I don't know whether to laugh or cry

[chickenfeet]

One has to have some sympathy with Stephen Harper. Putting together a cabinet out of the collection of nutjobs, Mulroney era hacks and leftovers from the Harris debacle that are the CCA isn't an easy job. That said, three of his appointments are so bad I couldn't have imagined them in my worst nightmares. Cleaning up the Adscam mess at Public Works will be the job of a Montreal lawyer and Tory hack who doesn't even sit in the Commons. International Trade goes to David Emerson as un petit pourboire for crossing the floor, a la Bouncing Belinda, and to cap it all Tony Clement gets Health. I have scarcely enough bile in my keyboard to express how disgusting that appointment is. Clement demonstrated during his tenure of the Ontario Health portfolio under Harris that he is a rude, arrogant clod who knows slightly less than nothing about healthcare. His one achievement was to make his hapless predecessor, Elizabeth Witmer, look good.

Way to go Stevie. You really are a total prat!

Comments

[forthright.livejournal.com]

He's now trying feebly to attempt to justify Fortier and Emerson as necessary to ensure that Montreal and Vancouver are represented in Cabinet. So ... Toronto? Guess we don't count.

[chickenfeet2003.livejournal.com]

Toronto? Guess we don't count.

Since when did we ever? Shafting Toronto is the national sport.

[breccia.livejournal.com]

Hello, Toronto GTA (wisely) didn't elect a single Tory, so how can he possibly put one into his cabinet???

[chickenfeet2003.livejournal.com]

Hello! Read Steve's post. Vancouver and Montreal didn't elect any Tories either but they still ended up with cabinet ministers.

[forthright.livejournal.com]

I read somewhere (can't find it now) that when asked, Harper claimed that Jim Flaherty was the GTA representative. Now, I've spent a lot of time in Oshawa - I was born there - and if Mr. Harper thinks that that counts as real GTA representation, then he's even more out of touch than I previously believed.

[chickenfeet2003.livejournal.com]

No doubt Harper would consider someone from Red Deer a suitable representative for Calgary... not!

I think we need to find a way of getting Layton to realise that if he doesn't really go to bat for Toronto in this parliament he is permanent toast.

[forthright.livejournal.com]

For the first time in a long time, the federal NDP has a leader with an intimate knowledge of urban issues, in an electoral map that could see the NDP grow tremendously in Vancouver, Victoria, Toronto, Winnipeg, Hamilton, Ottawa, and other urban centres. If Layton is a "Toronto first" leader, I'm not convinced there's much ground to be had. But if he runs with the awareness that rural / agrarian issues have to become secondary to urban ones (in general) in an increasingly progressive and urbanized Canada, then I think there's a lot of room for growth.

[chickenfeet2003.livejournal.com]

I agree with you. I'm tired of seeing special deals cut by the feds that entrench the most backward aspects of Canada.

Harper shortlived honeymoon

[(Anonymous)]

What a blunder!

Just sworn in and Harper shows his arrogance and political immaturity in these ways. It should not really be a surprise to us, though: he is used to running things “my way or the highway”, and this breathtaking arrogance in doing a 180 degree turn on parliamentarians who change parties, really takes the cake!

And to choose Stockwell Day instead of boosting the number of women in his first cabinet: what message are you sending to 50% of the population, Harper – that being a white male with outdated social views makes you far more qualified for office than being a woman does? Watch your popularity amongst women slide by a handful or so of points on this one.

And so much for your platform of an elected senate ... just a bit too inconvenient right now, eh? Besides, voters are cattle – they won’t remember what you said if you now start saying something else ...

These crass steps just confirm the views of the voters in Canada’s big cities: don’t trust a man who runs a stealth campaign, hiding many of his policies.

Going to be a very interesting 12 months!