The New Conservative Cabinet

Today Stephen Harper announced his cabinet, and he seems to have decided to play it safe. Before I enter into my critique, allow me to place these comments within a context.

First of all, let me say I welcome the new minority government. Like many Atlantic Canadians, I was/am suspicious of Stephen Harper. Part of it comes from my bias against conservative economists, who tend to see the world through a one dimensional and limited perspective. Also, I'm not totally convinced that Stephen Harper has changed his ways, from being a radical conservative who once promoted putting a "firewall" around Alberta, so long as people like Tom Flanagan continue to act as his principal advisors. Tom Flanagan is a U.S. born political scientist based in Alberta who would like to re-start the Colonial mission of complete assimilation/integration of our first nation's peoples.

Nevertheless, with only a minority government Harper will have an easier time passing legislation that is progressive and a harder time dismantling the country, as many of us fear he would really like to do. The Liberals are old, tired, and in desperate need of some new leadership and new ideas. I'll comment later about the Liberal leadership.

In his choice of cabinet ministers, Harper has chosen a number of people who have experience at the provincial level. I found it funny that he chose Tony Clement (who I shall from here on in refer to as Fishface) for the important position of Health Minister, when Harper himself reminded Fishface in the leadership race that "federal politics is a different ballgame." Fishface's partner from the Mike Harris government in Ontario, Jim Flaherty, was one of the principal architects of that province's social demise. Again, here is to hoping that a good progressive opposition keeps his budgets in the mainstreams. Jim Prentice was a good choice for native affairs; with him in charge of that portfolio, indigenous peoples can rest assured that Harper wont unleash the Flanagan, and instead, a progressive conservative with a deep knowledge of indigenous affairs will be taking over from where Andy Scott left off.

I was a little disappointed that Peter McKay was chosen from Foreign Affairs. This is a post where one likes to see someone who has published on issues related to foreign affairs and has at least some sort of speciality in the area. Canada almost lived up to its name as an effective middle-power when Lloyd Axeworthy ran the show. Unfortunately, since then the position has been held by some less than imaginative people (with the exception of B. Graham, who was at least competent). I'm afraid that with McKay in charge Canada will continue to be a country that talks a lot and accomplishes little on the international scene.

Moving on, as much as I like Loyola Hearn, I'm not sure it was wise to place him in Fisheries and Oceans. Jeffery Simpson of the Globe and Mail once pointed out that ministries should not be given to ministers who have a strong local attachment to the issue. For example, a minister of Fisheries and Oceans from Newfoundland will inevitably have local pressures to lean one way or another on an issue in order to get re-elected. Although he may have a very in-depth and personal knowledge of the portfolio, I fear he wont be able to make the tough decisions when push comes to shove (Then again, we all remember when John Crosby had to make the tough announcement that fishing in Newfoundland was all but over).

To be honest, I wasn't surprised that D. Emerson crossed the floor. It was always remarked that he was never much of a partisan, yet one would have thought that, only a few weeks after being elected as a Liberal, he might give it a little while before turning his back on his constituents. J. Layton has proposed that floor crossers be forced to face a bi-election in their ridings. I don't think this is a bad idea at all, and it only pales in comparison to what some democracies require of Floor crossers (For example, in South Africa, one has to cross the floor with a percentage of your party. Not an easy thing to do).

The appointment of Michael Fortier was a bit of a surprise, in that it demonstrated how quickly Harper could make himself look like a back-peddling Liberal, trying to explain why he made an appointment to the Senate for political purposes.

Finally, the last question we have to ask ourselves is, if Stockwell Day is the minister for Public Safety, who will keep the public safe from Stockwell Day? I understand that for reasons relating to the internal politics of the Conservative Party, Harper had to give Stockwell SOMETHING. But could it have been at least Veterans' Affairs, or Agriculture, some position out of the way so that Canada can forget about that side of the conservative party? I guess it could have been worse!

Since all of these ministers, with the exception of Emerson, have yet to prove themselves in government at the federal level, it remains to be seen how each performs. For one thing, it will definitely throw a twist into the future leadership of the Conservative Party, should Harper falter and the need to find a new leader surface. If guys like Prentice and McKay fair poorly, they'll be a lot less likely to take over when Harper finishes.

The last thing I want to say is to point out the hypocrisy of saying that this new cabinet is "smaller, and more focused," as Harper likes to repeat. It is impossible for a cabinet to be both smaller and more focused. By being smaller, ministers are responsible for more than one portfolio, which means they have to make themselves experts in more than more thing. If anything, this will mean for a very unfocused cabinet. Conservative governments often try to chop themselves down in size to represent their fiscal responsibility, yet it could end up backfiring if it means having unprepared and uninformed ministers having too much on their plate and not enough appetite.

For my first post, this seems like enough. Hope someone out their in cyberland finds something here of interest. I'm always interested in hearing from people of all political stripes, so do not hesitate to write.

Hasta Soon everybody,

MCA