadian identity. While a good debater in the house, he is a hard core ideologue much like Vic Toews and Stockwell Day and should preferably be kept away from the cabinet table altogether. But at the very least kept away from any ministry that deals with social issues. Besides I find his values going against much of what I see as the Canadian identity. If anything he seems more American in his views than Canadians. Now he is entitled to those views, but I don't think one can claim they are representative of most Canadians. Besides I think Diane Ablonczy would have been a better choice than Jason Kenney.
Who I wished was dropped from cabinet: David Emerson should have been dropped from cabinet as he has achieved what he was brought into do; end the softwood lumber dispute, although he got a really really bad deal IMO. He is going to get beaten badly in the next election anyways so they should have cut their losses here.
Who should have been included in cabinet: I think James Moore should have been added as he is a young and one of the brighter lights in the party. He is also from the Greater Vancouver area where the Conservatives are weak and unlike Emerson he was democratically elected and is well liked.
In terms of changes, I suspect little will change as at the end of the day Stephen Harper still calls all the shots, so by and large this was window dressing. Only when I see a change in policy will I start praising the changes.
The other issue is Wajid Khan is rumoured to be defecting to the Conservatives tomorrow. At this point, it is only a rumour, so until I see it I won't comment on it.
posted by Monkey Loves to Fight at 4:13 PM
2 Comments:
Rob Nicholson is no less socially conservative than Toews; he was an Elsie Wayne-type PC MP who fought the party over the abortion issue...he also was the one that actually introduced the marriage motion.
I've heard things about him being socially conservative, although it depends what time frame you are talking about. Vic Toews is still a hardline social conservative, whereas if Nicholson was back in the 80s, that is a little different since social conservatism is far less mainstream than them. Still having someone from the Progressive Conservative is better than the Alliance side. If is as right wing as you say, my question is why did he stick with the PCs and not join the Alliance. I could see why Elsie Wayne stayed since the PCs could win seats in Atlantic Canada while the Alliance couldn't, but in Ontario the two parties were more or less tied and had about equal chances of winning seats.
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