Friday, January 30, 2009

Lean, Mean Shadow Cabinet, now with 50% more positions!

This move would appear to address some of the problems surrounding Michael Ignatieff's first shadow cabinet:

OTTAWA - Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff today unveiled new roles for members of the Liberal caucus and announced his nominees for House committee chair positions.

The Honourable Ujjal Dosanjh (Vancouver South), former premier of British Columbia, will assume the role of Chair of a new Intergovernmental Liaison Secretariat and will be consulting with provincial premiers and territorial leaders on the best way forward to secure stability and fairness in our federation.

The Leader himself will serve as Intergovernmental Affairs Critic. Mr. Ignatieff also announced the appointment of the Honourable Irwin Cotler (Mount Royal) as Special Counsel on Human Rights & International Justice.


Various chair and committee positions were also announced - of note, the young Trudeau finds himself as co-chair of the outreach committee, which is fitting given the number of fundraisers he gets invited to speak at every year.

The Dosanjh and Cotler appointments do feel a bit like damage control but, either way, it's a welcome move after the two were surprisingly left out of the first lineup of critics.

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9 Comments:

  • Soon to have more representation from Newfoundland?

    By Blogger Greg, at 6:50 p.m.  

  • Finally, Iggy appointed an Indo-Canadian MP to a meaningful and non-stereotypical position -- too bad it took some pressure and controversy to get there.

    By Blogger Babar, at 7:01 p.m.  

  • Honourable Irwin Cotler (Mount Royal) as Special Counsel on Human Rights & International Justice.

    Is that a joke?

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 7:28 p.m.  

  • from the LPC website, news
    things that make you go huh?:

    Other Special Outreach Advisors have been appointed for these priority areas:

    • John McKay (Scarborough—Guildwood) - Faith Communities

    Is this a first CG, or did the LPC always have 'Religion' as a priority area?
    Will WK be presenting J McKay with a purple dinosaur?

    By Blogger wilson, at 7:38 p.m.  

  • Babar, Would you call "Western Economic Diversification" for Sukh Dhaliwal "stereotypical"? What about Ruby Dhalla's role? Keith Martin (he's half South Asian)? I like Ujjal a lot, but I do think his role is more to consolidate support in his riding and the ridings close-by. We cannot afford to lose his riding this next election.

    By Blogger WesternGrit, at 9:45 p.m.  

  • Sukh Dhaliwal - Asia Pacific.

    Ruby Dhalla - Multiculturalism.

    Important portfolios no doubt, but nonetheless stereotypical to confine Indo-Canadian MPs to these roles.

    By Blogger Babar, at 11:51 a.m.  

  • I'm not sure if you're aware (Babar) of the work that Ruby has done with the multiculturalism file. She is very connected, and I know she is relishing the chance to tackle it further. I personally feel (being a visible minority myself) that we need to have someone who has experienced the "multi-cultural experience" in the file, since it is a lot easier for someone who has lived it to know what it means...

    Asia Pacific is only part of his portfolio, and I think Chair of the Western Caucus holds a lot more. Still, the Asia Pacific is Canada's trading future. Once again, the same way it is helpful for big corporations to have persons from the nations they will be working in on their payroll, it is a HUGE competitive advantage for Canada to have people from East and South Asia in positions of international influence. We are entering a new era in trade, and these folks will be at the top of the pecking order because of their backgrounds...

    By Blogger WesternGrit, at 4:10 p.m.  

  • wilson - good catch. John MacKay to lead the "faith committee" is a tad odd...

    By Blogger calgarygrit, at 4:21 p.m.  

  • Well, I do not actually imagine it is likely to have effect.

    By Anonymous mejor sexshop, at 1:07 p.m.  

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