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Cabinet Analysis (2004) This
week the
liberals and the conservatives released the cabinet and shadow
cabinets. Usually selecting a cabinet is just housekeeping but after an
election where the liberals were lowered to a minority, the selection
of cabinet becomes much more important. The liberals lost six cabinet
ministers but decided to make bigger changes because they lost more
ground than they planned to the three opposition parties. Stephen
Harper’s task was easier because he did not lose any key critics and
was free to chose what MP’s he wanted to remove from shadow cabinet and
which he wanted to include. Martin kept the same mode and was not as
tough as he should have been on his liabilities. (Lapierre) Harper
dumped Cheryl Gallant, Randy White, and Myron Thompson from his shadow
cabinet. Nevertheless, he did stumble in keeping Stockwell Day in
cabinet. More importantly, his team looks more prime ministerial as he
matched critics with ministers instead of having critics like family
values and child pornography.
Here is
the scorecard for the cabinet and shadow cabinet for the 13 most
important positions. Liberals barely edged out the conservatives.  Liberals: 7/13 (54%)Conservatives: 6/13 (46%) 1.
House Leader: Conservatives win Tony
Valeri: House leader someone who is a good mediator and highly
respected. Someone who was the public face of the removal of Sheila
Copps, he cannot speak French, and nearly lost his riding is not a
prime candidate for the position that in a minority is the second PM.
Bill Graham fit the prerequisite for this position. John
Reynolds: Served through rough times for the alliance and manoeuvred
carefully to keep the alliance afloat. 2.
Foreign Affairs: Liberals win Pierre
Pettigrew: Graham was better but Pettigrew does not have much to
compete against with as far as his critic is concerned. Bad move
switching foreign affairs minister in middle of Iran dispute. With the
upcoming missile defence negotiations, Pettigrew is going to have to
make tough decisions and try to be conciliatory to the Bloc and NDP if
the liberals decide to join. How well he does could determine the
length of the minority government. Stockwell
Day: Rahim Jaffir would have been a better choice. Having a Muslim with
political experience would transform the conservative’s perception of
having a foreign policy dominated by Christian evangelists. 3.
Finance: Liberals win Ralph
Goodale: Good for stability. It would have been unwise to have a fourth
finance minister in less than a 2-year period. He is going to have to
balance the budget and opposition party demands. Monte
Solberg: Former Alliance MP holds key post. This should have been
Belinda’s job. 4. Health: Liberals win Uijal
Dosanjh: Former NDP premier. A social democrat is an ideal choice for
this position. Steven
Fletcher: Victor of the biggest upset in the election. He deserved a
good critic position but they should have appointed someone with more
experienced because this could be the most important shadow cabinet
position. Loyata Hearn would be a good sign giving a key position to a
conservative from Atlantic Canada to build trust in the region. 5.
Intergovernmental affairs: Conservatives win Lucienne
Robillard: Essential post for negotiating a new health deal with the
provinces. The liberals have a liberal government in Quebec. They
should appoint a liberal from a province where a conservative
government is in power. Scott Brison would have been a better choice.
The liberals should reward the progressive conservatives in Atlantic
Canada who switched to the liberals. Rona
Ambrose: Fresh blood from Alberta is part of Harper’s surprise strategy
that gave more shadow posts to woman than Martin’s cabinet. Also being
from Alberta where the tension is the highest between the two levels of
government is a plus. 6.
Defence: Liberals win Bill
Graham: Great foreign affairs minister is probably the best-qualified
liberal to move to defence that was similar to foreign affairs. Gordon
O’Connor: O’Connor has business experience, no policy experience, which
makes him a weak pick. Chuck Strahl the leader of the Day insurrection
should be rewarded for saving the party. 7.
Environment: Liberals win. Stephane
Dion: He should been in the first Martin cabinet. One of
Chrétien’s top ministers is back where he belongs. He executed
the clarity act and now has to make a plan to implement Kyoto. Bob
Mills: Someone else should have taken this job instead of a former
alliance from Alberta who does not believe in pollution. Stephen
Fletcher would have been good choice because of his huge upset and he
is an outdoor enthusiast. 8.
Deputy Prime Minister: Liberals win Anne
McLellan: Liberals needed her to win and she did. A respected liberal
from Alberta that gained support from all political stripes including
former PC PM Joe Clark who called her the best MP from Alberta. Peter
MacKay: Good choice except, he should have the public works critic
position also. It would have added sparks to see him square off with
Scott Brison. 9.
Transport: Conservatives win Jean
Lapierre: Brilliant move appointing a former separatist is responsible
for the Bloc’s revival. However, good news for Bombardier having a
transport minister from Québec. The liberals have never had a
transport minister from out west during their 11-year reign. David
Emerson a former forestry exec and member of Vancouver airport
authority would have been a more creditable choice. Rob
Nicholson: Good move appointing a former PCer to this new position. 10.
Indian Affairs: Conservatives win Andy
Scott: Let us look at his qualifications. He was solicitor general
responsible for the pepper spray incident whose loose lips on a plane
flight planned to name an RCMP officer as a scapegoat. Indian affairs
need someone with a good human rights record. Good choice Paul. Ethel
Blondin-Andrew a former aboriginal language specialist and from the NWT
would have been an ideal choice. Jim
Prentice: This former PC candidate is a great choice for this position
that should not have a right-wing ideologue holding it. Moderates
appointed for the conservatives make them a mainstream party. 11.
