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Author Topic: Cabinet Shuffles  (Read 3233 times)

IronNoggin

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Cabinet Shuffles
« on: November 20, 2019, 01:06:27 PM »

Two of the larger distresses: A totally under-qualified woman as Fisheries Minister, and Bill Blair becomes Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness  :o

https://www.thechronicleherald.ca/news/local/four-atlantic-canada-mps-included-in-prime-minister-justin-trudeaus-new-cabinet-378561/

And continuing with his brainless ideology. Pierre's Idiot Child again appoints according to gender / race / look / asskissing over capability to actually do the job at hand.   ::)

Canadians have HUGELY failed their latest intelligence test!

SAD!
Nog
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IronNoggin

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Fish Assassin

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Re: Cabinet Shuffles
« Reply #2 on: November 20, 2019, 02:43:40 PM »

And what qualification did Gail Shea brought to the table as Minister of Fisheries under the Tory government other than living on the East Coast and perhaps eating the odd cod ?
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IronNoggin

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Re: Cabinet Shuffles
« Reply #3 on: November 21, 2019, 01:13:36 PM »

Trudeau's cabinet shuffle all about symbolism

Justin Trudeau’s new cabinet has 36 members not including himself, an expansion from the previous cabinet. It includes seven new faces and about half the cabinet comes from Ontario, including 11 from the Toronto area.

We’ve got Bill Morneau still in as finance minister; he looks like he was sent from central casting for the role. Tall, clean-cut, Bay Street experience and boring.

His fellow Torontonian Chrystia Freeland is now deputy prime minister and is trading in her foreign affairs role to also take on the duties of intergovernmental affairs minister. That means she gets to deal with all those pesky premiers, good luck with that file!

Bill Blair, the former Toronto Police Chief is taking over at public safety now that Ralph Goodale is gone. That means if you own guns, prepare to give them up, Blair is coming for them and he’s made no secret about that.

Most of the cabinet couldn’t get picked out of a police lineup and the reality is that the days of cabinet ministers being powerful is mostly a thing of the past. For decades prime ministers have been centralizing power in their offices and taking it away from MPs and even ministers.

Each PM says on their way in they will reverse what their predecessor did and each ends up continuing to push for a further centralization of power.

So most of these ministers are interchangeable and won’t matter in terms of policy, the most we can hope for is that they are good managers or that they can surround themselves with people who are.

That said, Trudeau made some interesting, even strange moves with his cabinet.

We now have a minister for middle-class prosperity. I have no idea what this new ministry is about or what Ottawa MP Mona Fortier will do in this role. To be honest it seems more symbolic than anything else. The Trudeau Liberals have been running as the friend of the middle class since before they were elected and it has worked for them. So, why stop now?

Government via marketing.

We also now have a minister of digital government in Vancouver MP Joyce Murray. I’m not sure what Murray brings to the role. Prior to federal politics, she was a provincial politician and before that, ran a tree-planting business. She’s now in charge of bringing government into the digital age.

It’s a major project but I’m not sure it is a wise move to do this through a standalone department. It is the sort of thing treasury board or public works would normally take on but Trudeau is all about symbols and this new ministry is nothing if not symbolic.

And in many ways, most of cabinet is simply symbolic now. The days of cabinet ministers being expected to be bold and competent managers is long gone. Any major decisions, in Trudeau’s federal government or any other in recent memory, is really made at the “centre” as they call the PM’s office.

Trudeau played a bit of musical chairs with existing ministers and elevated a few new ones to the big kids’ table but it will be him and his close staff running the show. The real change will come when or if Trudeau changes his inner circle.

Gerry Butts left during the SNC-Lavalin scandal and isn’t expected to return. Katie Telford, Trudeau’s chief of staff, could soon be moved out of her spot and a new inner circle brought in.

That would be real change rather than a symbolic change for this government.

https://torontosun.com/opinion/columnists/lilley-trudeaus-cabinet-shuffle-all-about-symbolism
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IronNoggin

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Re: Cabinet Shuffles
« Reply #4 on: November 21, 2019, 02:07:08 PM »

For the most part, bloated Trudeau cabinet is window dressing and little else

Just over four years ago, Justin Trudeau strode in late fall sunshine toward Rideau Hall like a conquering Roman general, flanked by his gender-balanced cabinet.

By contrast, there was nothing triumphant about the way Trudeau’s ministers trudged toward the Governor-General’s residence to be sworn in on a chilly winter’s afternoon on Wednesday, their leader nowhere in sight. This is a government that has become aware belatedly that much of the country has tired of its vainglorious, self-congratulatory approach.

The most important change to emerge from the day may well be that the Liberal government now has an operations committee, chaired by Dominic Leblanc. A central complaint about the Trudeau government’s first four years was that it reflected the capricious personality of its prime minister, often more excited about the initial idea than in implementation. It seems to have finally dawned that it is time to put away childish things – the costumes, the photo ops, the posturing – and become a grown-up government that actually executes on its agenda.

