Bizarro blog, staring Maxime Bernier as Mac Harb

Reading this Globe story on the Conservatives' over the top attack on the Liberals over Mac Harb's position on the seal hunt, I thought it might be fun to re-write the story, but with Maxime Bernier playing Mac Harb. Because it's all rather silly. Apologies to Ms. Taber, her's was just the first story I came across on the topic...

PMO OLO harpoons Liberal Conservative divisions on seal hunt climate change

The Prime Minister’s Opposition Leader’s Office is accusing Michael Ignatieff Stephen Harper of playing politics with the seal hunt environment and the lives of those who depend on it after a Liberal Senator former Conservative minister reintroduced his bill to ban the hunt dismissed concern over global warming as alarmism.

In an internal memo to Conservative Liberal MPs and supporters and the press gallery, PMO OLO strategists also suggest the Liberal Leader Conservative Leader is a weakling for not being able to unite his caucus on an issue that he says he supports.

“Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff Conservative Leader Stephen Harper claims to support the seal hunt believe climate change is a serious issue but is attempting to play both sides of the issue,” the PMO OLO memo says. “In these challenging economic times Ignatieff’s Liberals Harper’s Conservatives are playing politics with Canadian families who depend on the hunt climate for their livelihoods.”

It also says that if Mr. Ignatieff Harper truly supports the hunt climate he should insist on unanimity in his caucus “to stand united behind Canadians sealers, instead of undermining the hunt international desire to fight climate change and undercutting the livelihood of Canadian families.”

The memo is referring to Liberal Senator Mac Harb Conservative MP and former cabinet minister Maxime Bernier who has indicated he will reintroduce his bill to ban the seal hunt in Canada believes there is no scientific consensus on the matter and applauded the Harper government for taking a go-slow approach. He held a news conference earlier today with other anti-sealers wrote a letter to the La Press newspaper.

…

Meanwhile, the Tories Liberals are doing what they can to point out the lack of unity over this issue in the Liberal Conservative caucus.

“We will not play politics with the livelihoods of Canadians,” the PMO OLO memo says. “This Conservative government Liberal opposition is united in its support of the thousands millions of coastal Canadians sealers who rely on the seal hunt environment for income oxygen.”

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Conservatives keep digging in Quebec

Macleans has an interesting article on the Conservative Party's increasing woes in Quebec. And between interesting anecdotes like this:

Meanwhile, organizers were scurrying across the room, pleading with attendees to keep quiet during the PM’s speech. Despite shelling out $150 for the privilege, diners didn’t appear particularly interested in listening to what Harper had to say. In fact, Harper didn’t even get the evening’s warmest reception. That privilege went to Maxime Bernier.

And advice Harper the egomaniac is unlikely to ever take, like this:

Bob Plamondon, a longtime Conservative and the author of Blue Thunder: The Truth about Conservatives from Macdonald to Harper, goes even further. He says Harper needs to strike a power-sharing agreement with someone able to countenance the prime minister’s sharply partisan instincts when it comes to Quebec. It’s the only way, Plamondon says, for Harper to avoid making missteps like those on culture and young offenders that are widely credited with sinking his chances of a majority in the last election campaign.

What struck me as most interesting though, as the article outlines how the Harper Conservatives continue to do much the same things that got them in trouble there in the first place, reinforcing the negative perceptions of the Conservative brand, was this observation from Harper's Quebec boss:

While it may seem counter-intuitive for the Tories to return to the ideological territory that may have played a role in derailing their campaign in 2008, a spokesperson for Conservative MP Christian Paradis, Harper’s Quebec lieutenant, says the party plans to stick with the tough-on-crime pitch to Quebecers.

Do they think Quebecers are going to suddenly do a 180 on the issue? Did the Conservatives learn nothing from the last campaign? It's like Harper is saying to Quebecers: "It's not me, it's you. I'm right, you change."

Honestly, I thought he was smarter than that. But apparently I gave him too much credit, as he's continuing down that same road again. Which, frankly, is just fine with me.

Amusing that Bernier got a warmer reception than Harper. Bernier might be the party's only MP left in the province after the next election, the way they're going.

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Reports that reports of Lisa Raitt's death was premature may be premature

All morning the speculation has been will Lisa Raitt resign/be fired for leaving a binder full of secret documents on the Chalk River file at CTV, and not noticing it was missing for a week, or will the Conservatives try to blame it all on some poor staffer (who I'm sure will be rewarded with a nice private sector gig for taking the fall).