Trade: Conservatives win Jim
Peterson: Martin loyalist. Martin continues to allow himself to sink
with them. See Jean Lapierre. John McCallum should have gotten this
position. If he is not involved with something involved in economics,
he is useless. Belinda
Stronach: She could have got a higher portfolio but can do damage to
the liberals in this position. 12.
Agriculture: Conservatives win Andrew
Mitchell: David Kilgour, an Alberta MP should have got this position.
He does have part of rural Alberta in his riding. Diane
Finley: Yet another woman appointed to the shadow cabinet. Martin
regrets running Sheila Copps out of the party. Paul Martin’s proposal
for more women in cabinet is not looking to good compared to Harper’s
picks. She has some experience in managing an agriculture equipment
company. 13.
Treasury Board: Liberals win Reg
Alcock: Experience needed for this integral position. This position is
going to be vital because the liberals have to show their spending
money wisely and make spending concessions to the other parties in this
minority government. Guy
Lauzon: Has been a MP for a few weeks. Gary Lunn an experienced former
alliance MP with a solid record would have been a much better choice. If I were a cabinetmaker:
Senator John Manley: Move would shock the
opposition. Under a minority government, the deputy prime minister’s
position because irrelevant. In the last minority government of Joe
Clark, he did not both having a deputy PM. This is the first time there
has been a deputy PM in a minority government. The job has developed
into chief critic of the opposition parties and under a minority
government, the cabinet needs to act as a mediator. There is nothing
wrong with appointing a minister from the senate. It would enough of an
incentive for Manley to accept the position. If he were just the
ambassador, a parliamentary secretary would have more power than he
would. But as deputy PM he would be a senior cabinet minister and the
US would take new interest in Canada because we are sending are deputy
PM to represent ourselves their. John Manly would be a senator and
would just have to be in the Senate for a few weeks of the year that
would be a better attendance record then most senators. In addition,
the deputy Prime Minister would not have to be appeasing to the
opposition because he would not have to work with them. 2. House Leader and
Minister Responsible for Canadians Abroad 3. Foreign Affairs Pierre Pettigrew: With Graham out as
foreign minister Pettigrew could move in because of his experience as
trade minister. 4. Finance Ralph Goodale: It was a solid move for
Martin to keep his finance minister and show some signs of stability in
his minority government. 5. Social Advancement Uijal Dosanjh: Renaming the health
ministry would ease the tension with the provinces. Ottawa could alter
its role by not being a watchdog for the provinces but a facilitator
that would provide financial assistance and co-ordinate a common health
policy between the provinces. In addition, this ministry would be
responsible for education and carry out a more integrated role for the
federal government in education. 6. Provincial-Federal Affairs and Unity Minister Scott Brison: The federal government
should split the intergovernmental affairs in two. The
Provincial-Federal Affairs minister would co-ordinate discussions
between the federal and provincial governments. 7. Cities Minister John Godfrey: The second ministry would
deal exclusively with cities and bypass the provincial governments. 8. Defence, Public Security, Solicitor-General Anne McLellan: It would make sense if
public security and the defence minister occupied the same portfolio.
As Canada’s first female defence minister she would also be responsible
for dealing with national missile defence. 9. Transport David Emerson: Important ministry due to
Air Canada’s woes should be an easier portfolio to manage in a minority
government. Canada could use a national transportation plan for our
airplanes and public transit. All the parties same the share the same
interests in this portfolio. 10. First Nations Ethel Blondin-Andrew: Why do they still
call it Indian affairs? They should have a more politically name and do
something about aboriginal poverty. 11. Trade John
McCallum: Give McCallum once last chance to redeem himself. 12. Agriculture David
Kilgour: Give an Albertan the responsibility of getting the border
fully open. He has worked a bit on mad cow disease and has experience
as a junior minister. 13. Treasury Reg
Alcock: The watchdog on finances is an important role that could lead
to advancement or the end of a political career. Jean Chrétien’s
political stock soared when he got the nickname of “Dr. No” for
attempting to control government spending. 14. Justice Irwin
Cotter: Newcomer who does not need to be replaced. 15. Industry Lucienne
Robillard: There was no point of moving her out of industry. 16. Canadian Pride Ken
Dryden: Renaming Canadian Heritage into something relevant would make
it have a broader mandate. The government cannot be pacifist in regards
to media ownership, the internet, protecting consumers from the music
labels, and maintaining Canadian content. In addition, the department
could evolve to bloc foreign takeovers if they harm Canadian identity.
It could block the Molson’s merger and look at the CN. 17. Human Resources and Immigration Joe
Volpe: He has been in the job too short to be replaced. 18. Natural Resources Ruben
John Efford: One of Martin’s good moves adding a Newfoundlander
to oversee resources. 19. Youth Tony
Ianno: He has to be rewarded for holding his own against Olivia Chow. 20. Minister Responsible for Maintenance of Public Facilities on Parliament Hill Jean Lapierre: An appropriate job for his contribution to the liberal campaign in Quebec. Related Rants: United Right Fails to sink Martin; Left makes big strides Vote Liberal (2004) Paul Martin's New Democratic Deficit canadianwild.ca Feedback0 Comments canadianwild.ca Interactive: Your Chance To Rant |
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