Cabinet shuffle/SAG awards?
Posted by Stephen on January 4th, 2007
Given the attention Ottawa will pay to the cabinet shuffle, let me offer a slightly different perspective: the interesting thing was the appointment of the six secretaries of state, and where they went:
The Honourable Jay D. Hill is appointed Secretary of State and Chief Government Whip;
The Honourable Jason Kenney has been sworn in as a member of the Privy Council and is appointed Secretary of State (Multiculturalism and Canadian Identity);
The Honourable Gerry Ritz has been sworn in as a member of the Privy Council and is appointed Secretary of State (Small Business and Tourism);
The Honourable Helena Guergis has been sworn in as a member of the Privy Council and is appointed Secretary of State (Foreign Affairs and International Trade) (Sport); and
The Honourable Christian Paradis has been sworn in as a member of the Privy Council and is appointed Secretary of State (Agriculture).
These six appointments will be working with the following ministers, if my guess is correct:
Mr. Paradis will be working with Minister Strahl, former member of the breakaway DRC;
Ms. Guergis will be working with former PC leader Peter MacKay, former Liberal cabinet minister David Emerson and Minister Oda, who went from no Secretaries of State to two today;
Mr. Ritz will be working with Industry Minister Maxime Bernier;
Mr. Kenney will be working with Minister Oda and (perhaps) Minister Finley;
Mrs. LeBreton will be working with Minister Solberg, and
Mr. Hill is doing the same job as before, just now as a Secretary of State.
It will be interesting to see how these new secretaries of state interact with their Ministers, and how their ministers react to their appointments. I was expecting to see a secretary of state for the Environment Minister, frankly, but there you have it.
But watch for these secretary of states and their interaction with their ministers … I, on the other hand, will be writing the SAG awards to complain that Clint Eastwood has been ignored.
January 5th, 2007 » 12:13 pm
Stephen,
What sort of additional resources to these Secretaries of State get? I understand they are not members of Cabinet, but do they get a significant boost in staff resources, etc.??
I am not aware of any of the Ministers involved having significant reputations for playing badly with their colleagues. Granted some, like Peter McKay, may have leadership ambitions that may or may not come into play in his situation. But my guess is the collegial dynamic won’t be a big issue here.
Looks to me like this is the PM’s way of buttering up some key players in his caucus a bit, and building his bench strength ahead of a possible election if need be…
January 5th, 2007 » 1:13 pm
Sean,
Typically, Secretaries of State get five staffers, with an office budget of around $300K each. And while they are not full members of cabinet, they are invited to attend cabinet on occasion.
I don’t think it’s a collegial issue either, but I do think it’s always a sign when you add a second minister — and perhaps a bigger sign when it’s a secretary of state — to a portfolio. The sign can be positive (they can really teach a rising star a few things), benign, or it can be negative (I’m watching you!), but it is nevertheless a sign.
I think the issue on this one, for me, is that the media didn’t even discuss the “where” story of the secretaries of state, choosing, as always, to focus on the “who” side. For example, a department I think it’s clear the Conservatives don’t regard as priority — Canadian Heritage — now supports three full ministers and two secretaries of state. I’m only saying …