Tuesday, May 03, 2011

The return of Mad Max?

The Tories won just 6 seats in Quebec last night. Going down in defeat were arguably Harper's three strongest Cabinet Ministers from the province: JP Blackburn, Josee Verner, and Lawrence Cannon.

With Harper's leadership on the party now secure, it seems highly likely that Maxime Bernier could find himself in a high profile Cabinet post when Parliament resumes.

posted by calgarygrit at 3:20 p.m.

16 Comments:

  • Does he still have the same girl friend? :-P

    By Blogger mezba, at 3:37 p.m.  

  • Lets face it Josee Verner was only in cabinet because she was from Quebec and she was a women. She was a very weak cabinet minster and Harper is stronger with out her. The biggest loss would Cannon, but they pick up enough strong people in Ontario to easily replace them.

    By Blogger Archie, at 3:55 p.m.  

  • I'd also watch for Bernard Valcourt and Robert Goguen - two francophone's newly elected in New Brunswick. Harper may call on one or both of them to strengthen his bench of francophone ministers.

    By Blogger nbpolitico, at 4:33 p.m.  

  • With defeated and retiring ministers leaving slots for Harper to fill, hopefully Bernier, Michael Chong, Chris Alexander and other young Tories will have a chance to take on cabinet roles.

    By Anonymous Nuna D. Above, at 5:00 p.m.  

  • I dig Max a lot. I'd cast him as the Captain in a new Star Trek

    By Blogger Jacques Beau Vert, at 5:05 p.m.  

  • Good. I'm excited to see future PM Max Bernier on the shortlist. Also excited to see Chris Alexander win, although it's sad that Mark Holland had to go down to make that possible - both good, young candidates.

    Bernier, Alexander: guys who seem capable of independent thought, unlike half the drones around the current cabinet table.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 5:46 p.m.  

  • The other area to watch is BC, where 3 CabMins retired before the last election.

    James Moore should get a big promotion, but Harper will need to bring in some fresh blood there.

    And, yes, as others have mentioned, I'm sure some of the new GTA MPs will get spots.

    By Blogger calgarygrit, at 5:56 p.m.  

  • I'm sure we'll get into cabinet picks in more detail, but here are a few of my picks for new faces:
    - Bernie Valcourt, NB
    - John Carmichael (Don Valley West)
    - Bernard Trottier (Etobicoke Lakeshore)
    - He'll almost have to include Mad Max.

    Apart from that, the issue he'll have is promoting from the existing bench strength, particularly to backfill for the BC departures. He'll also have to decide whether to include people in cabinet simply because of their riding, such as Peter Panashue in Labrador.

    By Blogger Michael Fox, at 9:29 p.m.  

  • Given their current cabinet positions, I'd imagine that Christian Paradis and Denis Lebel are in line for promotions.

    Also, am I missing something about Steven Blaney? Quebec-based MP, engineer, MBA, self-described environmentalist - how is he not in cabinet yet?

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 9:44 p.m.  

  • Harper is despised in BC, because of his part in the HST. Harper, Campbell and Hansen, colluded on the HST before the BC may election. He also has a very close relationship with, ex premier Gordon Campbell. Campbell is the most corrupt premier, in Canadian history. Campbell is the reason, BC is the most corrupt province in Canada. No, we BC people will never trust Harper. We see Harper as arrogant,as vindictive, a dictator, and as corrupt, as his best buddy Campbell.

    The BC people vowed, never to trust Harper, and we didn't.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 9:45 p.m.  

  • Yeah, BC really hates Harper all right. We gave him 21 of 36 seats while busting the Liberals down to 2. Yessiree, we really don't trust Harper out here! :rolleyes:

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 11:08 p.m.  

  • The 6 Tory MPs in Quebec are likely down to 5 - there was a miscalculation in Montmagny-Lislet and it now appearsa that the NDP won by 5 votes! Recount pending

    By Blogger DL, at 1:38 a.m.  

  • maybe they'll put my MP "First Class" Russ Hiebert in cabinet, if they're looking for BC fresh blood. He's a twit, but maybe there's a silver lining....

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 2:31 a.m.  

  • I think that James Moore will likely get a promotion and become senior Minister for B.C. In addition to Moore and John Duncan, I would think that Alice Wong is a likely candidate for at least a junior portfolio. He'll probably need someone from the Fraser Valley and someone from the Interior for geographic balance. If I had to guess, I'd say Mark Warawa, Randy Kamp and Cathy McLeod would be among those on the shortlist.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 4:34 a.m.  

  • I think Mad Max is a shoo-in for a return to cabinet, if for no other reason than the Quebec pickings are quite slim and Harper needs to be seen to be reaching out to La Belle Province. Bernier has gradually built up a sizeable personal following within the party, got good reviews as Industry Minister, and has probably served enough time in the penalty box for Bikergate (which always struck me as a tempest in a teapot anyways - what would Hells Angels do with a bunch of dry foreign affairs briefing papers anyways?).

    Plus, as a potential leadership contender, Harper will probably want to keep a close eye on him (inside the tent pissing out, as it were). The safe option would be to park Bernier in something low-profile like Veterans' Affairs or National Revenue, but Quebec needs at least one big cabinet job and I don't know if either Lebel or Paradis are up to one of the big jobs (and there is still a whiff of scandal around Paradis over the reno contracts). Something like Public Works or Transport might be a good fit for Mad Max.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 4:45 a.m.  

  • are you forgetting that Mr.Harper can also chose Quebec senators to sit in cabinet?

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 10:03 a.m.  

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