Well, unsurprisingly, with accountability being just a buzzword for the Stephen Harper Conservatives, just after lunchtime they opted for door B: let the staffer take the fall. Harper spokesperson (I'm assuming he's on the PMO payroll today) Kory Teneycke went on CTV (hey, why not them?) to break the news:

Well, let me first start by saying that this is obviously a very serious incident. Our government takes the handling of confidential documents very seriously and we have very clear and very firm procedures in place to prevent these sorts of incidents from happening. That being said, an incident obviously did occur where some documents were left at the ctv studio here in Ottawa. And as alt, the prime minister and our office have taken a very careful look at what did occur. It's our assessment that while this was a serious breach, it was not breach by the minister herself. And as such, we expect the minister to continue the good work she's doing on behalf of the government.

(snip)

The minister did offer her resignation if the prime minister felt it appropriate. For her to step down. He obviously did not. And as such, she's staying on. However, I would like to point out that the staff person responsible did offer their resignation and it was accepted.

So, Raitt offered her resignation but Harper said no, some poor staffer resigned instead, and this is different from the Maxime Bernier cause because it just is so leave me alone. And with that, the Conservatives seemed content to ride this thing out.

But then, mere minutes later on that same CTV, reporter Bob Fife reports:

I can report, dan, ctv news has learned that the aide who was walking the plank for the minister is Jasmine McDonell who I think we have a picture of her going in with the minister this morning in from the back way of the house of commons. She's a young aide, press secretary. I can also report sources telling CTV that that briefing document actually was the minister's document. Now, they're going blame this aide for having it. But there's going to be a lot of questions that will be asked here, dan. The minister -- if it was the minister's briefing document, which is what I am told it is, the question would be why wasn't the minister -- why'd the minister ask, hey, where's my briefing document? Why is it missing? In and the same thing would apply to the aides. Any of these documents, they're supposed to be under lock and key because they are marked " and when they are brought out of the office they're supposed to be in a briefcase under lock and key and taken out with somebody watching. When it goes back into the evening it it is supposed to be put back into a safe in the minister's office or at a safe in the minister's home. So there's a lot of unanswered questions here. It's fine and dandy for the prime minister's office to try to have some young 26-year-old walk the plank for this, but the buck stops with the minister.

(snip)

I'm getting this from sources, dan, that i believe to be reliable, who have talked to me in the last little bit. And who say that not only were -- that is the minister's briefing book, but there is essential active commercial information -- sensitive commercial information in that document which we have not reported that would be very advantageous to some of the people bidding on some of our reactors in ontario, and in fact the information that the ontario government would not be very pleased with if it got out. The issue here is the government trying to deflect the blame by blaming some young 26-year-old girl. Other issue, this is we're told the minister's document. And the other factor is sensitive commercial information which ctv has not reported that somebody has to take account for. And it certainly can't be some young kid.

(snip)

The duments that the ctv had and which graham richardson reported on last night were " and they were numbered. And so they are very sensitive documents and these are the kind documents that are traceable. If they're not reported immediately, there should be an automatic trace of what happened those documents. Ctv got these documents late thursday evening. We've had them since tuesday until graham reported on the national last night. So we understand there is an investigation going on now from the privy council office, but every rule in the book was broken as far as I can see in terms of security.

Question period starts in a few minutes and its going to be a doozy. Fife's report kills any chance Teneyck's interview had of ending this thing with the staffer's resignation. This is bigger now, with the commercial aspects, and with the revelation these actually were the minister's own personal briefing books, the PMO and Raitt look like heartless, unprincipled tools for trying to blame this on some young staffer.

What's more, by releasing that Raitt offered her resignation and HARPER refused, this is now bigger than Raitt. Harper gets to wear this now. This whole sorry episode, from the firing of Linda Keen to the complete inaction on the Chalk River file over 18 months to the lack of an isotope backup plan to this pathetic attempt to save the hide of Raitt and not Bernier for the EXACT SAME OFFENSE because he likes Raitt while Bernier was an embarrassment to trying to blame it all on some young kid, it all comes back to the incompetence of this government and Stephen Harper's lack of leadership.

Lisa Raitt's resignation, which is even more necessary now that it was, will be all the more embarassing and painful for this government now because of this pathetic manuvering.

