Grouchy
Okay, I've tried my very best to shed the best light on the Conservative's selections for Cabinet and did my very best not to talk about the Parliamentary Secretary positions - but I can resist no longer.
I don't know what fire the PMO was rushing to put out by announcing the ParlSecs so quickly, but it was obvious not a lot of thought went into the selections. The most glaring error was putting Ted Menzies into a portfolio for Official Languages when he can only speak English! Don't get me wrong, I love the guy, but this is too much. He will be eaten alive at committee. My other favorite? A white male in the portfolio for multiculturalism. Nice.
Another major issue are the people who were left out altogether. Namely, Bob Mills and James Rajotte. Bob worked his tail off to formulate an environmental policy for the party, where did it get him? Oh, but if he's lucky, he may get to be the Chair of the Environment Committee!!
While I'm ranting, another issue. Staff. They can make or break the career of a politician. The Conservative Caucus is notorious for treating their staff like garbage. I know too many staffers who have been thrown to the curb like yesterday's trash. So many good staffers have been shunned, the party now seems left with 20 year old staffers who want to be a Chief of Staff in a Minister's office. Sadly, they probably have a really good shot.
Everytime an MP makes a dumb remark, it's likely because their staff was not doing their job. This past week for the Conservatives was evidence of either poor staff OR advice of staff being ignored. So many Conservative politicians believe they don't need any guidance from advisors because they were "smart enough" to get elected. Right.
I don't know what fire the PMO was rushing to put out by announcing the ParlSecs so quickly, but it was obvious not a lot of thought went into the selections. The most glaring error was putting Ted Menzies into a portfolio for Official Languages when he can only speak English! Don't get me wrong, I love the guy, but this is too much. He will be eaten alive at committee. My other favorite? A white male in the portfolio for multiculturalism. Nice.
Another major issue are the people who were left out altogether. Namely, Bob Mills and James Rajotte. Bob worked his tail off to formulate an environmental policy for the party, where did it get him? Oh, but if he's lucky, he may get to be the Chair of the Environment Committee!!
While I'm ranting, another issue. Staff. They can make or break the career of a politician. The Conservative Caucus is notorious for treating their staff like garbage. I know too many staffers who have been thrown to the curb like yesterday's trash. So many good staffers have been shunned, the party now seems left with 20 year old staffers who want to be a Chief of Staff in a Minister's office. Sadly, they probably have a really good shot.
Everytime an MP makes a dumb remark, it's likely because their staff was not doing their job. This past week for the Conservatives was evidence of either poor staff OR advice of staff being ignored. So many Conservative politicians believe they don't need any guidance from advisors because they were "smart enough" to get elected. Right.
posted by Jason at 5:36 AM
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