Will Prime Minister Stephen Harper drop him from his job as defence minister?
Various commentators have suggested MacKay will be moved in an expected Cabinet shuffle in June. The reason? They credit the increasing number of problems/embarrassments that have emerged under MacKay’s watch.
The minster is very popular with those who populate NDHQ but even some of those people blame him, rightly or wrongly, for bungling the F-35 file. Then there is his now famous flight on a Cormorant search and rescue helicopter, with his office ordering the military to send out a helicopter to pick the minister up at a private fishing lodge. That flight, and MacKay’s controversial claim that it was all a planned training mission, seems to be an incident that still resonates with the public.
There has been a lot of speculation over the years about MacKay. There were claims a couple of years ago that he might return to Nova Scotia to rebuild the Progressive Conservative Party (he obviously didn’t). Then there were more recent claims he was looking for a job in the private sector, something that was floated in various media outlets until MacKay denied it.
“I have the best job in the country and I am very, very happy doing what I am doing,” MacKay told journalists at the time (November 2010). “I have no plans to resign.”
Now one of the latest Cabinet shuffle scenarios making the rounds has MacKay moving out of defence to become Justice Minister (the theory being that as a former crown prosecutor that position would be a good fit for him).
But hold off on taking any bets on that scenario. As one political veteran pointed out to Defence Watch, the number of people who actually know the outcome of a Cabinet shuffle can be usually counted on one hand (and one of those is the prime minister). In other words, don’t expect to know the outcome until hours before any Cabinet shuffle is announced.
Original Article
Source: ottawa citizen
Author: David Pugliese
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