Today, members of The Toronto Star's Ottawa bureau reported "Prime Minister Stephen Harper is expected to make significant changes to his cabinet next week in the lead-up to a major new agenda-setting throne speech in the fall." Which begs the question: will any of those changes effect the Conservative's British Columbia caucus? Well, some party members are wondering whether Agriculture and Agri-Food Minister Chuck Strahl will be shuffled out of his portfolio or lose his post as the province's political minister in favour of Natural Resources Minister Gary Lunn. Not surprisingly, perennial rumours of a promotion for Port Moody-Coquitlam-Port Coquitlam parliamentarian James Moore are also blossoming. And some say Abbotsford parliamentarian Ed Fast could also be named to cabinet. Meanwhile, we're hearing suggestions Vancouver-Quadra nomination candidate and former BC Cancer Foundation president Mary McNeil should be given a seat at the big table.
Chucking Strahl?
August 8, 2007
Fast is the only outstanding MP in the province. He is a quick rising star and has shown potential in the house, in committees, and in BC.
No disrespect to Fast,But Lunn is the best MP in the province bar none.
Do these mini endorsations actually have any impact?
Appointing Mary McNeil into cabinet would be a risky move by the conservatives, it would suggest desperation by Harpers office to endorse someone who “obviously needs a promotion” to win the riding, let alone have enough memberships to win the nomination. Look, everyone knows that the strongest conservative nominee is Deborah Meredith, this news just confirms Harpers lack in ability to make sound political judgment calls.
Oh Wait here’s an ingenious idea! Why doesn’t Harper appoint Fraser Malcolm as Mary’s chief of staff !
Doesn't Mary McNeil have to defeat Joyce Murray in Vancouver Quadra to get into parlament before she can be considered for cabinet? Did Joyce have some sort of falling out with Mark Marissen that the Conservatives even think this is possible? It seems like Harper is counting his eggs before they are hatched seeing as the Liberals won Quadra by 12,000 votes last election.
"Doesn't Mary McNeil have to defeat Joyce Murray in Vancouver Quadra to get into parlament before she can be considered for cabinet?"
I wondered about that too, but there's the Fortier route to Cabinet as well. However, it would be a bit odd to appoint someone to the Senate, then have them quit to run for the Commons. And more peculiar still if they didn't quit to run for MP as some kind of insurance move.
"Did Joyce have some sort of falling out with Mark Marissen that the Conservatives even think this is possible? It seems like Harper is counting his eggs before they are hatched seeing as the Liberals won Quadra by 12,000 votes last election."
Don't put too much store in old election results. As an example, just after the 1980 general election I recall hearing a tenured professor of political science on CBC telling us all with a perfectly straight face that these results proved that the Liberals were to Canada what the PRI was to Mexico. Yet the very next election in 1984 resulted in the worst defeat the Liberals have ever suffered! In fact, every contest is a new one, and with the Liberals out of power, the entire dynamic is altered for an upper income, economically conservative district like Vancouver Quadra.
Mark Warawa is by far the strongest and most deserving Conservative MP in BC. The man is a class act, and a towering intellectual.
Ha-ha - these comments are too funny! Don't Conservative MPs's constituency assistants have anything else to do but boost their hapless MPs chances of a promotion next week?
Ed Fast "is the only outstanding MP in the province"? Gee, I must have missed all that news coverage in the weekly Abbotsford News about this great parliamentarian! Fast Eddie for cabinet? Why not just have him replace Harper?
And Mark Warawa "is by far the strongest and most deserving Conservative MP in BC"?
If you said "Warawa" to most BCers they'd say that's the place in Northern Ontario where you get stuck for days if you're hitchhiking!
Chuck Strahl is well-respected in Parliament by all sides and is an effective minister - even if I strongly disagree with his views, especially on the Wheat Board. Removing Strahl from cabinet would be a big mistake.
And if Gary "Nukemeister and Oil" Lunn becomes the political minister the only thing that will change is the sign on top Tory operative Colin Metcalfe's downtown office door!
But on the Mary McNeil rumour - I've heard the same thing as Sean - and I think it's pretty smart politics to give the Conservatives an outside chance of beating a weak Joyce Murray of the Liberals to take Quadra. Remember it's not that unusual a move - that's how a guy named Stephane Dion first got into cabinet too!
The data has been crunched, and Murray would have to really eff up in order to lose quadra. The numbers are just too good for the Libs.
The Cons can go nuts trying to win that riding, but they are going to have an extremely difficult time doing so. Murray will have the full weight and resources of Lower Mainland Liberals.
Chuck should go and the MRO moved to the Island after pitching Metcalf out the door.
Gary Lunn uber alles!
Is there a full moon or something shining on some of these oracles of change?
It's sounds much like low-level staffers dreaming of a bigger paycheck to help pay for new Ottawa digs.
Someone oughta tell 'em about Ottawa's long winters and very humid summers.
"Remember it's not that unusual a move - that's how a guy named Stephane Dion first got into cabinet too!"
Bill, are you saying that she can be appointed to the Cabinet as a private citizen? Surely that's a bit desperate, given the outcry over Fortier's Senate route to Cabinet.
Budd - for a political observer I'm surprised that you think it's desperate for the Conservatives to do just about anything to win a seat. Don't forget, then-NDP Premier Ujjal Dosanjh appointed Chief Ed John to the BC cabinet also as a private citizen prior to the 2001 election. It didn't help Ed win but it's not that unusual a move to make, particularly for Harper given that he can't appoint candidates into the Senate!
"Begging The Question" doesn’t mean "raises the question" and I'm getting tired of seeing it used incorrectly in the press.
"Begging the question" means the writer is taking for granted or assuming the thing that they are setting out to prove.
See here:http://www.wsu.edu/~brians/errors/begs.html