Re-arranging the Deck on the Titanic

If the Government is going down by the end of March, does it all really matter?

There are four observations that I will make about the shuffle:

1) I know Rusty (C- Ottawa West Attack Dog) personally, and while I think he is an able politician, I think that being in charge of environment is going to take a little bit of the shine off. This file isn't as easy as calling Quebec Liberals criminals and blaming the Liberal Senate for hold-ups. It will require a little bit of a softer touch. I also think that the same cavalier attititude that got RB in trouble with the Commissioner of Canada Elections while he was testifying about the FAA will force him into the corner a few times when he speaks outside of his purview. What makes him a great attack dog will make him say things that will make Rona (C - Policy Analyst) look more than satisfactory.

2) Who cares about the shuffle- what you should be most interested in is the fact that the issue is at a higher level to the point that it is being dealt with by a special cabinet committee. Chaired by none other than Jim Prentice (C - DPM) - the Cabinet committee on Energy Security and the Environment - Part Alberta, Part America.

3) If the PM continues to micromanage everything, does it matter who is the minister of what? I think that this might signal to the world that the PM is cutting environment LOOSE as an issue he can legislate, and focus it on one he can debate.

He might win the debate in the house, but who cares, he can't beat Dion on it because Dion can blame them for stopping his plan, such as it was. I think this strategy will backfire because relying on regulatory authority on the environment (without the CAA, that is what the Conservatives will have to do) will expose the fact that liberals regulated everything from the water in the kitchen sink to the construction of the kitchen sink and that everything the conservatives have regulated thus far was actually devised by the Liberals and (Presumably (HA)) Dr. Watson (DM- IMF) and his predecessors.

Say what you want about the Liberal record on climate change, but the simple truth is that if Harper thinks the environment is about more than GHG reductions (and it is) he will have to look at CEPA, SARA, and about 1200 regulations that the Liberals put in place over the 13 years they were in office.

4) I think the inclusion of intellectual heavyweights like Helena "Georgeous" (C- Rahim's Girlfriend) Gerry "Puttin' on the" Ritz (C - Saskatchewha?) in cabinet is a clear signal that maybe we need more Michael Fortiers - or Stephane Dions and Pierre Pettigrews - and Pierre Trudeaus, Jean Marchands and Gérard Pelletiers. People who are put into cabinet because they were brilliant and then ascended to elected office. Or, as I have often said, fuck the Commons entirely. The time Ministers waste there is unbelievable!