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Maxime Bernier on Lisa Raitt's misplaced documents

I'm sure this will endear Maxime Bernier to Stephen Harper all the more, no?

“I think she has good judgment. She must use her judgment like I did in my circumstance,” Maxime Bernier said Wednesday.

“I did what I had to do at my time. I assumed my own responsibility. She's going to do what she thinks is good for the country and for her.”

In other words, I had to resign so she better have to as well. Unless Harper was lying when he said it was because of the documents I had to resign, and not because of my biker-connected girlfriend with the hot dresses and the what not.

Unfortunately, since Bernier did not run away quickly from the reporter, my dream scenario is now even less unlikely: Maxime returning to cabinet in Raitt's portfolio. That would have been too funny.

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Maxime Bernier's stay in a monastery, and Brian Mulroney's advice

Some very interesting revelations and observations today in Joël-Denis Bellavance’s La Presse feature interview with former Conservative cabinet minister Maxime Bernier. Yes, he of Julie Couillard fame. Who now writes a blog.

For example, (via Google translation) he spent time in a monastery to take stock following his resignation:

But after having spent five days in the monastery of Saint-Benoît-du-Lac, alone, without phone and BlackBerry, to digest all that had happened to him before breaking his resignation of the cabinet as Minister of Foreign Affairs, Maxime Bernier has decided to continue his work as MP for Beauce in Ottawa.

And what helped clinch his determination to stay in the political game? Some advice from everyone’s favourite Conservative for life, Brian Mulroney:

The former prime minister Brian Mulroney who was convinced to undertake a period of reflection, far from the spotlight, when the political storm raging here and abroad, to avoid precipitate things about his political career.

"The Perfect Storm, Brian Mulroney called me. He said, 'Maxime, I'm sure you see only black at the moment, you do not see the sun at the end of the tunnel. Take your time The sun will reappear. Va reflect and think about your business and when you're ready to talk, you talk to your people, those who made you elected. That's what I did. "

____
PS. Check-out my entry for the YLC's positive politics ad challenge, "Is this your Canada?"

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Passing sentence on the Conservative Party

Even with Stephen Harper's mad, frightened dash to get into an election before the house of cards that is his alleged reputation for “leadership and competence” comes tumbling down, there are still a some interesting time-bombs that could blow-up in his face mid-campaign.

Just off hand, there's Julie Couillard's tell-all book, telling her life story from cavorting with biker gang members to canoodling with former foreign affairs minister Maxime Bernier and his classified briefs. It's release date is Oct. 14, but count on some juicy excerpts being released to the hungry media hordes mid-campaign to maximize publicity.

The catalog says the book will cover Couillard's life from her upbringing in a modest Montreal suburb through her relationships with men embroiled in the world of Montreal's criminal biker gangs through to her experiences in the corridors of power on the arm of former Foreign Affairs Minister Maxime Bernier where she met a number of world leaders including U.S. President George W. Bush.

Moreover, it looks like Couillard is going to use the book to set the record straight and settle more than a few scores. "In this profoundly human autobiography, she responds to the multiple lies, half-truths and speculation that has been written about her over the course of the last few months," reads the catalog.

Then there's Stephen Harper's lawsuit against the Liberal Party for libel relating to the Chuck Cadman affair and the allegations the Conservatives offered a $1 million life insurance policy to the dying MP if he voted with the Conservatives in a confidence vote. Speaking of which, Harper still has yet to explain just what he meant by “financial considerations”, just who supposedly doctored the recording of him talking about it, why they'd do that, how any editing would change the meaning of what he said...basically, he's offered no credible explanation for the affair or his role in it.

Anyway, the lawsuit is proceeding and the next hearing should take place during the campaign:

But Mr. Dearden revealed that the next hearing in the case — a potentially explosive court drama that could take place in the midst of an expected federal election campaign — may now have to be postponed.

Postpone, now why would Harper's lawyer want to do that? I thought he wanted this case to proceed expeditiously, to hold those dastardly Liberals to account for their libelous libels? I guess that takes back-seat to headlines mid-campaign reminding us of allegations of the Conservatives trying to buy off MPs. But doesn't he want his personality back before the election?

Lastly for our campaign calendar, there's a federal court hearing relating to the death penalty, always a meaty campaign topic. You may recall that shortly coming to power, Harper and Stockwell Day decided they didn't really care anymore if Canadians got executed abroad, ending a long-running policy of seeking clemency for Canadians facing the death penalty in other countries.

