Thursday 4 April 2013

Harper's Cabinet: Ministers or Minions?


Readers of the Northern Plains Drifter will know that I do not have many good things to say about Canada’s Conservative Government. Indeed, I rarely even have a good thought about conservatives in general, except that sometimes they leave the room.

So it may come as a surprise to read that I am about to make a case in support of Stephen Harper’s talents as not just a shrewd political tactician, but as a Leader Extraordinaire!!

Before you gag, read on!

Why would I think that in only seven years the man who has single-handedly ruined Canada’s international reputation on so many major issues is an extremely talented Prime Minister? Why would I write about the abilities of the one person who has done more to implement the neoliberal agenda into Canada's body politic than anyone else? For one simple reason: his cabinet has got to be far and away the weakest group of ministers this country has ever had the misfortune to experience!

Okay, I am not going to highlight BEV ODA, she of the sordid 16-dollar glass of OJ saga. Oda was worse than useless but fortunately Canadians have seen the last of her. (Or at least I hope we have - we must NOT let Harper give Ms. Oda a plum Senate position!! It is bad enough with Harper’s latest batch of appointed senators: Brazeau, Wallin and that Duffy guy.) I will also not focus on that extremely incompetent Minister of Aboriginal Affairs, JOHN DUNCAN. He took himself out of cabinet as the Idle No More movement made his life uncomfortable earlier this year. And let's also forget about former Intergovernmental Affairs Minister, PETER PENASHUE, the guy who clearly cheated to win the Labrador riding in 2011. (Penashue accepted $48,000 in illegal corporate donations, overspending by $40,000 ... and managed to win by only a handful of votes. The fact he is already campaigning for a by-election not yet called speaks volumes about his character, and Harper's.)

Because of time and space constraints, let’s take a look at only a dozen of Harper’s fellow cabinet minions, er ... ministers. 

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Let’s begin with the Minister of National Defense, PETER MACKAY. This is the fellow who once suggested that the grand old blowhard himself, Don Cherry, run for the Conservatives. But worse, much worse in fact, this is the guy who told Canadians just before the last federal election in May 2011 that this set of stealth jets, the F-35s, were going to cost a cool $14 Billion when he had a figure of $25 Billion!! (Sure, the figure is now pegged at $45 Billion, forcing the Cons to finally scrap the deal, but why did MacKay think it was fine to lie to Canadians? Did he think the public would not find out? Or did he think we would not really care? (He could be right as many do not follow politics enough.) It is also noteworthy that MacKay's F-35 photo op cost taxpayers $47,000!

What about the Minister of Small Business and Tourism, MAXIM BERNIER? It wasn’t enough that this guy was bringing his girlfriend, an ex-Hell’s Angel "babe", to Ottawa social functions. Bernier was leaving secret classified government documents laying around her apartment and at airports. Top secret, indeed!

Now let’s move it over to BIG VIC TOEWS, the Minister of Public Safety. This is the same guy who once told Canadians that if they did not want people such as him reading our e-mails, then we must be supporters of child pornographers! After all, Big Vic wanted us to know that he was a devout and pious man, that we were in good hands with him reading our e-mail. Of course, we soon found out that the wife of our Minister of Public Works had left him because the Vicster had been having repeated sex with the teenaged baby-sitter of their three young children. (This occurred over a 3-year period, and Minister Toews was three times the babysitter’s age. No matter - she had reached the age of consent. Whew!) A friend predicts that this is going to increase the number of votes he gets next election, but I think that rural Manitobans cannot support this Toews guy much longer. I certainly hope so!

Toews and the Minister of Natural Resources, JOE OLIVER, and with the help of the Minister of the Environment, former TV anchorman PETE KENT, had the gall to work out a strategy that marginalizes environmental groups and concerned citizens. First, they were labeled “radicals”, then as “agents of foreign socialist billionaires”, and finally as “eco-terrorists.” (Take a look for yourself: http://m.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/ottawas-new-anti-terrorism-strategy-lists-eco-extremists-as-threats/article2334975/?service=mobile) Once the groups were sufficiently handcuffed, the Con government went ahead and pushed through massive 425-page pro-corporate budget bills that also gutted environmental assessment!  

Moving along, I think Canadians should be very concerned that Harper continues to utIlize a would-be comedian, GERRY RITZ, to sit in as Canada’s Agriculture Minister. Ritz is the guy who tried to make some lame jokes out of the 20 deaths caused by a listeriosis outbreak at a meat packing plant back in 2008. (For more on what this Ritz guy has done for Canadians, see http://northernplainsdrifter.blogspot.ca/2012/10/a-new-post-on-northern-plains-drifter.html.)

This past summer we again had to endure this Ritz guy in his role as Agriculture Minister when he worked overtime to protect the virulently anti-union XL Foods during an E.coli outbreak at their Alberta plant. Calling Ritz incompetent may rank as the understatement of the year. (See http://northernplainsdrifter.blogspot.ca/2012/10/xl-foods-poster-child-for-all-that-ails.html.) As I have mentioned before, Ritz has done more to promote the tofu industry than any west coast vegan lover could ever hope to do!

