Is anyone surprised?
Anyone even vaguely familiar with the chicanery involved in the Defence Department’s handling of the Afghan detainees’ file might well have expected the same type of thing was going on with regard to the fighter jets.
The Auditor-General’s devastating report on the handling of the gazillion dollar F-35 project comes as yet another bristling example of ethical malfeasance that before long – especially with electoral fraud allegations piling up – could reach the breaking point.
Everyone talks of the next election not being until 2015. That’s not necessarily the case. In 2008, the fixed date election law was broken by the Conservatives. The move survived a court challenge. The law no longer has teeth. An election could come well before 2015.
Liberal leader Bob Rae went over the top yesterday in calling for Stephen Harper’s resignation for allegedly misleading parliament on the F-35s. Resignation is of course the furthest thing from the prime minister’s mind. But Rae did get off the best line of the day in suggesting the hands-on PM was anything but in the dark on the fighter jet dealings. “He cannot now pretend that he was just the piano player in the brothel who didn’t have a clue as to what was really going on upstairs.”
But that’s the kind of defence that is to be expected from the prime minister’s office. It’s the same one that is being used on the electoral fraud allegations. To wit: the brass didn’t know what was going on below. In the AG’s report on the jets, there are lots of lines condemning the bureaucrats that will provide fodder for that case.
The immediate question centres on the fate of Defence Minister Peter MacKay. Like Jean Chretien, Harper has shown reluctance to dump ministers who get in trouble. It’s tantamount to an admission of guilt and no PM likes to admit that.
But Harper would be well advised not only to shuffle MacKay but to enact a major cabinet overhaul. The PM didn’t make many significant changes to his executive after his majority electoral victory last year. Many ministers have now been in their posts for four, five or six years and many others have fallen on hard times. In addition to MacKay there’s been Christian Paradis with his ill-advised audiences at Industry, Vic Toews with his boneheaded internet surveillance legislation at Public Safety, John Duncan’s inept handling of Attawapiskat at Indian Affairs and the many troubles Tony Clement has encountered wherever he has been.
Harper, who has just made a smart move in elevating Andrew MacDougall from spokesperson to communications director, needs some fresh faces with ethical reputations on his front benches. He could start by promoting backbenchers like Michael Chong, who resigned from cabinet on a matter of principle years ago, and Chris Alexander, the new MP who served as Ambassador to Afghanistan, as well as James Rajotte who has been left out of cabinet because it’s hard to find room at the table for yet another politician hailing from Alberta.
In the existing cabinet, there are four high quality performers. They are Jim Flaherty at Finance, James Moore at Heritage, John Baird at Foreign Affairs and Jason Kenney at Immigration. You can get a lot of argument over the wisdom of the policy direction of each. But in terms of executive ability they outrank the others. If and when Harper decides to step down, his successor could well come from among these four.
Jim Flaherty has been in Finance six years but there is no way he is moving. John Baird is new at Foreign Affairs and will stay put. But Moore and Kenney could both serve Harper well in new spots. Moore has been terrific at dodging the cultural minefields that a government with a philistine bent presents for any culture minister. He would be a solid choice to replace MacKay at Defence.
Jason Kenney deserves a new post after his years of building support for the Conservatives in ethnic communities and in reshaping immigration policy. He could move to Public Safety.
Rob Nicholson has been in Justice forever. This minister, who has been so adept at catering to the party’s dinosaur wing, has piloted his omnibus crime package into being. He might welcome a change. So would Peter Kent, who is probably dying to get out of environment.
MacKay, who is the Conservative Party’s strong man in the Maritimes and a talented retail politician, should be kept in cabinet in a smaller role. Like Defence Ministers before him he made the mistake of indiscriminately becoming a captive of the military agenda. He likely faced pressure from his political superiors as well. As part of his defence build-up, Harper committed to getting the war planes from the outset. The generals wanted them as well. Nothing was going to stand in their way.