For the rest, it was largely window-dressing.

Having just penned a column asserting it doesn’t matter who is in cabinet because the policy has already been decided upon by an unelected cabal, it may be a bit rich to wax on for another several hundred words about who’s in and who’s out. The statement should be qualified. Strong ministers can prove decisive in implementing, if not conceiving, policy. The trouble with this Liberal government is that there have been very few strong ministers – and the new lot don’t look like much of an upgrade.

We now have a ministry bloated by more members of the Queen’s Privy Council – 36 in total – each one earning a stipend of $264,000, even if they are in charge of nothing more than a brass plate and a driver. Mona Fortier, the Ottawa MP, is the new minister of middle class prosperity, but has no ministerial department (she will be “supported” by the finance department). There are no hints in the accompanying literature about the goals for this new ministry. A Subaru in every driveway, perhaps?

One thing that is clear is that the direction will continue to be unrelenting leftward – spending money as a quick fix, rather than doing the hard work of reform. The conviction is deeply rooted that a majority would have been Trudeau’s, if only the Liberals had been able to convince more progressive Quebecers that the spending taps would remain on gush. Nobody should expect any variations from that strategy ahead of the next election. It was noticeable that 10 ministers from Quebec were appointed on Wednesday, including former environmental activist Steven Guilbeault in heritage and François-Philippe Champagne at foreign affairs, compared to eight in the last cabinet.


That over-representation of Quebecers will not help Chrystia Freeland, in her new gig as minister for intergovernmental affairs, to stifle rising discontent in the West. She was, no doubt, induced by guilt to take the job – “ask not what your country can do for you…”. The pill seems to have been sugared with the addition of the deputy prime minister title and a pledge that she could also see the new NAFTA deal over the legislative finishing line. But to make progress on the unity file, she will need funds and political latitude. Provincial premiers generally like to deal with prime ministers, not their subordinates. Freeland will struggle to gain their attention and respect.

The appointment of Seamus O’Regan as minister of natural resources is not going to aid her cause, given his deep roots in Newfoundland and lack of experience in the resource industry. The Liberal election campaign on the Prairies was co-ordinated by a Newfoundlander, with unspectacular results. A repeat performance seems more than likely unless O’Regan immerses himself in the politics of the oil patch and, crucially, gets some good advice from people who understand the disconnection in the West.

Elsewhere there were some positive developments. The appointment of Anita Anand as minister of public services and procurement is a genuine surprise. The rookie MP for Oakville is an accomplished law professor at the University of Toronto, where she specializes in corporate governance. It is encouraging that people of substance still want to run away to join the parliamentary circus, though quite why they would want to lower their ambitions remains a mystery.

Chrystia Freeland poses with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau next to Gov. Gen. Julie Payette after being sworn-in as Deputy Prime Minister during the presentation of Trudeau’s new cabinet, at Rideau Hall in Ottawa, Nov. 20, 2019. Blair Gable/Reuters

Bill Morneau remains at finance, which is on balance a good thing as growth slows in the economy. One of Morneau’s colleagues suggested that finance, long an independent power base, has become a “vassal state” under Trudeau. It is past time for Morneau to assert himself with the free-spenders in the prime minister’s office.

David Lametti returns as justice minister, again a net positive. In his oath of office, he affirmed a promise to uphold the independence of the judiciary and prosecutorial independence, which should forestall any prospect of SNC-Lavalin being granted a remediation deal. A more politically acceptable solution would be for the company to ring-fence the parts of the business that caused the legal liability stemming from the bribery allegations. Lametti will, one hopes, resist any pressure from the centre to intervene.

There are seven new faces in cabinet – including Marc Miller at Indigenous services and Marco Mendicino at immigration, both able; both of whom narrowly missed out last summer. After the failed experiment of promoting MPs not steeped in partisan politics – step forward Jody Wilson Raybould and Jane Philpott – Trudeau has fallen back on friends and loyalists this time around. (Miller, like O’Regan, was in the prime minister’s wedding party).

This is a cabinet that Trudeau claims will “work tirelessly for all Canadians”. Perhaps. But voters can rest assured it will be positively indefatigable in its efforts to get re-elected with a majority whenever the next election comes around.

https://nationalpost.com/opinion/john-ivison-for-the-most-part-bloated-trudeau-cabinet-is-window-dressing-and-little-else
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Easywater

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Re: Cabinet Shuffles
« Reply #5 on: November 22, 2019, 10:03:04 AM »

I was listening to the CBC on the way to work this morning and the new Middle Class Prosperity minister was on.

She sounded like an idiot.

When asked direct questions by the host, she didn't answer the question but spouted off some of her speaking points instead.