The widely expected mid-October federal election would see one of the Conservative government's most controversial decisions -- its refusal to seek clemency for a Canadian on death row in the United States -- put on trial at the height of the campaign.

The Federal Court of Canada has scheduled a two-day judicial review of Canada's new policy on the death penalty to begin Sept. 29 in Toronto.

A legal team representing Alberta-born murderer Ronald Smith, 50, and government lawyers will present opposing arguments about the October 2007 policy change, which ended a long-standing federal practice of automatically seeking clemency for any Canadian facing execution in a foreign country.

This should generate some interesting debate mid-campaign. Canadians have firmly rejected the death penalty as morally unconscionable and unacceptable to our legal system. The Conservatives are going to have to explain to Canadians why they are doing an end-run around that consensus, and explain whether or not this is the beginning of a plan to re-introduce capital punishment in Canada. If we won't accept capital punishment here, we shouldn't abandon our citizens to it overseas, no matter how heinous their crimes.

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Dippers...on a plane!

Not that I don't think this is serious because leaving your secret cabinet documents laying around, whether its at your ex-girlfriend's pad or with the Skymall catalogue in your seatback pocket, is a definite no-no, but the first thought I had when reading this…

Maxime Bernier left briefing notes out during a commercial airline flight where a New Democratic MP could read them, the NDP said yesterday, offering what it says is further evidence that the ex-foreign affairs minister was careless with documents.

“He was in the aisle seat, I was in the window seat. I could clearly read the exposed parts of the document - as I'm sure the folks across the aisle from him could too," she said. The notes offered Mr. Bernier advice on what to say to the United States about Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan as well as the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force there. "It was about what the minister should say to [U.S. Secretary of State] Condoleezza Rice about Operation Enduring Freedom and the ISAF mission and [to] thank her for how communications between OEF and ISAF had improved," Ms. Black recounted.

… was man, I hope I don’t sit next ever sit near a member of the NDP caucus on an airplane…

A new APEC-related allegation surfaced in Parliament yesterday. An opposition MP said he overheard the Solicitor-General predict the outcome of the Vancouver inquiry.

NDP member Dick Proctor says he eavesdropped on Andy Scott while the two were travelling on the same plane.

Proctor says he took 11 pages of notes during the flight last week.

If the NDP elects more MPs I'm going to need to get one of those privacy screens for my laptop, I think. Where’s Samuel L. Jackson when you need him…

But seriously, don't leave your secret papers in the seatback pocket genius.

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Canada is back, baby!

Lord knows Prime Minister Stephen Joseph Harper has been called many things. But don’t you dare call him a liar. This was him last Canada Day:

"The news is spreading throughout the world: Canada's back," Harper told the crowd of about 35,000 on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Sunday.

And oh, how right he is. Canada is back alright, and with a vengeance. Just take a look:

CNN: Canadian foreign minister resigns

Washington Post: Canadian foreign minister quits over secret papers

Hindustan Times: Ex-lover costs Canadian foreign minister his job

Alsumaria Iraqi Satellite TV Network (Yes, Iraq): Canada Foreign Minister resigns

Radio Australia: Canada's foreign minister resigns after document debacle

Daily Mail: Minister resigns after leaving files with 'biker chick'

Evening Post: Minister quits post after error

Sydney Morning Herald: Good night and very bad luck

The Australian: Canadian foreign minister Maxime Bernier quits over bungle

USA Today: Canadian minister resigns after leaving classified docs at ex-girlfriend's house

New York Times: Canadian Official Quits Ahead of Ex-Lover’s Interview

The Independent: Foreign minister of Canada quits over 'biker's moll' girlfriend

The Gaurdian: Minister quits over security lapse

The Scotsman: Minister quits over lost files and biker gang links of ex-girlfriend

The Telegraph: Canadian foreign minister Maxime Bernier resigns over secret document row

ABC News: Canada's Foreign Minister Resigns

And there’s a few more here too.

That’s a whole lot of back. Thank-you, Stephen Harper, for restoring Canada’s position on the world stage.

Mission accomplished!

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If national security...

…is suddenly so important to Stephen Harper perhaps he'll retroactively do the right thing and ask Helena Guergis to "resign" as well.