What about this guy? Do I need to remind you that in 2010 Canada’s Minister for the Federal Economic Development Initiative for Northern Ontario, TONY CLEMENT, took $50 Million of our tax dollars to spruce up his riding with gazebos and sidewalk upgrades? Why? Apparently it was because the G8 was taking place an hour away! It is quite ironic that Clemens is also the President of our National Treasury Board. That’s $50 million of our tax dollars he took!! (Clemens' egregious behaviour was so outlandish that I want you to see for yourself: http://news.nationalpost.com/2011/10/06/‘rules-were-broken’-over-g8g20-summit-spending-auditor-general/.)

CHRISTIAN PARADIS, the Minister of Industry, used to be the Minister of Public Works. While in that position, he had well-entrenched ties to Quebec’s corrupt construction industry officials, as well as the Montreal mafia. He was even the guest of honour at their banquets. (See http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/story/2012/07/15/public-works-minister-ethics.html and http://pushedleft.blogspot.ca/2010/10/harper-government-may-have-ties-to.html)

(This blog post is getting long, so I will speed up describing the caliber of the rest of Harper’s Dirty Dozen, a select group of Cabinet Minions.)

DIANE FINLEY, the Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development, demonized the unemployed by stating that some Employment Insurance recipients were cheating Canada out of hundreds of millions of dollars. Of course, neither Finley nor the CON government have focused on rooting out the Tens of Billions of dollars in unpaid taxes each year by Canadian mega-corporations. Yes, that is over $20 Billion a year that large corporations refuse to pay!

And ex-cop JULIAN FANTINO, Canada's Minister of International Cooperation, incurred the wrath of the U.S. State Department and the United Nations when he declared that Canada should freeze payments to Haiti. (Yep, blowhard Don Cherry blew hard in support of Fantino's move: "It's not rocket surgery," said Cherry.) Why did Fantino want to stop helping the Haitians? Apparently, he was incensed at the amount of garbage he saw strewn about Haitian streets, and claimed it was out of concern for the taxpayer. (If Fantino really was concerned about needless spending, he should have stopped his buddy Clemens from building the gazebo!) Now we see Fantino in hot water yet again because he is using the taxpayer funded CIDA website to attack the opposition. The guy is clearly incompetent to be our Minister of International Cooperation.

Then there is RONA AMBROSE, the Minister for the Status of Women, who recently voted for Motion 312, a bill designed to re-open the abortion debate in Canada.

What about the Minister of Labour, LISA RAITT? This virulently anti-union Labour Minister seems so over-the-top trigger happy to order striking workers back to work that she often announces her lust for this strategy before the union and management have had any time to negotiate.

Do these Con Ministers even look at the title of their portfolios??

Clearly, Minister Ratt is Anti-Labour in the same way that Minister Ambrose is Anti-Women. This is the same way that Minister Kent is Anti-Environment as he pushes harder and harder for unregulated Tar Sands expansion. It is also very similar to Human Resources Minister Diane Finley being Anti-Human Resources. And Fantino is clearly not into Cooperating on the international stage.

Oh, let’s make it a baker’s dozen of Con Cabinet Minions! Check out the scientific beliefs of our Minister of Science, GARY GOODYEAR! See http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/story/2009/03/18/tech-090318-gary-goodyear-evolution-scientists.html

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Harper obviously has a problem judging character. I have already mentioned his senate appointees like Brazeau, Wallin and that Duffy guy. But Harper’s recent political advisor was none other than a fraudster named Bruce Carson, who has since been charged with influence-peddling on behalf of his 22-year old girlfriend. (Carson is pushing 70.) Moreover, Harper’s long-time advisor and political mentor is none other than Tom Flanagan, some guy from Chicago who called out to the world his desire to have someone assassinate (!) Julius Assange for Wikileaks, but to go easy on men who look at child pornography.  These are the kinds of people Harper chooses as his advisors.

Harper clearly does have trouble judging character. But I believe the reason he has so many incompetent cabinet ministers is because there really is not very much talent in the 165-member Conservative caucus.

To be fair to this Conservative juggernaut, Harper does seem to have three high rollers in his cabinet. Although I have extreme trouble accepting Minister of Foreign Affairs John Baird as Canada's representative at the UN and on other international stages, he seems to be able to handle the big time. (That said, even Baird can be humiliated. See http://pejnews.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=9056%3Aminister-john-baird-embarrassed-in-amman-jordan-by-questions-related-to-canadian-domestic-and-international-policy&catid=74%3Aijustice-news&Itemid=216.)

And although I feel that all of us will one day pay dearly for Finance Minister Jim Flaherty’s economic policies, Harper can trust the guy to do his bidding without any embarrassment. The same goes for Immigration Minister Jason Kenney. But Harper only has these three to help him out. I contend that the other 33 cabinet ministers are so weak that taken collectively, they comprise the weakest cabinet in Canadian history!

Stephen Harper has been the Prime Minister of Canada for over seven years now, with a guarantee of two more years. With a split in the progressive vote, he might even get another majority government which would keep him at 24 Sussex for at least 13 years!

Harper is pushing the corporate conservative agenda onto Canadian society and our democratic traditions. And he is doing this as the leader of a mostly inept group of suburban ex-cops, salesmen and saleswomen … with the odd country yahoo thrown in the mix! No mean feat that. This is why I think he is an extraordinarily brilliant leader.

In fact, Stephen Harper may even be the most skillful Prime Minister Canada has ever had! Sad, but very possibly true. But maybe I do not know enough about the Conservative Party of Canada. Perhaps Stephen Harper is nothing more than a political Svengali. One thing is for certain: most of his cabinet ministers behave as though they are his minions.