Christmas comes early for someone

You can't swing a dead cat in Ottawa this morning without hitting some journalist pretending that he/she is Kreskin and predicting that there is going to be a Cabinet shuffle.

In a totally unrelated story, Gerard Kennedy can't dance. He reminds me of George McFly at the enchantment under the sea ball. White man overbite and all.

Anyhoo, so the most media speculation is about Rona Ambrose. I know that she is smart and while I will personally disagree with her on a lot of issues, her problems have been longstanding and totally unrelated to her as a Minister, competent or otherwise.

In a totally unrelated story, Bob Mills (C- Red Deer), former environment critic and Chair of the Standing Committee on the Environment and Sustainable Development, a man who has lived and breathed the Environment file for years (as a critic and a private citizen) is not on the special House of Commons committee that has been tasked with examining the Clean Air Act.

What? I can't imagine why.

Poor Rona - I would say I felt sorry for her, but I don't - even though it isn't her fault. First of all, she is totally hamstrung by her party's policy or lack thereof. Compounded with a credibility issue that has dogged conservatives around the world, it just makes her government's position that much harder to articulate, let alone manage. It is so easy to say "BigoilBigoilBigoil" in a split second and everyone nods in agreement.

Secondly, it is a crappy job and someone has to do it. Luckily for her, since she was appointed, it has mostly been the PMO. This is not limited to her portfolio, but it is the best example on record.

Thirdly, she gets pushed around. She wanted to regulate certain sectors, and she got "Whap-fucked" by seemingly unrelated portfolios who were looking out for constituents. They were right to do it, mind you, but maybe they should have met in the hall for a few minutes to let her in on it.

Separate and apart from all of the above - the department is horrible and it has been since Christine Stewart (L - Got out while the Getting was good) was in it. The problem can be described two ways - the Deputies of the past have thought they set policy, and they get their inspiration from underlings who are "true believers" at all costs. The other problem is that every other department goes out of its way to piss on environment's rug, which fuels the first problem. I remember sitting at a meeting with Dion and Samy Watson where Dr. Watson (PHD in education???) cut off his own Minister, yelled at him and stormed out of the room. He wasn't fired.

The attitude stems from the fact that the aforementioned true believers also believe that everyone is out to get them and they have to fiercely protect the globe. Maybe it is true - God knows I am a skeptic of most of the pablum they pass off as sound science and balanced policy.