Original Article
Source: ipolitics
Author: Lawrence Martin
Anyone even vaguely familiar with the chicanery involved in the Defence Department’s handling of the Afghan detainees’ file might well have expected the same type of thing was going on with regard to the fighter jets.
The Auditor-General’s devastating report on the handling of the gazillion dollar F-35 project comes as yet another bristling example of ethical malfeasance that before long – especially with electoral fraud allegations piling up – could reach the breaking point.
Everyone talks of the next election not being until 2015. That’s not necessarily the case. In 2008, the fixed date election law was broken by the Conservatives. The move survived a court challenge. The law no longer has teeth. An election could come well before 2015.
Liberal leader Bob Rae went over the top yesterday in calling for Stephen Harper’s resignation for allegedly misleading parliament on the F-35s. Resignation is of course the furthest thing from the prime minister’s mind. But Rae did get off the best line of the day in suggesting the hands-on PM was anything but in the dark on the fighter jet dealings. “He cannot now pretend that he was just the piano player in the brothel who didn’t have a clue as to what was really going on upstairs.”
But that’s the kind of defence that is to be expected from the prime minister’s office. It’s the same one that is being used on the electoral fraud allegations. To wit: the brass didn’t know what was going on below. In the AG’s report on the jets, there are lots of lines condemning the bureaucrats that will provide fodder for that case.
The immediate question centres on the fate of Defence Minister Peter MacKay. Like Jean Chretien, Harper has shown reluctance to dump ministers who get in trouble. It’s tantamount to an admission of guilt and no PM likes to admit that.
But Harper would be well advised not only to shuffle MacKay but to enact a major cabinet overhaul. The PM didn’t make many significant changes to his executive after his majority electoral victory last year. Many ministers have now been in their posts for four, five or six years and many others have fallen on hard times. In addition to MacKay there’s been Christian Paradis with his ill-advised audiences at Industry, Vic Toews with his boneheaded internet surveillance legislation at Public Safety, John Duncan’s inept handling of Attawapiskat at Indian Affairs and the many troubles Tony Clement has encountered wherever he has been.
Harper, who has just made a smart move in elevating Andrew MacDougall from spokesperson to communications director, needs some fresh faces with ethical reputations on his front benches. He could start by promoting backbenchers like Michael Chong, who resigned from cabinet on a matter of principle years ago, and Chris Alexander, the new MP who served as Ambassador to Afghanistan, as well as James Rajotte who has been left out of cabinet because it’s hard to find room at the table for yet another politician hailing from Alberta.
In the existing cabinet, there are four high quality performers. They are Jim Flaherty at Finance, James Moore at Heritage, John Baird at Foreign Affairs and Jason Kenney at Immigration. You can get a lot of argument over the wisdom of the policy direction of each. But in terms of executive ability they outrank the others. If and when Harper decides to step down, his successor could well come from among these four.
Jim Flaherty has been in Finance six years but there is no way he is moving. John Baird is new at Foreign Affairs and will stay put. But Moore and Kenney could both serve Harper well in new spots. Moore has been terrific at dodging the cultural minefields that a government with a philistine bent presents for any culture minister. He would be a solid choice to replace MacKay at Defence.
Jason Kenney deserves a new post after his years of building support for the Conservatives in ethnic communities and in reshaping immigration policy. He could move to Public Safety.
Rob Nicholson has been in Justice forever. This minister, who has been so adept at catering to the party’s dinosaur wing, has piloted his omnibus crime package into being. He might welcome a change. So would Peter Kent, who is probably dying to get out of environment.
MacKay, who is the Conservative Party’s strong man in the Maritimes and a talented retail politician, should be kept in cabinet in a smaller role. Like Defence Ministers before him he made the mistake of indiscriminately becoming a captive of the military agenda. He likely faced pressure from his political superiors as well. As part of his defence build-up, Harper committed to getting the war planes from the outset. The generals wanted them as well. Nothing was going to stand in their way.
Original Article
Source: ipolitics
Author: Lawrence Martin
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