So Stephen Harper was sworn in as Canada's 22 Prime Minister and he appointed his new, slimmer version of cabinet. While the proof will be in the pudding, it strikes me at first glance that Harper tried hard to balance all interests to the point he may have ended up offending everyone. The big story of the day was the defection of former Liberal cabinet star David Emerson - now the conservative Minister of International Trade. Campaigning on honesty and integrity Harper needed to be even more careful on the decisions he made. While at first glance Emerson looks like big win, it may turn out to be the defining move that labels harper as an also ran who was just like everyone else. Appointing Emerson puts Harper in the same position he recently criticized the former government over. It also may not play so well within his own caucus where competition will continue to grow as wanna be's stand their ground. Emerson also showed that politics and loyalty have no common place - a real reason the Canadian electorate has no trust in the political system. We want to see ourselves in our government but we don't like the lying, cheating part - that's a reflection we can do without.
Perhaps the biggest disgrace of the day though was the shameless media machine who was tripping over themselves to compliment the incoming PM and his team to ensure good access moving forward. If craig Oliver had said one more time that the cabinet was "masterfully" put together I thought I would gag.
So we have our new PM and his merry band of cabinet ministers. Now their vision of Canada can move towards reality. For our sakes I hope it's one that reflect all of Canada - not just the parts that said yes to Prime Minister Harper.
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