In a letter to Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Dion said Guergis, the secretary of state for foreign affairs, put his security at risk by revealing details publicly of his itinerary in Afghanistan during a visit last weekend.

Information on such visits is usually blacked out to protect dignitaries, and the soldiers accompanying them, from attack by Taliban insurgents. But in an email to reporters on Saturday, Guergis discussed plans of Dion and deputy Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff to visit the Provincial Reconstruction Team before the two men revealed them.

Since Helena still has a job it would seem more likely it's embarrassing The Leader, and not national security, that led to Bernier's departure.

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Why Bernier’s girlfriends do matter

It may be easy to dismiss these stories out of hand and avoid being seen as gossipy busy-bodies, but no matter how amusing a line Steve Harper’s speech-writers wrote for him, the fact is Maxime Bernier’s ex-girlfriend having ties to organized crime is relevant. And it must be hard for the Conservatives to pretend its not because it comes down to an issue they claim to be all about: national security.

Bernier is Minister of Foreign Affairs. As such, he has access to a great deal of confidential information concerning our national security, and makes critical decisions every day. He also holds a high-level security clearance. Associating with people that have links to organized crime opens him to potential compromise, which may well be why the RCMP questioned him recently about a photo of him with a Montreal man facing criminal charges.

Even if I was willing to dismiss the girlfriend thing, and I think it mainly shows bad judgment more than anything else, in rushing to Bernier’s defence Stockwell Day goes too far:

Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day dismissed opposition complaints yesterday, saying the government has no business doing security checks on a cabinet ministers' families or partners.

While cabinet ministers and even members of Parliament must file conflict-of-interest reports that include the financial holdings of their spouses, Mr. Day said there is no reason to perform security checks on family members or partners.

Given some of the other initiatives Day and The Right have advocated in the name of “national security” his supposed squeamishness here is amusing. This is usually where he’d say ‘if you have nothing to hide…” But seriously, to argue no security checks should be done on the spouses of cabinet ministers? That’s a ridiculous argument, especially from Day.

Why does it matter? Well, like anyone else do ministers not confide in their partners about their jobs? Could that not involve confidential information? Do they not bring papers home, that the spouse would have access to? I think a background check is entirely relevant, given the circumstances. Then there’s the possibility of compromise and blackmail.

Because someone trying to get close to such a person to gain information is not outside the realm of possibility. Indeed, while I think there’s probably nothing to the Julie Couillard thing, the Gerda Munsinger affair puts lie to Day’s sweeping assertion we shouldn’t care who cabinet ministers date:

Munsinger was at the centre of a spy sex scandal that rocked Ottawa in the 1960s. The East German-born Soviet spy came to Montreal in the 1950s and ended up being involved with government officials in the John Diefenbaker government, including the associate minister of national defence, Pierre Sévigny.

She was deported in 1961 and the matter was quietly dealt with internally. But in 1966, a Liberal minister brought it up in the House of Commons. A media frenzy ensued and Munsinger was tracked down in Munich and confirmed the story.

All we’re talking about here is ensuring that someone who, by virtue of their relationship with a cabinet minister, gains potential access to confidential information, is not a security risk. I don’t think that’s too much to ask. And it certainly has nothing to do with gossip.

On Bernier though, I'll agree with those that say there are other, better reasons to go after him: he's a really crappy minister.

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Just what values are driving our death penalty policy?

The death penalty has been somewhat in the news since the Conservatives came into power, with the government no longer automatically fighting for the commutation when Canadians abroad are sentenced to death by foreign courts.

The application of the policy has indeed been haphazard. In the case of Ronald Smith Allen, a Montreal man convicted of killing his wife and children in Ohio, the Conservatives have refused to intervene and fight against Smith being given the death penalty.

However, in the case of Mohamed Kohail, a Canadian sentenced to death in Saudi Arabia for his party in a schoolyard brawl which led to a death, the Conservatives have decided they will intervene on Kohail’s behalf.

The Conservatives say they’re intervening with Kohail because the application of the death penalty wasn’t fair in this case, but it was done fairly in the Allen case. Canadian diplomats say it’s harder for them to make the case for Kohail with the Saudis and be taken seriously when the Conservatives refuse to make the case in the U.S. for Allen.

Here’s the line that caught my eye in this story:

Foreign Affairs Minister Maxime Bernier has said he will seek a sentence that is in line "with our values."

