Deckchairs on the Titanic – err, I mean cabinet shuffled

He came, he shuffled, he left. That’s right – ten cabinet ministers and minsters of state have new portfolios. And oh look – once again, women are under-represented. And there were demotions – Lisa Raitt for dropping the ball on the Chalk River file (and good luck with that hot potato, Christian Paradis), and Diane Ablonczy for giving tourism funding to Toronto Pride. (Not that anyone will admit that, but you know it’s true). And they’re all “Oh, we just want to give Lisa Raitt more government experience,” and “Giving Diane Ablonczy Minister of State for Seniors is totally a step up because it’s a growing field.” Uh huh. I believe that.

Michael Ignatieff, by the way, referred to said cabinet as “little puppets,” while Jack Layton was indignant that Labour is referred to as a junior portfolio.

Incidentally, sometime around the power outage on the Hill, Ignatieff revealed his party’s Canada 150 conference, which is what they’re dubbing the policy convention they’re having in Montreal at the end of March – what do they need to do before Canada’s 150th birthday in 2017?

But then there’s the logo:

Dale Smith is a freelance journalist in the Parliamentary Press Gallery and author of The Unbroken Machine: Canada's Democracy in Action.

Keep Reading

Trans issues didn’t doom the Democrats

OPINION: The Republicans won ending on a giant anti-trans note, but Democrats ultimately failed to communicate on class

Xtra Explains: Trans girls and sports

Debunking some of the biggest myths around trans girls and fairness in sports

How ‘mature minor’ laws let trans kids make their own decisions

Canadian law lets some youth make medical or legal decisions for themselves, but how does it work?

To combat transphobia, we need to engage with the people who spread it

OPINION: opening up a dialogue with those we disagree with is key if we want to achieve widespread social change