All of the indications are that Prime Minister Stephen Harper is about to shuffle his cabinet, perhaps some time this week. For months now, the news has been dominated by Senate expense-account scandals. Harper can be forgiven for wanting to turn the page.
And while he鈥檚 at it, he should be aware that sa国际传媒 deserves more prominence around the cabinet table.
If a shuffle does occur, it will likely be comprehensive. Five ministers have announced plans to depart before the next election, including longtime Conservative stalwart Vic Toews. In short, this may be a full-scale house-cleaning session with the purpose of bringing new blood into the cabinet.
If that is what the prime minister intends, two concerns in particular need addressing. First, it鈥檚 time to get rid of the ridiculous bloat that has crept in over the years. The cabinet has 37 ministers, a good dozen more than needed.
Looking around the table, we find ministers assigned to the lightest of duties, like 鈥渄emocratic reform鈥� or monitoring la Francophonie. In addition, there are enough junior ministers and associate ministers to field a baseball team.
Second, and more troubling, almost every important portfolio in our nation鈥檚 government is held by an Ontario MP. With the exception of the prime minister himself, the retiring public safety minister, Toews (Manitoba) and defence minister Peter MacKay (Nova Scotia), politicians from central sa国际传媒 dominate this cabinet.
The finance minister, the treasury board president, both house leaders (Commons and Senate) and the ministers of justice, human resources and foreign affairs, all represent Ontario ridings.
These members of the executive council are basically the 鈥淎鈥� team in any federal cabinet. They control all spending decisions, taxation, federal-provincial transfer payments, Parliament鈥檚 legislative agenda, the administration of justice, social safety net programs and our country鈥檚 place in the world.
Conversely, the portfolios held by Western sa国际传媒 are the smallest of small potatoes. Saskatchewan has nobody who counts. Alberta, of course, claims Harper, but the remaining ministers are middle or junior rank.
sa国际传媒 has four cabinet seats, none of them prominent. Our most senior minister (16th on the cabinet precedence list) is James Moore from Port Moody, who鈥檚 responsible for Canadian heritage and official languages.
This is more than imbalanced. It is a throwback to the 1950s when, economically and demographically, sa国际传媒鈥檚 centre of gravity lay in Ontario.
A lot has changed since then. And no one should know it better than Harper, who cut his teeth in politics complaining about western alienation.
So what does sa国际传媒 want from this shuffle? In simple terms, a seat at the inner table. Better still, two. Sixteenth place doesn鈥檛 cut it.
There are several strong candidates. James Lunney, who represents Nanaimo-Alberni, is a good fit for the human-resources portfolio.
Before entering politics, Andrew Saxton from North Vancouver was a senior vice-president with one of the world鈥檚 biggest commercial banking firms. He would make a fine president of the treasury board or minister of finance if the incumbent, Jim Flaherty, steps down.
Mark Warawa from Langley is another young comer who鈥檚 ready for a bigger challenge. So is Cathy McLeod from the riding of Kamloops-Thompson-Cariboo.
And these are simply examples; there are plenty of other qualified MPs from this province patiently waiting their turn.
We鈥檝e framed this discussion from the perspective of British Columbia. But of course the issue is larger than that.
This is probably the prime minister鈥檚 last opportunity, before the next election, to show the country what a genuinely national government looks like.
Indeed, given the vagaries of politics, and the fact that Harper has already led his party in four general elections, it may be his last chance, period.
Let鈥檚 hope he takes it.