Just what values would those be Maxime? If you mean Canadian values, then you should be fighting the Allen case too, because Canadian values are firmly against the death penalty. That’s why we did away with it way back in 1976.

It’s unclear to me just what values would allow you to be fine with the death penalty in the one case, but against it in the other. Conservative values, I suppose. If your only concern is about the judicial process, why bring values into it? Just what supposed values are driving Conservative policy here?

Here’s an idea for an opposition motion I think the Liberals, BQ and NDP could all get behind. Rather everybody using all their opposition day motions to embarrass the other opposition parties, why not use one to pass a motion calling on the government to reinstate the longstanding Canadian tradition of seeking clemency in all death penalty cases, and reaffirming Canada’s opposition to capital punishment?

Of course, Harper would probably make it a confidence motion…

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Layton and NDP side with Conservatives on Coderre's Afghan trip

As I wrote last week Liberal defence critic Denis Coderre is staging his own fact-finding trip to Afghanistan after the Conservative government, playing politics, refused to extend to the defence critic of Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition the privilege of an official trip. He leaves Pakistan for Afghanistan today on a UN flight.

Mr. Coderre told CTV NewsNet in an interview Saturday he's been asking for months to go, but repeated calls to the defence minister asking for permission were ignored or rejected.

So he said he decided unilaterally to go on the fact-finding trip and report back to Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion in preparation for his own future trip to the war-torn country.

“I took my responsibility. I have a duty, I have a job to do. I am the critic for... the official Opposition,” he said. It's important, I would say, to make sure that we fully participate and contribute to the debate. So I'm gonna let them play their petty politics and I'll do my job.”

There were two interesting developments on this front this week.

Firstly, while the Conservatives continually ignored Coderre’s requests through official channels for official visit, a visit the Cons have continually attacked Liberals for not taking, they sent ministers Maxime Bernier and Bed Oda over to Afghanistan this week for a visit. It would seem this is Harper’s personal war, and while government photo-ops are a-ok, factfinding visits by opposition politicians are verboten. Mustn’t mess with the government narrative, after all.

One of the cabinet ministers visiting Afghanistan to meet with that country's leadership and Canadian troops says that roadside and suicide bombings in Kabul indicate that the situation is improving in the country.

Umm, yeah. I’ve not since being surprised by Conservative hypocrisy and classlessness, so it’s hard to be to be too surprised by their willingness to play politics with the war in Afghanistan. To send Bernier and Oda just after stories about they’re blocking Coderre’s trip does display a surprising level of both arrogance and political tone deafness, however.

The second development this week was more surprising, and at the same time not. But it would seem NDP leader Jack Layton has sided with the Conservatives on this issue:

In Toronto, federal NDP Leader Jack Layton had criticism for Mr. Coderre's solo trek.

“Involving individual MPs in a sort of ‘stunt-like' visit does pose risks.... I'm not on the ground to assess that. But you have to respect the judgement of our military leadership,” Mr. Layton told CTV NewsNet.

I’m sure our military leadership would be surprised to learn Layton feels we should respect their judgment. I won’t bother expanding on the obvious hypocrisy of that statement. I know I’m surprised to hear Layton parroting Blogging Tory talking points.

And like them, he’s wrong. The blocking of Coderre was not a military decision. It was a political decision made by the Conservative defence minister and, more likely, Stephen Harper’s office. That’s who you’re providing political cover to here Jack. Are you that desperate to score points against the Liberals you're getting in bed with the Conservatives on an issue where they're obviously full of crap?

No matter how petty the Conservatives and NDP may be back in Canada, I’m certain our military leadership in Afghanistan will respect Coderre’s position and his purpose and let him see what’s happening on the ground. I look forward to his report.

UPDATE: Steve is on the same page.

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A rumour to make Reformers cry...

Cabinet shuffle rumours are a dime a dozen these days. One of them involves Peter McKay going to Industry, with Maxime Bernier taking his place at Foreign Affairs. An anonymous "Tory" (I guess not senior enough to be called a senior Tory) described the scenario as a win-win:

The thinking is that rising star Maxime Bernier, the current industry minister, would raise the party’s profile in Quebec if he was moved to foreign affairs, while Mr. MacKay would have the opportunity to boost flagging Tory fortunes in Atlantic Canada by doling out Industry Department money.

