In our parliamentary system, he’s forced to choose a cabinet from the elected officials in his party – as chosen by us – the Canadian people. And in the theory this model holds water. The people we elect are supposed to be the brightest and most qualified for the job…in THEORY.
But when this idea was being hashed out hundreds of years ago, I’m pretty sure they didn’t envision Stockwell Day as the minister of…well of anything, except maybe crayons or safety scissors.
So during an international economic crisis – the worst in 80 years – we’ve appointed the Canadian equivalent of Dan Quayle or Sarah Palin to ensure our country doesn’t slide further into peril. Did I miss something or is being a closet racist and pro-Bush evangelical somehow a prerequisite for sound economic governance?
But wait – there’s more! Tony Clement as the Minister of Industry. And why you might ask? Because after two years as Health Minister, he was bored and wanted a new challenge! Wait - what? Did he already fix the whole wait time thing? Did we get an influx of new doctors so that everyone now has a family practitioner?
After two years on the job, Milhouse from the Simpson’s has decided he wants something a tad more challenging and so is gifted the Industry portfolio, during an economic crisis.
seperated at birth?
The list goes on and on – John Baird the angriest man in parliament, as Transport Minister. Jason Kenney heading up Immigration after claiming Canada should use certain forms of discrimination when screening immigrants. Lisa Raitt as Minister of Natural Resources after a disastrous stint as the head of the Toronto Port Authority, thanks to our good friends in the 905 (like people didn’t already hate Oakville).
But such is the case when you have such a thin crop to choose from. And while this is reason enough to heap scorn on the whole process, there’s also the use of cabinet shuffle as punishment. When one of the above ministers causes some level of controversy or screws up their portfolio (and they will), Harper will fix it all by “shuffling” his cabinet.
It’s nice to know that governing in this country is so arbitrary, that on a moments notice anyone (probably you or I) can pick up where someone else left off with no trouble at all.
Next year either Obama or McCain (but mostly Obama) will sit down to pick his cabinet and isn’t handcuffed by the same restrictions Harper is. When he appoints someone to run the country's finances, he can choose from any of the finest minds in the country.
Meanwhile, we get this enormous douche-bag as Finance Minister – as if he hadn’t already done enough damage.
Who needs a drink?
No comments:
Post a Comment