She was asked to define the middle class and instead of giving an income range like most people would, she said the middle class were people that could comfortably afford the things that they wanted to do.

The host also questioned her about a coming tax break for people making between $100,000 and $200,000 per year.
She fumbled around a bit and said it was part of the new benefits that they were making for all Canadians.


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IronNoggin

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Re: Cabinet Shuffles
« Reply #6 on: November 22, 2019, 02:47:24 PM »

Can Chrystia Freeland save the Liberals? (And Canada, while she's at it)

Chrystia Freeland deserves a lot of credit for saving Canada from Donald Trump. Can she save the Liberals from Doug Ford, Jason Kenney and François Legault?

That may sound facetious, but it is, in essence, the task she’s been given in her position as minister of intergovernmental affairs. If October’s election proved anything, it’s that Canada is a country in which the bonds of unity can never be taken for granted. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau let them fray badly in his first mandate. In the opinion of many, he contributed substantially to the fraying. It’s never clear how deeply this prime minister absorbs any of the lessons he’s been offered since first taking office, but the voting results, and the growing cacophony of provincial acrimony, have evidently made him aware at some level that something serious needs to be done to bring calm to the provinces. So he’s turned to Freeland.

Perhaps that’s a sign that he understands Freeland has skills he lacks.

Given her record, it might seem that finding harmony with a handful of provincial premiers would be an easier task. Obviously it won’t have the international implications, but that’s no reason to underestimate the ability of Canada’s political class to pick fights with one another. Kenney might not be in office now if Rachel Notley hadn’t underestimated the pig-headedness of her fellow premiers, not to mention members of her own party. And Kenney has plainly decided that doing battle with Ottawa is to be a core part of his government’s identity. The combative address he delivered a week ago in Red Deer was nothing if not fair warning to the new minority government that he sees it as a major impediment to the pursuit of Alberta’s best interests, and he’s far from alone in that view: Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe left his post-election confab with Trudeau looking downcast and predicting “more of the same” tone deafness from an Eastern-oriented administration fixated on its same old obsessions.

Freeland will also have to find a way to make nice with Ontario’s Doug Ford, who spent much of the federal election in hiding but was nonetheless treated to a startlingly aggressive series of insults and attacks. Ford’s first year in office was filled with stumbles, and it may be that Trudeau’s people assume the remainder of his term will prove as self-destructive, but there are signs that Ford isn’t planning to go along with that scenario: his walking time-bomb of a chief of staff has been dumped, rhetoric has been toned down, contentious policies have been softened or re-thought and Ford made a point of congratulating Trudeau on his re-election while stressing the strains on national unity, which he likely doesn’t believe are the fault of the provinces. He’s offered to host a gathering of the premiers to discuss the unity problem, an offer that won the praise of Toronto Mayor John Tory, who hasn’t always been a fan of the Ford family.

There is one near-certain means to put smiles on faces at Queen’s Park, and that’s to trundle Ottawa’s cash-dispensing machine into the province and set it on high. The Trudeauites have never demonstrated a reluctance to spend money in bulk, and would have been lucky to place a distant second in October if not for the voters in and around the Toronto megalopolis. The region desperately needs money for a vast expansion of public transit, and transit fits nicely into the Liberal climate change agenda, so if Freeland finds herself spending a lot of time championing the delivery of large cheques to grinning Tories, it wouldn’t be a total surprise. It can’t hurt that she’s also now the deputy prime minister, and represents a downtown Toronto riding, quite near that of Finance Minister Bill Morneau. So while the Liberals may not fathom Western alienation, they should certainly grasp what makes Toronto happy.

That leaves Quebec, where Legault has spent much of the past year inviting Ottawa to keep its nose out of local affairs. Should the courts fail to derail Bill 21, the contentious provincial secularism law, Trudeau could find himself forced to keep his heavily-hinted-at plan to intervene, an act that would impact unity like an improvised explosive device. Add to that the fact that some concessions likely to make Jason Kenney happy — like a radical change in equalization — are just as likely to inspire outbursts of political outrage from Quebec, and the traditional demands for redress. It won’t help to have newly-empowered Bloc Québécois leader Yves-François Blanchet tossing out separatist complaints about any federal action that isn’t wholly and completely designed for the sole benefit of Quebec, as he has shown great skill in doing.

Freeland’s political skills are such that she managed to emerge from the SNC-Lavalin affair unscorched, despite her boss’s ugly display towards two serious-minded and intelligent women. She’ll need that and more if she hopes to keep four grumpy premiers happy, at which point she’ll probably face a chorus of complaints from the other six that they weren’t getting equal attention. It’s the nature of Canadian federalism, a perpetual effort to test the strength of the bonds that hold us together.

https://nationalpost.com/opinion/kelly-mcparland-can-chrystia-freeland-save-the-liberals-and-canada-while-shes-at-it
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