It's enough to break the heart of a die-hard Reform Party loyalist. I can just imagine a single tear running down Preston Manning’s cheek. Or the cheek of Stephen Harper circa 2002:

Members of the Nova Scotia legislature voted unanimously Thursday in favor of a resolution condemning Stephen Harper, the leader of the Canadian Alliance.

The resolution was in response to Harper's comments that there is a "defeatist attitude" in Atlantic Canada.

"There is a dependence in the region that breeds a culture of defeatism," the Opposition leader said Wednesday following question period in the House.

How far Mr. Harper has come in his thinking. Anyway, more anonymous Tories expound on what would be the best portfolio for McKay to buy votes with in Atlantic Canada:

On the other hand, it wouldn’t be a good idea, since Mr. MacKay is already in charge of ACOA, which doles out economic development money in the region, and a move to Industry would be seen as a demotion.

"ACOA’s a cash cow in Atlantic Canada," said one Tory. "If they really want to win back the region, they’ve already got him holding the purse. It’s a decent portfolio and I could see them doing it, but I don’t think it helps them win back the region."

Sure, but there’s a third hand too, attached to the wrist of yet another anonymous Torry:

On the other hand, says another Tory, the industry minister controls infrastructure spending, and that means power.

"There’s a load of infrastructure money in the last budget, and the Atlantic Gateway is all about infrastructure," the Tory said. "I wouldn’t say that’s a bad move for MacKay. What kind of profile do you get with foreign affairs? You might have a profile in Britain, but it’s not doing much for him in Nova Scotia."

How best to dole out the pork, save the Cons from a wipe-out in Atlantic Canada and save McKay’s seat from Elizabeth May? Choices, choices.

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Gordon says hells no, he won’t go

Which means of course that Gordon O’Connor’s days as Deceivin’ Steven’s minister of defence are numbered (a shuffle is rumoured to be imminent). And while as a Liberal I’m tempted to say keep him in there, as a Canadian I’d rather see someone competent in the rather important portfolio.

So, rather than re-cap the incompetent boobery of O’Connor in the defence portfolio, except to say I told you so, let’s turn instead to the matter of who replaces O’Connor at DND as Rick Hiller’s 2iC boss.

The Globe today has the official speculation:

Two senior cabinet members, Industry Minister Maxime Bernier and Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day, have been touted as the most likely successors to Mr. O'Connor at Defence.

Mr. Bernier's name has been cited by Conservatives who believe a Quebec minister would make the best spokesman for the mission when the Quebec-based Royal 22nd Regiment deploys to Kandahar.

Mr. Day, meanwhile, is seen by many Tories as a surprise success because he has avoided major public pitfalls in a portfolio plagued with tricky issues and bad news, including a spate of RCMP controversies.

My eyes bulged a bit at seeing Stock’s name on the list. I’d just assume keep Day away from anything to do with guns myself. Granted, he hasn’t made a total ass of himself in his current portfolio. But then again, given the job performance of some of his cabinet colleagues, as long as he didn’t start flinging around his own droppings he’d look good by comparison. He hasn’t exactly excelled either though.

Then there’s Maxime Bernier. What is there you can say about Bernier? Well, he’s not Michael Fortier, so that’s a positive. He’s been low profile, hasn’t garnered much attention that I can recall. He did fight Fortier on the pork-barreling regional plums related to the Boeing contract; I give him points for that.

Why would Bernier want the job though? With the Vandoos on their way to Afghanistan a mission already unpopular in Quebec is going to become even more unpopular there. Why would you want to tar an as yet unblemished Quebec minister with this one? He would become the focal point for all the anger with the mission in the province, and he needs to not only get re-elected there, but have some coattails too.

So, who would I give the job to? Since I’m guessing I have to pick from the CPC caucus that’s though. Unless I can dangle the job to a floor crosser? Nah. Hmm, that’s tough then.

I’ve always felt young James Moore was deserving of a cabinet seat, but he should start smaller. While he hasn’t wowed in agriculture, Chuck Strahl is a decent, competent guy and is at least somewhat familiar with defence issues (the closed CFB Chilliwack was in his riding). Jim Prentice is another good performer but you probably want to keep him where he is right now, in Indian Affairs. Maybe it’s time to give Monte Solberg a bigger platform to sink or swim on; he’s been invisible in human resources.

I think Strahl would be an interesting choice though.

P.S. Might be a good time to name a new Liberal defence critic too. Just sayin'.

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